The Clip Chart Classroom Management

I used to use the traditional "Traffic Light" for my classroom management. My students would start out the day on "Green". If they received a warning about behavior, they had to move their light to "Yellow". And so on. I had the kids color in a traffic light in their binders at the end of each day to let their parents know how their day was. I had about 99% of my class on green...99% of the time. Parents of my awesome kiddos were just signing the traffic light page on Monday for the entire week, knowing their kid was going to be on green. I couldn't blame them! It was getting super redundant!

Here's the old school Traffic Light:

Then, over the summer, I found this idea on The 2nd Grade Teacher's Club (love that site!). It is called the Clip Chart. It is very similar to the Traffic Light in the sense that students can move down the clip chart as a consequence for bad choices. However, the big difference that I LOVE about the Clip Chart, is kids can also move up the Clip Chart as a result of good choices!

Here is the new and improved Traffic Light (or Clip Chart):

I am loving this new classroom management tool. I love being able to reward kids for their good choices. It is a great motivator for the other students, too. When I say, "________, please move your clip up for __________! I am so proud of you!", all the other kids suddenly work a little harder. ;) Parents love to see which color their child's clip was on that day. And kids can hardly wait to tell them if they were on "Outstanding"!!!

Speaking of Outstanding, if a kiddo gets all the way to this tippy top section of our Clip Chart, we make a big deal out of it! They get a Happy Note to take home to Mom & Dad, a prize from the Prize Box, and a "gem" on their clothespin. (I just bought sticky gems from Target's Scrapbooking section!) Some of them have gems all the way across their clothespin from all the Outstanding days!

And sometimes, if a kid is having a really Outstanding day, I say they are "off the chart", and I wear their clothespin. Their favorite spot for me to rock these clips lately is in my hair. Beautiful. ;) I love it when I forget to take them out and accidentally head into the staff lounge for lunch with clothespins in my hair.

How do you manage your kids' behavior? Do you use a Clip Chart? If so, how do you reward them for moving up the chart? I'd love to hear others' ideas!