The Poker Chip System of Behavior Modification

I have been working is special education for six years now. Behaviorally challenged children can be hard to motivate, but as I tell my students, no body works for free. So when behaviors became a problem, I developed a system that is based on the Boy's Town Model but without the high number system that it uses. The kids that I teach can not imagine one hundred thousand points if they can not count to one hundred thousand or knows what one hundred thousand is. I base my points system to a hundred. If they can see an attainable goal, then they are more likely to respond to it.

I use poker chips as rewards for good behavior. Our class periods are 55 minutes long and the school consists of seven periods. For each 15 minutes of good behavior, they receive one poker chip. Good behavior consists of accepting the redirection the first time. If the do not accept the redirection then they are given a green card. The green card allows them to have a voluntary time out for five minutes. If they do not want a time out they can choose to change their behavior and the green card will be taken away. If they do the behavior again while the green card is on the table, they then get a yellow card. This is a mandatory time out for five minutes and time to process with the behavior teacher assigned to them. If the escalate or repeat the behavior after their time out, they will be removed from the classroom for the rest of the period. The child may attend the next class if they have regained their composure and have verbally stated that they can follow directions.