Behavior Incentive System: B.U.G.

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Have you heard of the B.U.G. incentive system?  B.U.G. stands for Being Unusually Good. I'm not sure who originally thought of the idea, but it's been around for quite awhile.   Students earn a B.U.G. when their teacher catches them being unusually good.  Students can't ask for a bug and they can't point out to their teacher when they are being "buggy".  


When I introduce this system, I like to add a little math to the lesson.  I have a volunteer put 3 red unifix cubes and 10 blue unifix cubes in a brown paper bag.  I explain that blue cubes represent non-buggy behavior.  Students then give me examples of this type of behavior.  Then I tell them that the red unifix cubes represent buggy behavior.  One at a time, I have a few volunteers draw a cube out of the bag.  Another volunteer keeps track with tally marks on chart tablet paper, showing how many blue cubes and how many red cubes were drawn out of the bag.  I ask them if you have more blue than red cubes, which one has the greater chance of being pulled from the bag?  Then we reverse the number of cubes, 3 blue and 10 red.  They eventually see they will have a greater chance of earning a bug when they follow the classroom rules.


Here's a B.U.G. packet freebie for you:



These frog are part of the system, too.  Students who are physically aggressive, lie, cheat, or steal get a frog.  What do frogs do?  They eat ALL THE BUGS!




8 comments

Stacey said...

The bugs and frogs are too cute! Love that idea, I have never heard of it before! Thanks for sharing!!

3rd Grade Times

Michelle said...

You are very welcome! I hope your students like it, too.

Stacey said...

I am sure they will love it! It's really great!!

Co-Kindering said...

What a great idea! Thank you for sharing! I am new to blogging. So glad that I found your site!

Unknown said...

This is a fabulous idea!! Thanks for sharing on my linky party, Michelle!
Hugs,
Rebecca
Teaching First

mrsmacksclass said...

This sounds so good but can you explain it a little more. When you get a frog it eats all your bugs. Can you explain it more? Thanks in advance!

Michelle said...

Sure! When one of my students did something really bad like fighting, stealing, etc. he/she got a frog. The student took all their bugs off their pin/hook and hung up a frog. When his/her behavior improved and he/she did something unusually good, I took the frog off and gave him/her a bug.

Teachers manage this a little differently. Some keep the frog on for a certain length of time. My goal was for the child to change their behavior. For some students this was done in an hour for others it was several days.

rjaw said...

I'm thinking that this will be a little more tangible system for my Kinders. I still need to figure out how to impliment it with the card turning chart we're already using so that it's not a drastic change for them but a subtle addition. Since they are always moving from center to center, the frog may need to be in a hanging badge so that it is a constant visual card for them. Still thinking... Thank you for the idea!