Alternatives To Behaviour Clip Charts – Complete Guide

A behavior clip chart is a tool that indicates students’ behavior, allowing them to be rewarded and encouraged for positive behavior and discourage negative behavior. It aims to monitor and manage classroom behavior.

However, behavior clip charts are now considered outdated and negative due to several discouragements. Therefore, many preschool teachers are concerned about finding alternatives to behavior clip charts that can be used with preschool students.

Since the education system is exploring new techniques and tactics of teaching and performance tracking, it is beneficial to identify the alternatives that can be used instead of behavior clip charts.

When considering the alternatives to behavior clip charts, to overcome their pitfalls, you can replace them with several other tactics in teaching. Some of them are classroom goals, behavior reflections, time to movements, approximation, engagement in problem-solving, etc.

Even though there are several purposes behind behavior clip charts, since they have no more success than expected and have a negative outcome than a positive impact, it is better to find out alternatives to replace them.

In this article, I’ll give you a brief overview of the behavior clip chart and its purposes. Then, let’s identify the negative impact that a behavior clip chart may cause. Finally, I’ll provide some alternatives to behavior clip charts at Preschool to overcome the negative impact.

Therefore, this article may be resourceful for you if you are a preschool teacher. I recommend you keep reading to improve your preschool classroom management further.

What are behavior clip charts?

Behavior clip charts are mostly used in preschools as a famous way to monitor and manage students’ behavior. They are known as sticker charts, reward charts, and routine charts as well.

A behavior clip chart can be simply defined as a tool that exhibits the progress of behavior of students. It assesses kids’ positive and negative behavior and rewards positive behavior while discouraging negative behavior.

There is a clip for each student with their names on it, and the day may start at the same level for everyone. Then the clips will be moved up or down throughout the day according to the positive or negative behavior of students.

There are words of ‘Good,’ ‘Great,’ or stars to praise good behavior, while words like ‘Bad,’ ‘Uh-Oh’ in the same chart indicate the bad behavior. The behavior clip charts may have a certain level to tackle kids’ behavior, and they will be expected to achieve those higher levels.

Even though they are a famous tool in preschools, how many preschool teachers prefer to find alternatives to behavior clip charts of their pitfalls and psychological impacts.

Purpose of behaviour clip charts

Before identifying the negative facts and alternatives to behavior clip charts, let’s first understand what the purposes behind behavior clip charts are.

There are several reasons for using behavior clip charts in Preschool, and here are a few of them. However, whether these purposes can be achieved through behavior clip charts is questionable.

• Reduce negative behaviors

One of the main aims of using behavior clip charts is to reduce the negative behavior of preschool students.

Since preschoolers are at a little age with no proper social skills and discipline, negative behavior is normal among them.

Therefore, the behavior chart aims to indicate students’ negative behavior and visually demonstrate them trying to decrease their negative actions. 

• Manage the classroom

Classroom management is another major aim of behavior clip charts. It is difficult to control and manage a classroom with a group of students at an early age since they are so energetic.

So behavior charts aim to monitor and tackle kids’ behavior and manage the classroom well.

• Decrease interruptions and implement rules

In addition, behavior clip charts focus on decreasing kids’ interruptions during the lessons and other activities.

There are so many interruptions that can be seen in preschools since kids have no proper skills. So this aims to control kids, implement rules to follow, and encourage them to behave well. 

• Develop self-control

Behavior clip charts aim to improve kids’ self-control and hope to encourage them to control their bad behaviors. Through self-control, kids can achieve better results in their performances.

What’s wrong with behavior clip charts?

The new educational concepts consider behavior clip charts as harmful to kids, especially in Preschool.

Even though there are some positive factors like encouraging kids to achieve targets, making their behavior good, and supporting maintaining a peaceful classroom environment, they provide more negative impacts than positive facts.

That’s why the concern on alternatives to behavior clip charts came into discussion. Preschoolers are in their early ages of life, and they don’t have proper skill development yet.

Visual methods such as behavior clip charts are mostly used to tackle the behaviors of students, and there are several negative impacts on children. Here are some of them.

• Do not explain the bad behavior

To get students into better behaviors, teachers need to make students aware of what they have done wrong.

