Happy Tuesday! How is it already mid-August?!?!? As usual, I have been swept up in the craziness of back-to-school, and I have neglected my posts. I am spending this weekend catching up on the blog, so I hope you all are ready! A new school year always means new goals for our building when it comes to SW-PBS. This year will be our building's eighth year of SW-PBS. I am so excited, but I would be lying if I said building and sustaining PBS in our building has been easy for us. There have been a lot of growing pains, as well as some rebuilding years. However, I truly feel that we have persevered, and I am excited for what this year has in store for us! No matter what year or level you are in with your SW-PBS journey, there are some foundational things you need to do at the beginning of every school year. Check out what our team does every year to ensure success and efficiency: 1. Make a team meeting schedule. Your team meetings ensure that PBS can run smoothly in your building, so setting a time and place that works for everyone is imperative. We meet twice a month, and we choose the first and third Thursdays of the month in the morning before we are contracted to work. We meet for 30 minutes and we send out agendas the day before to remind and inform people. Our goal is to work efficiently in our meeting; I never want to feel like people are attending a meeting that is a waste of time! Agendas have been the winning tool for us in this adventure. Check out a template of the agenda we use from the Missouri SW-PBS website. 2. Make a presence among staff. At the beginning of the school year, there is a lot of things happening for teachers. Loads of information are being poured onto everyone, and sometimes it may feel like SW-PBS may go in one ear and out the other if we talk about it at the beginning of the year. Even though it may feel like a lot, making the presence of PBS known among staff at the beginning of the year will help support its importance. Our principal gives a us a small 30 minutes time slot in her opening meeting to talk about PBS. We give the bare bones of what it is and what tools they need to start their school year on the right foot. 3. Update your documents. Your SW-PBS documents should always be working documents; open to updates and changes as your building grows through its process. The PBS team needs to make sure the documents are updated and made accessible in some way to all teachers and staff. We put all of our documents on a shared Google Drive. Paper copies work, as long as teams are diligent about making sure all copies are updated every year. 4. Create accessible tools for teachers. PBS is only as effective as the tools you have to implement it, so making sure your teachers have access to forms, information, or positive reinforcement tools is crucial. We need things right at ou finger tips because our days are already hectic enough! We have a bin of our tokens in the workroom that teachers can grab throughout the day. We place any form they might need on a shared Google Drive. We laminate any sign they need and personally deliver it to them. We also have a bulletin board with updated information in the teacher workroom. Information is key! 5. Schedule staff trainings for the year. The school year gets busy, and time can get away from any team. Setting training times with your administrator is imperative to make sure information gets passed to teachers throughout the year. Having a hard time scheduling time?? Take what you can get! Even if you only get five minutes at a meeting, use it! Alternatives to trainings if you cannot physically meet with staff: send weekly email updates, record trainings and post them on a shared drive, or ask to attend smaller meetings that teachers may already be attending. Looking for more ideas on how to implement SW-PBS in your school? Check out some of my previous posts that talk about starting the beginning of the school year: I hope your school year starts off on a positive note! Stay tuned for different and new things I am trying this year!
Have a great week friends!
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Good Morning all, and Happy First Day of Summer! The time is finally here, I am posting our presentation from the conference last week! I know there was a delay, but I had a scheduled medical procedure this week that has kept me a little behind. Hopefully all of you are too busy finishing up your school year and starting your fabulous summer to notice the lapse of time. I am sure you are all wondering, how DO you implement SW-PBS Across the Tiers?? The powerpoint presentation is here to provide an outline of the successful things our building does to implement SW-PBS. We all know that it looks different in every building, so we wanted to share with the people at the conference how it looks in our building. Implementing SW-PBS into your school is no small feat; it takes a lot of work and willingness to adapt, change, and be resiliant to pushback. After seven years, I would like to tell you we do it perfectly, but we do not. I would like to tell you it looks exactly like we first planned it out seven years ago, but it doesn't. I will tell you this: SW-PBS is implemented into your school culture; it is about the people in your school, adults and children. And we all know that those people change, grow, and evolve. So therefore, we must adapt and evolve our culture as well. We are currently functioning at the Tier 3 level in our building. The 16-17 school year was our fist year in Tier 3, so it was definitely a year full of learning and piloting our strategies. This next year we plan on really fine-tuning Tier 3, along with utilizing our Tier 2 as much as possible. I have added hyperlinks to the PBIS Missouri's website; the resource I use the most for our school; however they are in the process of rolling out a new website in. the coming weeks, so fingers crossed my links still work! If not, I will update them in future posts. Below is a checklist of things we do and is covered in our powerpoint that we feel has helped us implement SW-PBS with success: 1. Tier 1 Implemented with Fidelity One of the most crucial elements of success with SW-PBS is establishing buy-in and implementation of Tier 1. If your school is just starting out on their SW-PBS journey, then The Missouri PBIS website is a great resource for you. Tier 1 can be a long journey, and it is normal for this to take a few years to make sure it is established within your building and provide enough training and professional development to teachers and staff. 