Building positive peer pressure to behave well
1st way:
Use a kitchen timer (the type on which you twist the dial to a certain time interval and a bell sounds when it finishes the timing). Tell the students that you will be evaluating their behavior at the very moment that the bell sounds. Set the timer for any time between one minute and twenty minutes (shorter times for classes that misbehave more often). Do not let the students see the timer. You want the sounding of the bell to be a surprise. In this way, they are never sure when the "ding" will occur, and must stay on task and behave well at all times for fear that they might be off task or misbehaving when the bell sounds.
Upon hearing the bell, assess the behavior of the youngsters at that very moment. You can give each well behaved, on-task student (when the bell sounded) a point toward some prize, or give the whole group zero to 3 points depending on the percentage of students who were attentive, compliant, hardworking, and otherwise well behaved.
2nd way:
When the bell sounds, evaluate the group's behavior during the interval between bells. Award 0-3 points depending on their performance during that time period.
3rd way:
Use two kitchen timers set randomly. Have two different types so that the sounds of the bells are different. Use one to assess group behavior at the very instant that the bell rings. Use the other timer to assess behavior between bells. This double bell procedure provides double the incentive to behave well.
