PBIS: Putting Smiling Faces in Your Hallways

Our school has a Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) system in place. The first step of PBIS is to set universal rules and expectations that all students are to follow, like wearing uniforms, specific voice levels in specific parts of the building, hands and feet to self, etc. These universal rules, if done right, are to keep the whole school environment safe and successful. Of course, if Tyreke is a repeat offender at kicking Marco in reading group, obviously the universal rules aren't working for him, and we need to try another behavior intervention with him. But, that's another ball of wax!

At the beginning of the school year, my principal emailed asking the staff for a volunteer to be in charge of the students and homerooms of the month program, which rewards students for following the universal rules of our PBIS program. Since I'm part of the building's PBIS Team, I thought it would be a great way to recognize the kids that are "doing the right thing," instead of dwelling on the ones who are having trouble keeping it together. Plus, how often do I get to see the "good kids"? Our administration team chooses the homerooms of the month, and teachers nominate a student from their class to be a student of the month. They also get the option to nominate a "most improved" student, which I think is fantastic and rewarding for kids who may have hit a rough patch, but were able to get it back together.

As for my responsibilities, I am in charge of collecting names from all the teachers for their students of the month, announcing the names of the homerooms and students on the morning annoucements at the end of the month, handing out certificates and taking pictures of the winning students, and doing two bulletin boards with those pictures. The payoff is seeing all those happy teachers and students passing by the bulletin boards, pointing at pictures of themselves, their friends, or students, and realizing that their hard work is paying off.

Or at least that's how my glass-half-full mind looks at it. :)