2. Team Roles and Responsibilities Your PBS Team in your building will be your number one resource for implementation. If you area a co-chair or coach for your team, check out the Leadership webpage for great way to designate roles and responsibilities of the team members. It is vital to make sure everyone has a role and they understand their part of their duties; otherwise it will fall all onto one person and this will create burn-out. For a detailed way of how we designate roles, check out the Team Roles and Responsibilities slides in the powerpoint! 3. Teacher Training and Professional Development Teacher buy-in is one imperative factor that we sometimes overlook during the implementation of SW-PBS. No matter how many people say they buy in on paper, there will always be some people who struggle with believing in SW-PBS. One of the most important things to remember as the coach, but maybe not to directly tell staff is that SW-PBS is really for the adults, not for the students. One thing we have done in our building to help with buy-in is to make sure SW-PBS is seen as a forefront of what we do. We allow for the first Professional Learning Community meeting of the month to be centered around SW-PBS. This ensures that everyone in our building is getting the information from the same source. Some things we use when training our teachers are the Eight Essential Classroom Practices. The eight essentials provide a great platform not only to implement Tier 1, but also to help guide teachers on how it should look in a classroom without sounding like you want to micro-manage what is happening in each classroom. Bottom line: the more you involve your teachers, the more buy-in it will create! Check out the Continuous Model of Improvement section in the powerpoint to see how we do this in other ways. 4. Consultant Collaboration Last, but definitely not least is to utilize your trainer or SW-PBS consultant you have at your disposal. In Missouri, we are fortunate enough to have SW-PBS consultants who are assigned to our building when we decide to buy into the program as a school. They help us implement the tiers as we move through them and help us create somethings that is successful for us. Your coaches and administrators will be working the closest with the trainer or consultant, and our encourage use to take back what we learn and to train our own teachers. If you are not fortunate enough to have a trainer, then I encourage you to utilize the free resources online! There are plenty of states that incorporate SW-PBS state-wide, and most will post some, if not all resources for FREE! Missouri is one example, others are: And now......here it is! Our powerpoint! Please feel free to use. and share! Powerpoint from SummerTraining Institute
Also, here are some links to the documents that are referred to in the presentation: Slide 9: Meeting Agenda
I will be sharing more documents throughout the summer, stay tuned!
Questions?? Comments? I would LOVE the feedback! Please share below! Happy Summer,
Happy March All!
Ok, so March only has a few days left in it, but I have been so busy creating that the time has gotten away from me! Plus, a school counselor's life is always a bit crazy in the daily grind. This month has been no exception; between Professional development days, new curriculum, Career units, and getting those 8th graders ready for high school, I am nothing but exhausted by the end of the day! I have used the most of my Spring Break this week rejuevenating and resting, plus a little fun here and there. But I also wanted to share with you a week we celebrate before we leave for Spring Break in our school: SW-PBS Spirit Week! So, how does this week work? Well, let me give you the rundown:
The Purpose
The purpose of SW-PBS Spirit Week is to help maintain a positive atmosphere among teachers and students right before a big break. We actually host it twice a year; the week before Thanksgiving break and the week before Spring Break.
Spirit Days
We have spirit days for the students to help them get pumped up for the week. We let the SW-PBS Leadership Team decide on the days, and then they are approved by our administrator and SW-PBS Team. Here are the Spirit Days they chose for this last spirit week:
PBS Spirit Week for Students
March 20 - 24 MONDAY: Thunderbird Pride! TUESDAY: Athletic wear WEDNESDAY: Luau Day THURSDAY: Hat Day FRIDAY: Rainbow Day
We also have Spirit Days for the teachers as well! We coordinate the days mostly around food and any days where the teachers can dress comfortably. Here are the Spirit Days for the teachers this last spirit week (very inspired by Pinterest):
SW-PBS Spirit Week for Teachers
March 20-24 Monday: There is "Muffin" Better than our Teachers! (Muffins provided) Tuesday: Just "Poppin" in to say there is no one "Butter" than you! (Popcorn provided) Wednesday: Thanks a "Latte" for all you do for PBS! (Coffee Bar) Thursday: "Nacho" average teachers! (Nacho Bar) Friday: PBS is no "Sweat" for you! (Sweats Day)
Check out some of the posters we created for the workroom using the awesome website of Canva:
Golden Tickets
Needless to say, this week is a big hit with students and staff! And it provides the perfect, positive way to cruise into a much needed break.