But behavior clip charts only indicate that the student has done something wrong but never indicate what it is and the reason for that bad behavior.

The teacher only moves the card to the negative side. Then the kid stops his bad behavior and hides himself from it without identifying the reason. This is not good for the life of the kid since it won’t teach him right or wrong properly.

• Shames students

Behavior clip charts seem to indicate the idea that shaming students will promote good behavior. But this public shaming rarely works.

When you show off negative facts about kids in front of others, the shame a kid may face will increase the heartbeat and the levels of embarrassment.

It makes the classroom environment inconvenient and difficult for that kid due to the shame that occurred in front of other kids.

• Some students don’t care about it

Another pitfall of a behavior clip chart is that some kids don’t value it. Some kids think too much about it and want to please the teacher.

Still, some may not consider it heavily and do not get encouraged to follow good behavior. For such students, the behavior clip chart is not valid since you can’t control their values and thoughts. 

• Create stress

Behavior clip charts create more stress than other means of behavior control since it shames the students and makes them worry about their lower clips in the chart.

The stress of thinking about it makes them fear the clip chart since they have the stress of getting rid of bad behavior.

In addition, looking at the chart that indicates their bad behavior publicly may create stress, and it can develop anxiety and depression as well.

• Time wasting

The valuable class time of the teacher and students may be wasted due to this behavior clip chart.

Interrupting your lesson regularly and asking students to move to the chart and change their clips is exactly a waste of time.

This may need additional time to move and mark while disturbing the flow of lessons.

Alternatives to behavior clip charts at Preschool

Due to the pitfalls mentioned above, it is essential to find out alternatives to behavior clip charts for preschool students. Using an alternative is better if something doesn’t give the expected outcome and results.

Even though behavior clip charts are a popular tool in preschool education, if it is outdated and highlights negative impacts, then we have to come to the next step of choosing alternatives to behavior clip charts. Some ideas are mentioned below, and you can try them with kids. 

• Setting class goals

Instead of tracking individual performance, you can set class goals and help them to improve as a team.

When bad behavior arises from one student, make him aware that it affects all the members and encourage achieving class goals together.

You can set class goals for several aspects and accomplish several tasks. Tracking the progress and the downfall together will motivate kids to improve their behavior with team working skills. 

• Stay closer to the child

Sometimes, there may be several problems behind the negative behavior of kids, and as teachers, you can stay closer to students and ask them the matters.

You can ask those kids to support you in some small tasks and then get closer to them and find out the reason for their behavior.

Then find out ways to support them. You can also talk with their parents to support the kids’ problems.

• Use of behavior reflections

You can use behavior reflections to make kids aware of the good and bad behaviors. Some such behavior reflections are thumbs-up and thumbs-down since it seems interesting and can make kids engaged.

In addition, you can use oral and written reflections as well. You can ask kids to express their views and then can tackle their behaviors. 

• Chance to movements

As a solution for negative behavior, you can use activities associated with movements within the classroom as well as outside.

Since preschool kids are full of energy, when they have no chance to release them, negative behaviors can be witnessed.

You can give quick brain breaks to kids during studies, and it will support them to focus and learn well with good behavior. 

• Shared problem-solving

Shared problem solving can be used as a good method to improve students’ behavior. You can engage them in classroom issues and ask them to discuss and find out causes and solutions for several issues.

This will make them responsible, and engaging in planning and solving may support the development of their skills, and it will enhance good behavior as well. They may understand their role in the classroom.

• Make aware of the consequences

Imposing punishments is not suitable for preschoolers, but you can make them aware of the consequences of their bad behavior in a kind way.

Let the kid understand that his bad behavior may irritate others and kindly warn them about the result.

You can impose several lower punishments such as transferring to another table, asking to stay alone, giving tasks to complete, etc.

They are not punishments but logical consequences and let him choose whether to face the consequences or behave well.

Final thoughts about Behaviour chart alternatives

Now, you have got a clear understanding of behavior clip charts, their purposes, and their negative impact on preschool kids. Due to their failure, we’ve found some other alternatives to behavior clip charts, and now you know about them also.

If you are a preschool teacher that uses behavior clip charts, then from today itself, try to replace them with the above alternative methods provided and measure the success of those new methods. Good Luck with making your students well-behaved.

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