My Art Stars (Expectations) chart is something that I came up with after my first year of teaching. Throughout my first year, I kept a list of all the things that were not working in regards to students' behavior. By the end of the year, I realized that there were issues during every part of class, and that it probably had to do with my lack of clear expectations. This chart outlines my expectations for each part of class very clearly, and its format enables me to be consistent every time.
Students work together as a class to earn a star for each phase of class, from Arrival to Line-Up, and can earn up to ten stars each time they see me. (The stars a just little laminated pictures of star clip-art, that I stick on a piece of sticky tack that stays on the poster.) After they leave, I record their score and keep a running total on this chart:
At the end of each quarter, the class with the highest average gets a reward. I tend to change the reward every year. In the past, it has been a free-art day or picking their own seats. This year, they will win an extra art class, and they will get to vote on what they want to do in that class. (Don't ask me how I think I'm going to fit this into my schedule...) You might feel a little corny at first giving stars to the older kids... but I have even found this to be effective with middle schoolers! (Especially when choosing their own seats was the reward.) Now in its fifth year, it never ceases to amaze me how well students respond to this system.
*I made the poster by designing it first in Microsoft Word, and then had it enlarged to poster size. You can get really crafty, though, and just hand-make your own!
** Change the criterion in the table to make it work for your own procedures and expectations.
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