As a SW-PBS School, we are also busy with recognition paperwork and wrapping up the end of the school year. WE are excited to be attending the 2017 Summer Training Institute in Missouri in June! Check out the link; if your school is serious about SW-PBS, then this conference has a plethora of resources! I hope you all are having a great week and I hope you are finding the energy to finish your school year strong. Hello Everyone! Where did September go? I feel like Labor Day just happened, and here I am, prepping for October already. October is my favorite month out of t he year, but as an educator it is also the busiest month with the first round of parent teacher conferences, meetings, and professional development days. In the hustle and bustle of September, our building managed to get back to the basics with a school-wide reward we have done in the past. When our school started our SW-PBS journey back in 2010, we looked for ways to reward our students building-wide. When you have such a diverse age range like we do, that can be sort of difficult; finding something that will motivate a kindergartner and and eighth grader can prove to be challenging. Nonetheless, we were up to the challenge! So we started a system were the students earned "leaps" on days when the whole building went without an office referral, and/or earned 100% attendance. At certain milestones, we give the students a reward our bulletin board reflects our school theme for the year. Check out how we track this year's progress. in our building: This reward falls on our reward continuum under the Short-Term category. The student body is able to earn these rewards within 10-15 school days.
Rewards So how do we rewards our student body? We look for free and time-efficient rewards. Some rewards we utilize are: -Extra recess time -Technology time -Movie time during lunch -Social time for Jr. high students -Popcorn during lunch -Teacher's Choice How do you reward your student body? We would love to hear your ideas! Have a great start to October! Happy Friday! Last week we had a great start to our PBS lessons being taught in the classroom. All of our teachers covered the procedures for how to use the safe seat and buddy rooms in our building. I remember when we first started PBS in our building. We gave all teachers a schedule of lessons, pre-made lessons, and said, "Teach!". We quickly learned that strategy was not successful. We knew some teachers would teach them, but we knew some teachers never would, no matter how we asked, reinforced, or said we needed to teach them. All we knew is that research says students need to be taught behaviors in order to learn them. So how do we make sure this is done without it being a burden?? This year we decided to experiment with Exit Slips. Exit slips seem to be the quickest way we can monitor the actual lesson being taught, along with the understanding and fidelity of the lesson. The scariest part? Presenting the idea to the faculty. As team leader, one of the hardest things I have to do is ask people to do MORE work. I as a leader know its importance, but how do I get that message across to everyone who needs to implement it?? Even though it can be scary, trying something new and different is what we are going for this year. So, grasping that mantra, we went for the exit slips. Check out them below: If you would like a FREE download of the exit slips, you can download it HERE.
Good luck with your SW-PBS journey this school year! What has been of your school's highlights? Struggles?? We would love to hear from you! Have a great weekend, Hello all! How are we already done with the first full week of school?? Somehow we have flown through this week, and I am sure all the weeks to come will fly just as fast. I am sure you are wondering: how did we prepare our students this week for success this school year? Well, let me tell you, the journey was quite adventurous. The journey starts with your school-wide matrix. Don't have one?? That is perfectly fine. There are plenty of examples on Missouri's SW-PBS website. Now, How do you teach this school-wide? The answer is simple: create a schedule where all students cant travel to each non-classroom location and practice the expectations! Here is an example of a schedule we have used: What Happens:
Each class travels to non-classroom locations in the school building to practice the rule related to the school-wide expectations. There is a teacher at each location reviewing the rules for each expectation, and then have each student practice the rule. For example, there will be a teacher reviewing hallway expectations, and the students will practice how to walk in the hallway and use the appropriate voice level. When it Happens: The first week of school. It is important for this to take place within the first week so that students are given the blanket expectations of the school building. Who Delivers: The SW-PBS team members should be the ones to deliver the teaching. If you have experienced teachers in the building that are not apart of the SW-PBS team and they feel comfortable teaching it, that will also work. Why it Works: This event ensures all students hear the rules at least once in the actual locations they apply. Also, it will help classroom teachers with their weekly SW-PBS lessons throughout the year. Teachers travel with their classes throughout the rotation, so this way new teachers hear the rules as well. I hope your school is planning some fun ways to kick off the school year with SW-PBS. Have some new ideas? Please share them below; I would love to hear them! A new school year can bring feelings of excitement and anxiousness to anyone, no matter how many years you have been working in education. This week in our district, our back-to-school meeting are in full swing. Even after one day, I have experienced a whole range of emotions; and that is even after six years of experience! Nothing can really take me back to the feelings I felt as a new school counselor, but every year still brings