A Case for Positive Behavioral Support (PBS) PART I

I finished my ninth half marathon this morning and may have even PR'ed (still waiting for my chip time to post online)! Now that I've refueled with an In and Out grilled cheese/animal style meal (TMI?) I have all afternoon to do non-active things, like blog!

Something that has been on my mind recently is the debate on using incentive, or token, systems as Positive Behavioral Support (PBS) for secondary students. Some make the argument that students should be motivated intrinsically to behave and do well in school; they should do it because that's what they are supposed to do. What happens when the incentive system is taken away and they are unable to maintain on their own?

Parents ask every year, as do other school staff members. I've felt obligated to ask and answer these same questions of myself in order to give a thoughtful reply to these questions. I've spent many hours reading some of the plethora of research articles on PBS and incentive based systems. I don't want to practice anything in my profession that is not supported by research. After all, I am new and I should really leave it to the experts in the field :)

So here is my case:

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my job. I love coming to work, am willing to put in "overtime," and think of my job as really fun most days. That said, if I were not to get paid for this job I love so much, I would certainly not show up. For most learning disabled students, school is not something they LOVE,LOVE, LOVE. It is flat out hard. For many, school has always been a place of negative associations and little success. Hence behavior problems, poor grades and low motivation. Understandable.I can't imagine being forced to show up everyday to do something that I had repeatedly failed at. No adult in their right mind would put themselves in that position.

Do I expect that these students show up to school? Of course, that is the law. But do I expect them to be instantly happy or motivated to do so? Not at all. But, do I think that I can get them to a place where they begin to feel successful and start to replace those negative associations with positive ones? Absolutely.

Enter the incentive system I use with my students, the Student Salary...

Interested at all? STAY TUNED for PART II where I will explain how and why this system works!

Girl's League

If you only have a moment, skip down to the bottom of this blog for the entertainment portion...

Today was the first official meeting of a new club that myself and two colleagues are heading up at Ed Harris called Girl's League. The intent of this club is to create a safe environment where girls can make and foster positive relationships and self-esteem.

The kickoff was a fun, positive experience and I am really looking forward to getting to know each of the girls through the year.

After introducing ourselves, we had the girls think about one woman they look up to and why. The answers they gave were varied. Some girls could barely muster the courage to say who it was they looked up to, let alone why. Some girls spoke of looking up to Michelle Obama, Oprah and Tyra Banks because they are all successful and do good things in this world. Some looked up to the first college graduate in their families. Many girls looked up to their moms and grandmothers for raising their children without a husband's help and/or surviving a difficult childhood and becoming independent and successful women despite.



I shared about the woman I look up to most in this world, my Mom, and felt blessed to be able to relate to what some of the girls had said. I look up to my mom for SO many reasons: she is beautiful, generous, hospitable, strong,intelligent, thoughtful and has a solid faith. But even beyond that, she became this beautiful person out of an incredibly difficult childhood of an alcoholic father, (at times) raising herself, starting work from an early age to support herself, and on. She didn't have a mother who mothered her children consistently well, yet she is the best mother I have ever met. She didn't have wealth in her early life, but she doesn't take for granted what she is blessed with now. She experienced pain and abuse that many haven't and hopefully won't, yet she is joyful and uses what she has learned from her past to encourage and change others lives. My Mom is proof to me that it doesn't matter where you come from or what negative, external things you experienced in your past, the choices you make in life for yourself are what determine the type of person you will become. That makes me proud and happy, and I hope it encouraged my girls as well...



The rest of the club time we talked about what we envisioned for the club. To jump start the "getting to know you" process, we asked each girl to answer two questions on a piece of purple paper before they left:

1) What do you expect and/or want from Girl's League this year?

2) What do you like most about being a girl?

We got great feedback which I compiled into two lists to deliver to the girls during their classes tomorrow. I'm hoping this will excited them to come back for the next meeting. I enjoyed reading through all of their thoughtful responses. However,if you refer back to one of my previous postings, you may not be surprised that I was struck again by the curse of the NO boundaries student who also happened to join Girl's League.

This is her answer to the 2nd question (note where I'm pointing) for your viewing pleasure...

Have a Nice Weekend

I have, what I consider, the best job. My students are, for the most part, very literal. Sometimes I forget that. This leads to some of the most funny, endearing stories.

For instance,the first Friday of the school year when I told my students, in my most serious tone, that their homework assignment was to "have a nice weekend," and three of them came in on Monday ready to turn in essays with some variation of the title "My Nice Weekend."

Only two Fridays later I tried to pull the same trick over on them again. This time, the Friday homework assignment was to, "have a safe and relaxing weekend." Some giggled, remembering what I'd said the first week, but one student raised his hand and looked perturbed. When I called on him he asked in all sincerity, "what if I have a football game this weekend?" I thought fast and responded, "well, do you have pads you will be wearing?" He answered yes, so I told him that he would still be able to meet the requirements of the assignment. He looked relieved.

