You will need to do a little bit of advance preparation in order to get started with practice cards. The first thing you will need is a pocket chart similar to the ones teachers use for red/green cards. However, you will be using yours for the practice cards. Assign each student a pocket. You will then need to run off, and I would suggest laminate, your practice cards. (I will explain exactly what these cards are in just a moment.) The good news is that the cards are already made for you. You can find them under free downloads on the Whole Brain Teaching website, The address is www.wholebrainteaching.com. Just remember that you need to register on the site in order to have access to the free downloads. You will also need a letter to send home to parents letting them know which rule their children have broken. Finally, you will need a letter explaining this management system to the parents.
Now let's look at how practice cards work. A practice card is a small card with one of the five classroom rules on it. The rules are as follows:
1. Follow directions quickly.
2. Raise your hand for permission to speak.
3. Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.
4. Make smart choices.
5. Keep your dear teacher happy.
If a child is having difficulty follow a particular rule, the teacher places the practice card for that particular rule in the child's pocket on the pocket chart. The child then must come in at recess for rule practice. This is not intended to be a punishment for the child and should not be presented as if it is. Instead, it is an opportunity for the child to practice the rule that he is having difficulty with so that he will remember to follow it in the future. To practice the rule the child simply repeats the rule with its corresponding gesture over and over for a specific length of time. Here, however, is the great part about this. You let the child decide how long he thinks that he needs to practice the rule in order to remember it and be able to follow it. It could be as short as one minute or as long as four minutes. It is not about how long the child practices the rule. It is about communicating the importance of following the rules and letting the child know that you are there to help him/her be successful in this.
The child is also given a note to take home to his parents letting them know the rule that he needs practice following and asking them to have the child practice the rule at home. The note must be signed and returned the next day. The practice card can then be taken out of the child's pocket. Sometimes you will have a situation in which letters are never returned. When this happens, you can ask another staff member to do rule practice with the student and sign the letter.
Since the goal is not to punish but to help students follow the rules, practice cards can be covered with purple cards, which means that the student does not have to come in for rule practice. Here is how the purple cards work. Let's say that you have a student that began the day blurting out. He was not following rule two, so you put a rule two practice card in his pocket. After he got that card, you could see that the child was working really hard at following rule two and did not blurt out the rest of the morning. You could then choose to cover his practice card with a purple card. This shows the student that you recognize and appreciate the effort he is making at following rule two; therefore, he no longer needs to come in for rule practice and will not need to take a note home.
If you have a child who consistently is breaking a rule, even after coming in for rule practice and sending letters home, it is time to give that child a star card. I just take a note card and write the rule that the child is having trouble following in the center of the card. I then ask the child to make a tally mark every time that he is following the rule. When the child has demonstrated that he can follow the rule, he earns a Super Improver Star. (See my post on the Super Improver Wall.) It is not about the number of tallies that a child makes on his card. It is about using positive reinforcement to help a child change a behavior.
Practice Cards should not be started on day one of school. Students need time to learn and understand the rules first. At the beginning of the year when I student is having trouble following a rule I keep him in for a talk about the rule he broke and what he can do that would help him follow that rule. I usually ask if the student would like a short talk, long talk, or no talk. If they choose no talk they must tell me the rule that they broke and what they will do in the future to make better choices. In a short talk I share this information with them. I have not yet had a student choose a long talk, but I always leave it as an option.
Some teachers try not to start practice cards until the end of October or even Thanksgiving. However, if you have a very challenging class, you might find that you need to start them sooner. I have been very blessed this year. For the first time ever, I do not have any real challenging kids; therefore, I have not had to implement practice cards. I do, however, have them ready for when the need arises. What I love about using the Whole Brain Teaching management system is that you have all of the tools that you need to work with challenging students, but you only pull them out when you need them. Every class is different, so each year the tools that you use will be different as well.
For those of you who feel like the practice cards would benefit your students, I am sharing with you the letter that I had created to send home for when I do decide that practice cards are necessary. Please feel free to use it with your students
.https://www.dropbox.com/s/3pkdnnkctortbvu/Parent%20Letter%5B1%5D.doc?dl=0
Please note that there are additional strategies beyond the practice cards that you can use with your most challenging "beloved rascals". You can find these techniques on the Whole Brain Teaching web site on the drop down menu under levels. I would also encourage you to watch Coach B.'s webcasr called "Reforming Challenging Kids". It can be found in the video library. Go to Goodies on the drop down menu and click on WBT tv.
I hope that the information that I shared with you will help you in working with your "Beloved Rascals".
Practice Cards should not be started on day one of school. Students need time to learn and understand the rules first. At the beginning of the year when I student is having trouble following a rule I keep him in for a talk about the rule he broke and what he can do that would help him follow that rule. I usually ask if the student would like a short talk, long talk, or no talk. If they choose no talk they must tell me the rule that they broke and what they will do in the future to make better choices. In a short talk I share this information with them. I have not yet had a student choose a long talk, but I always leave it as an option.
Some teachers try not to start practice cards until the end of October or even Thanksgiving. However, if you have a very challenging class, you might find that you need to start them sooner. I have been very blessed this year. For the first time ever, I do not have any real challenging kids; therefore, I have not had to implement practice cards. I do, however, have them ready for when the need arises. What I love about using the Whole Brain Teaching management system is that you have all of the tools that you need to work with challenging students, but you only pull them out when you need them. Every class is different, so each year the tools that you use will be different as well.
For those of you who feel like the practice cards would benefit your students, I am sharing with you the letter that I had created to send home for when I do decide that practice cards are necessary. Please feel free to use it with your students
.https://www.dropbox.com/s/3pkdnnkctortbvu/Parent%20Letter%5B1%5D.doc?dl=0
Please note that there are additional strategies beyond the practice cards that you can use with your most challenging "beloved rascals". You can find these techniques on the Whole Brain Teaching web site on the drop down menu under levels. I would also encourage you to watch Coach B.'s webcasr called "Reforming Challenging Kids". It can be found in the video library. Go to Goodies on the drop down menu and click on WBT tv.
I hope that the information that I shared with you will help you in working with your "Beloved Rascals".
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