We are in our first full week of the 2018-2019 school year and as administrators, teachers, staff, and students we are likely very excited to be back! Hopefully each of you had an opportunity to rest and rejuvenate over the summer months and are ready to rock! One emphasis when addressing staff and students these first few days is likely expectations and routines used throughout the year. We know that by taking time early on to teach and model these expectations our school year often runs much more smoothly. We need to remember that not all students come to us knowing exactly what we expect of them, hence we should explicitly teach, and often reteach, our basic expectations. We know that all students come to us with various needs. For that reason having a strong Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) in place is vital in supporting the individual needs of each of our students to ensure they are able to achieve both academic and social success. One of the renewed focuses in many schools throughout the district, state, and nation is Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS). Yes, utilizing the PBIS framework often includes an incentive system where tickets are used to reward positive behavior. However, please remember, PBIS is NOT just about the tickets! PBIS is so much more and, when executed with fidelity, will positively transform your learning environment! The fundamentals of a strong PBIS Tier 1 include the following 10 markers: * Establish & Operate an Effective PBIS Team * Establish & Maintain Faculty/Staff Commitment * Establish & Deploy Effective Procedures for Dealing with Discipline * Establish a Data Entry Procedure & Design an Analysis Plan * Establish a Set of School-Wide Behavior Expectations and Rules * Establish a Behavior Reward/Recognition Program * Develop & Deliver Lesson Plans for Teaching School-Wide Behavior Expectations & Rules * Develop & Deploy a School-Wide PBIS Implementation Plan * Establish Classroom Systems - Routines/Procedures * Establish & Execute an Evaluation Plan Notice that only one of the markers above made mention of a reward/recognition system, furthermore, notice even that marker did not specifically mention tickets. For some buildings, the token economy system of earning tickets and "purchasing" reward items with those tickets works well. However, some may argue that is not the answer. The good news is there are MANY other ways to reward and recognize positive student behavior (blog post to come full of ideas). I urge you to remember that PBIS is SO much more than tickets!!! One of the fundamental pieces of successful PBIS implementation is getting all staff on board with the framework and process. As with anything else leaders do within their learning community, STARTING WITH THE WHY is critical! Staff and students must understand why it is important to have common expectations and how that impacts all members of the learning community! Simon Sinek gives a great description of the importance of the "why" in the video below: So, why use or strengthen PBIS in your school? The reasons are plentiful! Think about this quote: "When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun." - Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhis monk, author, and peace activist We have to look beyond the behavior and instead focus on the core issue(s), this starts with forming positive, trusting relationships with our students and staff. For decades we have responded to negative student behavior through punitive measures or consequences. It isn't until recently that we, as educators, have realized that just like academics, behavior expectations need to be taught. PBIS is all about explicitly teaching what we expect of students. The routines that as adults may be common sense are not always common sense to elementary, or even high school students. Therefore, we should capitalize on the opportunity to teach these expectations. We must also hold ourselves accountable to model this behavior. By doing so we will create schools that students can't wait to enter in the morning and don't want to leave in the afternoon. Let's take advantage of every opportunity to teach! After all, isn't our goal for students to lead happy, successful, and fulfilled lives beyond the walls of our school? PBIS can and will help: * improve the culture and climate in your building * replace negative interactions with positive interactions * build up staff and students to be the best version of themselves * create order and stability to ensure a safe learning environment * allow higher levels of learning to occur boosting student achievement * meet the needs of all learners * decrease office referrals * proactively address or prevent potential issues As I mentioned in my previous blog post, simply thinking about every interaction you have with a staff or student and being mindful to make that interaction positive can be very impactful. PBIS is simply changing the way we think about and respond when students do not follow behavior expectations. It is taking the time in that moment to teach a certain skill or procedure. It is celebrating all of the amazing things kids do on a daily basis rather than critiquing the one time they might slip up. I would argue that most of us enjoy being praised; our students and staff are no different! I leave you with the quote below. And notice, there's no mention of tickets! :) Thank you for your relentless pursuit of excellence for our students! So many of you are doing amazing things everyday with students throughout the district! Don't forget to share pictures or stories on Twitter using our new hashtags: #ICpositivity and/or #ICCSDPBIS