Picture day was last week. I walked my students over to the multipurpose room and had them go in to take their pictures and meet me outside afterward. When the first photo finisher came out I asked him casually, "alright,_______how was your smile?" I was expecting a verbal answer of yes, no, alright, etc... but he stopped in his tracks and literally demonstrated what his smile looked like in the photo he'd just taken. I thought this adorable act was a one time thing, but I decided I'd go ahead and ask each student the same question as they came out. All but one tried their hardest to replay their exact smile. It was the sweetest and silliest thing I've seen in a while. Maybe ever. Whenever I look at their pictures I can't help but smile at their sincerity and innocence. Take a look and hopefully they'll bring a smile to you too:

I asked for it...

The question on my Student Interest Survey was, "please share anything you want me to know (or that I need to know) before we start our semester together."

Looks like we'll be needing to discuss boundaries this year...

Pop Quiz. Literally...

Even multiple choice test can be fun and engaging. I swear.

My students took their first, 25 question, multiple choice Pop Quiz today.

Sometimes you have to think outside the box when you have students with ADHD and/or low reading skills...

1. Take a regular multiple choice test and cut the questions into strips...


2. Fold up the paper strips small enough to fit through a balloon opening and then blow up/tie off each balloon.

3. Tell students they can take the test the regular way, or a super fun way (make sure you have printed copies ready to threaten with)depending on how they choose to behave.

4. Assuming they choose the latter, ask students take out a piece of binder paper and number 1-25.

5. Next, scare them to death by popping the first balloon yourself and read question number one (I show mine on the ELMO projector for those visual learners) and it's answer options aloud. This is also a great chance to introduce process of elimination and other test taking strategies by MODELING!

6. Students quietly record their answers on the binder paper.

7. While they record their answer, pass the next balloon to a student. They pop the question for number 2 and bring the question strip up for you to project/read.
(They can pop balloon with a pencil, sitting on it or stomping on it!)

8. Repeat numbers 5 and 6 for the remainder of the questions.

Student learning has been assessed and attention has definitely been kept. Plus, it's incredibly entertaining to watch them jump with each pop.
Win-Win-Win!

The Honeymoon Phase? TBD.

Hours of planning Getting to Know You activities, re-reading treasured resources, thinking of engaging ways to present somewhat boring info (syllabi = yawn) and tweaking Rules and Procedures for EVERYTHING I expect of my students,Decorating the classroom to be as warm and inviting as a budget crisis will allow,
Displaying the daily agenda so that students will know exactly where we are headed,
Refreshing my technological skills and making sure all cords are plugged into the right sockets,
Bringing in ample [more] natural lighting to limit the craziness that comes with full-fledged fluorescence,
And even inviting the President to join us...

I tried to cover all my bases to set up for a successful 2009-2010 school year....

But you really never know how things will go until they walk through the door that first day, sit down and look at you, waiting to size up their fate or fortune. I worry so much every year about how they will respond to what I have planned, my high expectations and to me as a teacher/person. It is hard to convey that I care, when they have nothing that backs those words yet. I asked them on day 1 to trust me and let me prove to them that I truly care and that I will bend over backwards to help them succeed as long as they are trying their best (and even when they sometimes aren't). I am humbled that these precious kiddos seem to give me the benefit of the doubt.

It's been two days and my 7th grade students have been nothing but perfect. ADHD, learning disabilities, autism and all. Seriously, its unbelievable. They seem to understand that I am going to be strict with their best interests in mind and haven't yet started to challenge me. At all.

Most would say that this is just the honeymoon phase, the calm before the inevitable storm. Being newly married myself, I understand that the "everything is perfect between us at every moment" stage between anyone ebbs and flows. But what comes with time, care and consistency, is a trust and respect that is able to refine and challenge.

I'm sure my share of challenges with these students will come (I mean, come on, it's Junior High!), but I have to hope that this year will be more than a Honeymoon Phase followed by 8 months of crowd control. This is my year of intentional teaching, disciplining and being, so I think that it will be.

P.S. If anyone wants or knows anyone who wants any beginning of the year materials, suggestions, PowerPoints, resources, etc..please let me know.I'd be more than happy to share :)

Professional Development

Every August, the week before our students arrive, staff meets to discuss CST results, acclimate new teachers, review district-mandated professional development power point presentations,set goals for the school year, etc... While this time can be valuable, it is WAY too much information to process. Therefore, I have decided to "Zen-out" (a skill I learned while taking certain credential courses at CSUS) for some of the day to create head space to think about what I personally need to change this school year so that students can find success in my classroom.

In lieu of backward curriculum mapping, I think it is a good idea to start with where I want to end up and direct every step with that destination in mind.

I pose this question to myself: How do I want to develop professionally this year?

I want my classroom to be a place where those students who have chaos all around them can finally catch a break. At home there may be violence and abuse. In their mind there may be anxiety and loneliness. Will my students finally be able to catch the break they so desperately need, while still being held to standards of excellence? It is up to me to create a dichotomous environment of warmth and demandingness so that these students, who have experienced failure after failure and have been given up on time and again, feel safe enough to take the academic and social risks necessary for them to grow.

I want to become a "warm demander," which is a stance described by a great article we read today during the professional development (see, told you it has it's value!). A warm demander first shows students that they genuinely care and then that they won't accept any excuses for not meeting the expectations that have been clearly set for them both academically and behaviorally. They show students they care by demanding their very best. Some of my students have never had these kinds of expectations set for them before...I'll link up the article rather than continuing to describe it so that you can see what I'm striving for this school year.

I'll try to be reflective of my efforts as often as I can, and hopefully I will see results.