Positive Behavior
Support (PBS)
Volume 2, Issue 1
PBS Update
November 2007
PBS training and efforts have ral data. brainstormi more ways to com-
continued in full force for the municate with parents about
Schools have continued to have
Goals of all PBS 2007-2008 school year. PBS and involve them in the
individuals trained in SWIS
Schools: process. Coaches and trainers
New PBS Schools: Teams data entry. Administrators were
• Create a more invi- are looking forward to gather-
from eleven additional schools offered a special SWIS training
tational school cli- ing these ideas and sharing
completed the first five days of session to learn more about the
mate. them between schools to fur-
PBS training at the beginning SWIS data management system
• Implement school- ther establish connections with
wide expectations of August, giving these schools and how to use it to proactively
parents.
for student behavior. the chance to implement PBS identify and address trends in
• Improve safety and at the first of the school year. office discipline referrals as Upcoming Training: PBS
civility in the school’s well as how it may be useful Orientation sessions are being
common areas and New Coaches: As the PBS
when addressing individual offered to schools interested in
classrooms. program grows, four additional
student office discipline refer- becoming PBS schools. Five
• Create positive pro- coaches joined the district PBS
rals. and a half days of team training
cedures to meet the team in order to provide sup-
Surveys: Faculty and staff at will be offered for new schools
needs of all students. port to new schools.
during the Spring semester.
PBS schools have recently
Team Training: Teams
completed surveys regarding Additional introductory train-
trained in past years have at-
In this Issue whether or not certain PBS ing sessions about PBS are
tended booster sessions this
systems are in place or not in planned for principals and as-
Fall focusing on data driven
their school. Teams will be sistant principals, school coun-
PBS Update 1 decision making. This training
analyzing these results, sharing selors, school psychologists,
covered the reasons it is impor-
the information with staff, and and school social workers to
PBS Spotlight 1 tant to use data to guide deci-
developing plans to address provide a background in PBS
sion making, steps to ensure
features that are not in place. principles and concepts.
Avoiding Power 2 data is accurate and valid, and
Struggles how to run and evaluate re- Parent Involvement: PBS
Ten Variables that 2 ports on office discipline refer- teams are also beginning to
Affect Compliance
Coming Soon 2 PBS Schools in the Spotlight
PBS Trainers and day. The team meets weekly and Northwest High School for
Coachers would like has made PBS a visible part of using technology to spread the
to recognize: the school climate! word about school-wide ex-
pectations and common area
Northeast Middle School Western High School for de-
expectations. Check out the
for showing initiative and sign and implementation of the
PBS Student Behavior Matrix
commitment to the PBS proc- “Stinger Bucks” school-wide
on their school website.
ess. There are bulletin boards encouragement plan. The PBS
up in every hallway. The PBS team has created a “bank” for SCALE for having their prin-
team presents at every faculty Stinger Bucks and has filled and cipal, Russel Woodward, at-
meeting and developed and opened a “store” where students tend 100% of their team
presented a half day training can purchase merchandise with meetings.
for staff on an early release their Stinger Bucks.
Keep up the good work!!!
Avoiding Power Struggles
After spending a couple of months • Bringing up past issues your original request in response to
with a group of students, most of us • Using sarcasm and put-downs the student’s argument.
know which ones can really push our • Having unrealistic expectations • Take a teacher time-out (at least
buttons. For some students, we have • Getting angry yourself mentally). “I need some time to
already acquired a list of previous think about this. I’ll get back to
offences and we are just waiting on Instead, try some of these strategies you.”
them to misbehave again. It is crucial known as “graceful exits”
that we remember some key strate- • Use a short, simple statement to
gies for avoiding power struggles. acknowledge the student’s Remember:
power, table the matter, and
When a student gets angry, argumen- schedule a conference. “You may There is no confrontation if
tative, or even attacks you personally, be right. Let’s talk after class.”
don’t fall into one of these common • Use the broken record technique, you do not choose to join in!
traps: to calmly and repeatedly state
Ten Variables That Affect Compliance
#1 FORMAT Use a statement format, not a ques- #4 ONE REQUEST/ONE REPEAT Make one request
tion format. at a time. Repeat the request a maximum of one time. Don’t
nag!
#2 DISTANCE Avoid invading the student’s per-
sonal space but do not correct a student from #5 LOUDNESS Use a soft but firm voice rather than a
across the room. loud and emotional voice.
#6 TIME Give students time to comply.
#7 MORE START THAN STOP REQUESTS State
behavior you want in positive terms rather than telling stu-
dents to stop doing something.
#8 NON-EMOTIONAL REQUESTS Leave the
negative and emotional requests at home; they interfere with
compliance.
#9 DESCRIPTIVE REQUESTS Make your requests
brief, descriptive, and objective.
#3 EYE CONTACT Look at the child but do
not demand that the child look at you. #10 REINFORCEMENT FOR COMPLIANCE Do
not ignore compliance; acknowledge it! A brief “thank you”
can mean a lot.
Coming Soon:
• Tips on communicating with students
• Tips for correcting student misbehavior Enjoy the Holiday Season!
• 4:1 ratio review
Page 2 Positive Behavior Support (PBS)