Do you need help with any aspect of PBIS implementation in your building? I would love to collaborate with you to start creating or strengthening PBIS in your learning community. Feel free to contact me anytime with questions or concerns at: [email protected]
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The countdown is on! We are less than 24 hours away from the start of another school year. It is "Go Time." With a new school year comes a fresh start. An opportunity to do better, to be better; another opportunity to build relationships with those you serve and to impact students and staff positively. I challenge you to not only start the first day with a positive attitude, a growth mindset, and a mission to be better, but to make every day like the first! Challenge yourself to be proactive, positive, and intentional with every interaction throughout the days, weeks, and months of this school year. I recently came across a quote that really resonated with me: "We are in an unprecedented time in educational history - one of challenge, great opportunity, and enormous possibility for a profound and positive future. We must work smarter, and this smart work begins with looking at our system. Our students deserve nothing less than a high quality system - a system that brings out their very best academically, socially, and emotionally." - Jessica Djabrayan Hannigan There is no doubt that each school year we are faced with new and different challenges. When looking at your system can you say that you are doing what is best for all students? Are you meeting the needs of each individual learner so that they may be successful academically, socially, and emotionally? One proactive approach to achieve this within your established Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is building and maintaining a strong PBIS focus. Positive Behavior Intervention & Supports (PBIS), implemented with fidelity, will help you establish a positive culture and climate within your building and allow you to be proactive in your approach to managing student behavior. We want our students to walk into a learning environment where they feel safe and secure, where they feel valued, where they truly feel they can accomplish anything and everything they want to regardless of the many obstacles they may face outside of their school day. Establishing school-wide behavior expectations and developing lesson plans to expressly teach these expectations including examples and non-examples is vital to a successful PBIS system. Common language use consistency among all staff is critical to your success. Students must be explicitly taught what is expected of them in each individual school setting. We cannot assume that students of any age come to us knowing exactly what we expect of them. It is time to approach behavior like we do academics; when students aren't proficient, we reteach. Remember, the best intervention is prevention! We must be mindful that in almost every situation students want to do the right thing, they just might not know exactly how to go about that. It is our responsibility to teach them how to be successful in their school environment. When a student or students struggle to do what we ask of them we often fall into the habit of making excuses or passing the blame. Have you heard yourself or a colleague say any of these? "I don't know how to handle this student or class" "We don't have the time, resources, or personnel to do ___________ (insert gripe of the day)". "Some students are just bad." "I don't have time for this!" "Nothing is going to work with these students." "Their parents should be teaching them this, not us!" "This class is out of control." "I don't want this kid back in my class and I have the right to boot him/her out." Instead of making excuses, let's take ownership in changing our approach! Creating, teaching, and modeling what we expect from students is critical to a successful school year for all. Instead of letting these excuses get the best of us, let's make this the year where we create a system for ALL students to be successful! What if this year we fully believe that it is our responsibility as educators to bring out the best in each of our students. What if this year we created a school environment where our students can't wait to walk through the doors everyday because they know they are special and valued. If you can proactively create this positive environment you will see the fruit of your labor throughout the halls of your school! This will appear in the form of a positive culture and climate, strong relationships and sense of community, feelings of safety and security, and a learning environment where all students and staff feel valued and can learn and achieve together. In summary, I challenge you today to remember why we are in this great profession. Let's consider why we made the choice to be educators. For many of us, the decision may have been due to memories of our own school experience. Are these memories focused on academics? Or, are they centered around the way someone made you feel (either positive or negative)? My suspicion is that your memories are of the latter. As educators we must remind ourselves daily why do we do what we do! My hope, and assumption, is that you want to make a positive difference for those you serve and do what is best for students. This year we have a wonderful opportunity to do just that! Every day, every interaction, is a new opportunity to make a difference! So, go forth, be awesome, and be a champion for those you serve this year! Make sure to follow all of our district PBIS implementation efforts on Twitter at #ICCSDPBIS
Even better, share out what great PBIS work you are doing in your buildings at #ICCSDPBIS Let's learn from and challenge one another to be the very best for our students! |
AuthorAllison Freitag, Archives
February 2019
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