School-Wide Behavior Plan

At my Elementary School, we operate a school-wide behavior plan.  We call them "WOW Tickets."  WOW Tickets are cards, about the size of a business card, earned for good behavior.  WOW Tickets can be earned by any student in our building by any adult in our building. 

About once a month a parent volunteer prints and cuts the cards out of yellow card stock. 

Teachers write the student's full name, classroom teacher, and have the option of circling which of our school's focus word was demonstrated.  Because students can earn WOW Tickets from adults other than their classroom teacher, I have staff write their name on the back of the Tickets they give -- I try to occasionally reward teachers and staff for giving out WOW Tickets through things like Sonic drinks.

Using the same template, I also have my parent volunteer make tickets on green and blue card stock.  Green WOW Tickets are worth 5 points and are distributed to teachers to use during the days prior to school breaks.  Blue WOW Tickets are worth 25 points and two are given to each Substitute Teacher.

Each week, all WOW Tickets are collected in grade-level boxes.  Every Friday during our morning celebration, I draw a WOW Ticket from each grade-level box.  These students are "instant winners" and receive a prize note (see below).

In addition to distributing WOW Tickets to teachers each month, I also keep extras outside of my office door.

The biggest piece of the WOW Tickets is the data collection.  This is also were it gets a little more complicated and a little more work for me... 

Every.  Single. WOW Ticket is counted and added to an online spreadsheet.  I send this spreadsheet out to teachers each week -- so that as a school, we can visually see the students that might need a little more notice, a little more encouragement, or are on-track with good behavior. 

When a student earns 25 WOW Tickets he/she is given a prize note to either indicate they will "cash in" their tickets for a prize OR be saving their tickets for a 50-point prize (see now why the green and blue WOW Tickets are so coveted!?!).

The MOST popular prize to "cash in" at 25-points is BY FAR "Fluffy Friend" -- bringing a stuffed animal to school.  Among the 50 point prizes, an extra recess and "renting" the Principal's chair are frequently redeemed.

I originally got the model for WOW Tickets from Dr. Laura Riffel, the Behavior Doctor, after attending one of her presentations.  She's fabulous, if you can ever get her out to your school!

We use WOW Tickets all year long.  I do mix it up a bit in December, the week before Spring Break, and in May -- the students at my school also LOVE the ideas from Principal's Principles.

A few Februarys ago, I implemented a "Caught Ya Being Kind" board. 

To keep things fresh, I also sprinkle in some other incentives, such as WOW Tickets earned on the bus that are worth extra points and positive notes to the office that earn 3 WOW Tickets in addition to extra attention from an adult.

AGES ago, before attending Dr. Riffel's training, when I was still teaching Kindergarten, I used a similar model, I called "Kitty Cash." 

In May, I recognize the top WOW Ticket earners in each grade level with a bubble gum blowing contest at our school's Friday morning celebration.  (I won this year too). 

I know this may seem like a lot, but I do it because it's what works for my school and I have the data to prove it!

If you have any questions or if I left something out, please leave a comment below!