The Good

Behavior
Game!!!
The idea behind the GBG is to positively reinforce on task behavior in the classroom. The way it
is done is by splitting the class into teams and whoever has the least amount of behavioral
problems at the end of the day earns a prize.

1) Designate a set standard of rules and

behaviors for the student to follow.
2) Once the students understand what is expect
show them the possible rewards.
3) Split the class into teams (just 2 or 3) and
begin teaching.
4) Any time a student acts up or is not on task
their team earns a point.
5) At the end of the day the group with the least
amount of points earns a prize.

The Good Behavior Game is very simple to do and takes almost no planning, just for the teacher
to observe the students a little more intently and keep track of on & off task behavior.

But who does this

strategy work for???

Studies show that in the general education

classroom the GBG works from pre K to about
middle school. High school students might find
the game to be a little childish and not want
to interact.
It works especially well with children suffering
from Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities

1) Children prefer a material reward as opposed to just praise

2) It becomes a completion and of course they want
to win
3) They are exited for the rest of the class to see how
well they behave
4) Students see it as a game as opposed to behaving
they are playing (Think about the quiet game)

This works
for several
reasons

Think about it like youre

training a dog, when they act up
they get in trouble. When they
do what is expected of them
they are rewarded.
(Students are not animals, dont treat them as such)

Resources

Flower, A., & McKenna, J. (n.d.). Get Them Back on Track: Use of the Good Behavior Game to
Improve Student Behavior.
Donaldson, J. M., Wiskow, K. M., & Soto, P. L. (2015). Immediate and distal effects of the good
behavior game. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 48(3), 685-689.
Elswick, S., Casey, L. B., Zanskas, S., Black, T., & Schnell, R. (2016). Effective data collection
modalities utilized in monitoring the good behavior game: Technology-based data collection
versus hand collected data. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, 158-169.
http://eric.ed.gov/?q=%22%22&ff1=subRegular+and+Special+Education+Relationship&ff2=sou
Intervention+in+School+and+Clinic&id=EJ1021240