Throughout my Special Education student teaching placement, my cooperating teacher and I worked hard to develop a classroom culture of acceptance and a feeling of safety among our students. One of the many classroom management systems we incorporated was called Bucket Filling. We had a bucket and paper slips set out on a small table and each day the students could write down times where they saw other students in the class being "Bucket Fillers." We introduced this system through reading a trade book about bucket filling. We also modeled what constituted bucket filling and what constituted bucket dipping. The students loved this! They wrote so many notes to one another that our bucket was filled to the brim. At the end of each day, I read the notes aloud. The students who wrote the notes could remain anonymous, if they wished. Each student who was recognized in a note was able to take a small scoop of pom-poms and add it to our class reward bucket. This bucket had different levels of rewards such as a game day, PJ day and a movie, show and tell, etc. This behavior system motivated students to not only demonstrate good behaviors, but also to notice their peers doing good and to praise them for it. There were so many times that other students would call out their friends and say, "You're being a bucket filler!" It was awesome to see as a teacher how a group of students could join together and uplift each other.
In addition to Bucket Filling, every morning we as a class said a classroom pledge. This pledge uplifted students as well as held them accountable for their actions. They stated positive statements about themselves and how when they messed up they admitted their mistakes and pulled themselves back up to try to do better. It was a wonderful, positive way to start each day. It also instilled in each student that they were valued and important members of the classroom. I will definitely be incorporating these ideas in my classroom.
In addition to Bucket Filling, every morning we as a class said a classroom pledge. This pledge uplifted students as well as held them accountable for their actions. They stated positive statements about themselves and how when they messed up they admitted their mistakes and pulled themselves back up to try to do better. It was a wonderful, positive way to start each day. It also instilled in each student that they were valued and important members of the classroom. I will definitely be incorporating these ideas in my classroom.