Electronic Behavior Contracts (Parents and Teachers)

When working with children that have special behavioral needs my go to tool is a behavior contract with built in rewards for positive reinforcements.  At school it is very easy to use a paper behavior contract and send that sheet home to parents.  I have had many parents say to me "This works so well in school but what about when they come home,  How can I use a system like this at home to get the same level of success."

 I created some paper versions for my parents but at home it just isn't as easy to keep up with check lists when you are running family errands, going to sporting events, doing homework, and the list goes on and on.  So I created a online form that parents can use with their smart phone to instantly track their child's behaviors and rewards at home.  The cool thing about this format is that as they submit the information electronically it comes straight to me the teacher.  It allows for open lines of communication and shows the child that we are all united in helping them be their best selves.


This is a generic version of the form.  When I am ready to use it with a family I duplicate the form in my google drive then edit the privacy settings so that it is only accessible to the parents and myself.






This is a excellent tool to help those students with behavioral challenges receive a continuity of accommodations from school to home.  When used with fidelity it can really help teachers and parents work together for a a common good and that is the success of the child in all aspects of life and learning.

R.A.C.E.R.S. Writing Strategy

I was introduced to the the R.A.C.E.R.S. strategy for writing this year by my new team.  I have found that if kids use this with fidelity it can help them respond to essay questions and various writing prompts with ease and organization.

I always try to relate new teaching strategies to my own learning journey.  I really wish this had been shown to me when I was a young writer coming up in the world.  As a child I looooooved to write but my writing was slightly scattered and "mildly" unorganized.  My mom struggled to find a way to help me organize my thoughts so that they were more clear and adequately supported with reasons and examples.  Boy oh boy if only she had of known about this!!!!

Flash forward as a new EC teacher I am using this strategy all the time with my kiddos to help them navigate the wild world of written response.  I created a template to help them use R.A.C.E.R.S. in our ELA Resource class.  Please feel free to use it and let me know what you think and what I could add/change to make it better.

For a limited time you can download this at my TPT store using the link below:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Racer-Graphic-Organizer-1418264

You can also download it from my google docs folder:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5WnOovSnuEtTm1WQzhQNk1lWnM/edit?usp=sharing