the butterflies. S As a SW-PBS leader, there can also be some added stress of how you will teach faculty members to incorporate PBS into the school culture and daily routine. So, how DO you do this? Here are a few tips we have learned over the years: 1. Do NOT cover everything in the year's first faculty meeting. Depending on when your first faculty meeting of the year is, your teachers probably hover somewhere between their summer withdrawal and information overload. Bottom line: People are not going to really take in what you are covering. They are most likely preoccupied with thoughts of getting their lessons or classrooms ready for the year. 2. Make a presence....... Even though you should not cover everything at your first faculty meeting, ask your administer if you can have at least a little time to introduce yourself and the SW-PBS team. This sends a message that your school holds SW-PBS as a priority, and your administrator supports what your team is doing. 3. Yet Keep it Brief. There should be a core number of things everyone needs/has to have for PBS before the first day of school. The small amount of time you are given at the meeting should be the time to hand these items out, or share with teachers where the items can be located. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point, and I promise teachers will be grateful. 4. Focus on newcomers. Every building is bound to have new teachers every year, and it is imperative to make sure they are are one the same page with SW-PBS starting the school year. Ways to ensure new teachers are well-informed:
Each school year is filled with new and exciting possibilities. I wish you and your teams the best of luck!! Good Morning Friends! Even though it is still July, my brain is almost to school mode. Except the part that wakes me up early in the morning, that part is still in summer mode. One of the main tasks I have been taking on this summer is a revamp of our PBS team structure. Like many of you I'm sure, the building I work in once again has a huge staff change. It is never fun, but it is the reality we face. When this happens, we have two choices: 1) We can keep the mold we have and try to squeeze, push, prod, and poke every new person into it, or 2) We can adapt the mold to who we have and what resources we have available to us. After a few years of attempting the former with our team, we have decided to embrace the latter and give it a try. So, how did we do this? Don't get to excited, we didn't completely reinvent the wheel. We still base the core design of our team off the Missouri Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support Model. Here, you will find a handout of the PBS Team Roles and Responsibilities that we base our team roles and responsibilities from. Check out the handout below:
Now, let me share with you the roles we are going to establish with our team this school year:
SW-PBS Team Roles and Responsibilities To download this file, click below:
Overall, your SW-PBS team can be designed or organized however your team wants; remember, it is what is best for your building and your students. Our building is on our PBS journey every day, and we are enjoying the ride.
How does your building structure their team? Do you create new positions or roles? I would love to hear your feedback! Good luck with your summer planning, Jessica Good Morning friends! I thought I would post our presentation from the conference a few weeks ago. My colleague and I had so much fun presenting. We were truly shocked by the positive feedback and responses we received from this presentation. Here is the presentation, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions! Also, stay tuned this summer for some great PBS team tips; our team is going to rock it this school year!
I sit here drinking my coffee this morning thinking about the amazing Summer Training Institute we attended this week. This post is a little delayed because I was exhausted when I got home yesterday; all of that professional development can wear an educator out! The plethora of knowledge that was shared over the course of three days was simply magical; it is always refreshing to learn from other professionals that have so much passion.
Here are the top three things I am taking away from this conference that I plan on bringing back to my school to help with our implementation of SW-PBS: 1. Specific Positive Feedback This topic has been a focus for our faculty for three years now; and it will continue to be one. This is a must if you want to implement Tier 1 with fidelity. What is specific positive feedback? Great question! Specific positive feedback is when you give students feedback on the behavior you want to reinforce. This language is very detailed to what they are doing, compared to telling students, "Good job!" or "nice work!". For example of specific positive feedback, you can say, "Johnny, thank you so much for sitting in your seat quietly. This is helping you and your classmates learn. Keep up the good work!" This will make sure you are reinforcing the correct behavior, along with letting the student know exactly what they are doing that is expected. Check out the awesome presentation by some of Missouri's finest on this topic right here. If you are curious how we implement this at my school, check out my post from the spring right here. 2. Tier 3 Foundations Our school is venturing into the Tier 3 world this year, and setting up a good foundation will be imperative to success. Check out this useful overview of Tier 3 here. Stay tuned on the blog for our journey of starting Tier 3! 3. Social Skills Generalization I attended a breakout session where Dr. Terry Scott gave wonderful examples of how to generalize the social skills taught in small group settings. Check out the handout of the presentation here. I also recommend attending any session or training that is done by Dr. Terry Scott. He does a wonderful jog explaining and simplifying strategies so we as educators can use them effectively. |