First Day Called To Sub

My first day called for a sub job was yesterday.  I was more excited than nervous.  It was a nice first day because I was asked to sub for a teacher's aide.  Since this was the case, I was able to get a feel for the school and classrooms.  I worked mainly with one student and took the whole class to recess, lunch, and gym.  Overall, the day went good.  I was able to work well with the student I was assigned to and get him motivated to do his work.  I learned that recess and lunch can be chaotic times.. Unfortunately, I did not have a whistle like the other aides in the lunch room had, so it was difficult to draw all students attention when it was so loud.  Students definitely did try to take advantage, knowing that I was new.  Getting this preview, I know that one of the most important things is to establish rules early and clearly.  

Behavior Management:

I liked an idea that the classroom teacher used to monitor behavior.  She had a bulletin board in the room with all of the students' names on it.  Under each student's name, there were three index (sized) cards, one red, yellow, and green.  They were layered on top of each other in this order.  After being verbally warned more than one time, the student would be asked to change their card from "green" to "yellow."  Each day the students start off at green.  Then after students got to red, there would be consequences.  I like this system because it teaches the students that they are in control of their own behavior and they are physically moving something to remind them of that.  Students can visually see where they are and how the majority of the class is.