Student Behavior Choices

I cannot believe that there are only five days of school left!  As excited as I am for summer, I get sad to see my students go every June.  I feel like we have turned into a family...with shared beliefs, understandings, and mutual respect.  For the last two weeks, I have been letting my students "take control" of their behavior.  They can move up to blue when making great choices, or back to green, or down to yellow when making mistakes.  Their honesty is what truly amazes me.  When I ask my student what color they should be on, thinking they should be on blue, they remind me, "Remember Miss Lak when you had to talk to me once to stay focused on my work?" Or, "You had to remind me it was quiet work time, and I was talking to a friend."  Really minor things, and its amazing that they have that honesty as a seven or eight year old.  I usually commend them on their honesty and then say they should still move up to blue.  I believe that when there is a classroom culture based on mutual respect, and they truly want to make the correct choices, and be the best students they can be.  There are so many positive character traits that I hope have been instilled not only for a short time, but for their future as well.  I really hope the honesty stays with them, and they know appropriate ways to handle themselves both in the classroom and out in the world.