I am still an intern, but I have been a para and a sub for a few years. Depending on the grade, it is okay to let them wiggle a little. Unless it is causing a disruption try not to correct the little things. I have seen teachers have several consequences. One thing I've seen that is helpful is having a "money" system set up. They can earn fake dollars and use them at the end of the week to buy prizes or save them for something bigger. If they are off task you take dollars away. I have also seen teachers take away minutes away from recess if the behavior is continuous.

I am still an intern, but I have noticed that the loss of privileges seems to be a sufficient consequence for most students. Take away or reduce their recess time, seating change (to be closer to the teacher), spending homeroom doing homework next to the teacher and not allowing them the opportunity to socialize. For consistent negative behavior, emails to the parents and student reflections are an efficient stopper.

A good reward system that I use with students is allowing/denying preferred activities. Find out what your students like to do, whether it be eating lunch in the classroom on Fridays, listening to music during independent learning and/or free time, eating snacks in class, etc., and use them as leverage. You could also create a behavior board or use a website like Dojo, to keep track of student behavior. Students can be held accountable individually or collectively for their behavior, and rewards and consequences can be administered accordingly. I also like to establish rules and expectations collectively with my students, whether it be having them create their own or choose from a variety of choices. Then you could turn it into a poster or print them out for students to put in their folders or planners to reference later. That way they can have a sense of held accountability in following them. This could also be done with establishing rewards/consequences. It is important to keep in mind that you do not reward students for following rules and expectations. As for minor behavioral problems, nonverbal and verbal warnings, redirecting, a talk after class, seat change, etc. can all be used. Just be consistent and communicate with your students.

There are many different strategies you can use with your students but each one is different because each set of classroom works differently in their dynamic. The first thing you can try with the students is a physical reward system. I have used in my younger aged classrooms the reward system of when the students exhibit a good behavior or action then they receive a small pom pom. Each student has their own little bucket that they collect their pom poms in and allows them to keep track of however many they have. I have noticed when I have used this, some students will try to receive tons of poms but learn quickly that they won't get a pom every single time they use that exact behavior, and when they get upset I explain the system that they shouldn't just be doing the action or behavior just because they got a pom and that they should want to be a better leader in their classroom and this has really helped with my young students. They then all want to be a leader in the classroom and work really hard, and at the end of every few months they will have almost like a book fair where they can "buy" small items with the amount of pom poms they have. Hope this is something that helps!

I like the token system here. It can be color-coded based on different types of behaviors needing to be addressed. Earning the agreed upon number of tokens could result in their reward. It is difficult to say types of the rewards without knowing grade level, but if in Kindergarten I would suggests stickers (especially scratch and sniff).

I would do what is the best fit for you as a teacher there is not one rule or strategy to solve issues. I was a big believer in snacks/candies reward because it is cheap and all kids love them but then I had my son and thought I don't want my son eating processed foods etc. I want to be able to give a reward that students can enjoy. You can try the sticker system on elementary-aged students or 1 free h.w pass for the older students.

My favorite reward system involves pennies. Each student has their own "piggy bank" where they can earn pennies for good choices, but they can also lose these pennies for making poor choices. At the end of the week, they are able to go shop at the treasure box, a small eraser may be one penny or even 5 pennies depending on how you set it up. You can also have more valuable toys set at higher prices. The more pennies they earn, the more they can buy. If they do not have enough pennies to buy anything they do not get to go to treasure box. This method helps with instant gratification, children being able to visible see that they are being rewards, learning about coins and money, and buying or saving money they earn.

I used to work in a placement facility, and after school the students would have issues not wanting to do their homework. I did not use a reward system to keep them on task but rather a compromise system. Since the students had to follow a schedule placed by the company, I would substitute a time bracket with free time if they completed their tasks. Since I was very good with time management the students were able to follow the program and do what they wanted at the end of the day with ease.

I use the "if then" strategy a lot in the classroom. For example, If you sit correctly on the rug, then you will have a chance to share. I feel that this gives students control over their choices and helps them learn responsibility. I find that the majority of the time they will make the correct choice.