Oh no! I'm so sorry that happened to DS6 on his first day. I can see my DS5 doing almost exactly the same thing your DS did. That seems so unfair to single out any kid on the first day; you'd think he would get a warning first.
I'm stepping very carefully into this one...
Most of the teachers I've run into are looking to establish rules & guidelines from day one. (If not day one, then what day is acceptable to start? Why not day one?) I'm guessing that the teacher allows a little more leeway until the kids get settled, but just that she wasn't of the mind to "let things go" altogether -- and overlooking a flagrant foul like kicking books wouldn't set a very good precedent.
The "color" sequencing sounds similar to what our son has had all along, and I've always told him that getting his card changed is not the end of the world... unless it goes to the point of me getting a phone call -- at which point he will want to be concerned.
For a while, I would get daily reports about who got their cards changed and why. (And, I imagine, the kids will keep these little object lessons in mind when engaging in their own shenanigans.) Strangely, though, my son would occasionally omit the little "behavior reports" from the dinner table conversation... and invariably it was because he was one of the culprits-du-jour.
In this instance, the student only went from Excellent to Good (clearly a warning) ... not down to "Deplorable" or something crazy like that. Maybe point that out to him. As for the teasing -- that can't last too long, as I'm certain everyone will get their turn in short order.
Waaaay back when I was in school (after walking 10 miles through the snow -- up hill each way) we didn't have no high falutin' things like colored cards. We just had our name written on the board, and the number of checkmarks (offenses) dictated the severity of the punishment, if any.
