PBIS Monthly Blurbs

2017-2018 Monthly Blurbs

Blurb #5:

We understand that a new year can be a busy and exciting time for many of our staff, students and families. It is often seen as an opportunity to “reset” and return to a more normal schedule and pace. At _______________ (school name) we always take time in January to focus on our school wide expectations (insert here) so we can be sure we are maintaining a safe and effective learning environment for all students. Research shows that re-teaching and reviewing school-wide/classroom expectations creates predictable adult behavior across all settings, providing students with a sense of security. Providing this structure reduces stress and reminds students that it is “business as usual” at school. This decreases the likelihood of problem behavior.  Additionally, increasing our specific positive feedback will not only support students to demonstrate positive behavior, but cultivate a safe, successful and positive learning environment for all.  

Blurb #2:

Learning new skills both behaviorally and academically requires lots of teaching. We help students by teaching and reteaching expectations, giving them feedback, and allowing an opportunity to redo a skill correctly while strengthening our relationship. When guiding students to improve behavioral skills, we also reflect on ways to prevent unexpected behavior. What routine or procedure do I need to reteach? Do I need to increase my active supervision? Am I acknowledging students frequently enough for showing the expected behavior?

Here at _______________, we are focusing on various prevention strategies to increase the likelihood of appropriate behavior.

Blurb #1:

Student Supports at Lincoln Public Schools

At __________ (school name) we want all students to be successful. In order to ensure that students find success, Lincoln Public Schools has developed a framework of best practices for supporting student behavior throughout the school day. This framework includes evidence-based practices that we know lead to more positive outcomes for students. Some of the most powerful practices faculty and staff use include:

  • Developing and teaching all students our school and classroom expectations
  • Acknowledging positive behavior when we see it
  • Consistently practicing strategies that prevent problem behavior before it happens
  • Establishing consistent consequences
  • Using data to make decisions

Here at __________________, (school name) we are working especially hard during these first weeks of school to teach our expectations and acknowledge positive behavior when we see it. In this way, we know we are laying the foundation for a productive and positive school year.

2016-2017 Monthly Blurbs

Blurb #8:

At _______, we strive to create a positive partnership with families and communicate the supports we have in place. Behavioral health and academic success connect to learning inside AND outside of school. Through this partnership, a positive impact can been seen in academic and behavioral growth. A few ways we can enhance this important partnership between school and home include talking about the importance of learning with your child, praising their efforts, and recognizing improvements both academically and behaviorally. Click the link below to learn more:

http://home.lps.org/pbis/files/2015/10/Parent-strategies-PBIS-Impelementation-Manual.pdf

 Blurb #7:

Shaping Prosocial Behavior

Young people need social and emotional skills to succeed in school and in our communities. We shape students behavior to increase self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. These skills are shown to reduce emotional distress, prevent conduct problems, and contribute to higher academic achievement. Social and emotional skills are also critical in building trusting relationships with each other and they encourage students to be engaged in school. We are constantly shaping behavior through our words and actions. Even subtle facial expressions, voice tone, and body language signal positive intentions.

Here are a few ways that we at ___________( name of school) work endlessly to shape pro-social behaviors.

  • Intentionally build relationships with students
  • Directly and frequently teach positive expectations
  • Directly and frequently acknowledge prosocial behaviors
  • Conflicts are resolved by dialogue that gets at the root of the conflict and identifies best ways to move forward

Blurb #6:

When a teacher prompts or solicits a student response, it is called an “Opportunity to Respond”. Responses from students can be in a variety of forms including gestures (thumbs up, raise your hand, etc.), verbals (choral, individual answers, etc.) and written responses (on note cards, white boards, etc.).

Teachers know that when planning for student responses, it is important to:

  • Make sure there are MANY opportunities to respond presented to students.
  • All students have MULTIPLE opportunities to respond.
  • Provide students with a variety of ways they can respond.

Research shows that the use of multiple opportunities to respond results in:

  • An increase of on task behavior.
  • An increase of academic engagement with instruction.
  • Increased rates of positive specific feedback.
  • An increase in the number of correct responses.

At ______ school, teachers are encouraged to refine and develop their students’ opportunities to respond in orde to increase the likelihood that students will meet their academic and behavioral expectations.

Blurb #5:

The Power of Specific Positive Feedback

At ______________school, we acknowledge positive behavior when we see it. We know that when we give specific positive feedback to students, it greatly increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated. In fact, you can improve behavior by 80% just by pointing out what someone is doing correctly.  Now that’s powerful! To shape behavior we connect the specific behavior to the expectation.

At __________, students hear statements like this from adults in the building:

  •     “Sara, thank you for being responsible by following directions and getting started right away. Finishing your work at school means no homework!”
  •     “Justin, thank you for being safe by keeping your hands at your side when walking in the hallway.”

We are creating a positive school climate when students are recognized for doing the right thing. PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) encourages that we try to acknowledge positive behaviors four times more often than correcting inappropriate behavior.

Blurb #4:

Lincoln Public Schools support the academic and behavioral needs of all students. Data is used to determine if students need additional support and to monitor student success. One of the first additional supports that a student may receive is called Check-in Check-out (CICO). Check-in Check-out is an intervention which increases the positive relationship with adults in the school through specific feedback. Specific feedback helps to teach and shape behavior. Students who are participating in CICO receive feedback several times a day as well as a numeric score. A student might hear, “Great job for being responsible today and starting your work right away.” At ______ our Check-in Check-out system is called _________. To learn more about the implementation of PBIS within Lincoln Public Schools please visit www.lps.org keyword PBIS.

Blurb #3:

What are Tier 1, 2, and 3 PBIS Supports?  

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) supports all students in Lincoln Public Schools. Grounded in almost 40 years of research, PBIS is the only evidence- based practice and framework for supporting all students. PBIS has three tiers of academic and behavioral supports:

  • Tier 1 supports are for all students (100%). They assure that students are taught school expectations, that positive behavior is acknowledged, and corrective feedback is provided.
  • Tier 2 supports are for some students (about 20%). They provide students with additional instruction and practice on the school wide expectations. The Tier 2 supports intensify all of the teaching, acknowledgment, and feedback that occurs with Tier 1 supports.
  • Tier 3 supports are for a few students (about 5%). They are focused more on the individual student needs and intensify all previous supports provided in Tier 1 and 2.

These three tiers of support are reviewed by collaborative teams using data. This assures that the supports we put in place for students are working. Level 1 supports are constant and consistent. Level 2 and 3 supports are monitored to support students as long as they may need them.


Here at __________________, we have all three tiers of support for students. We continue to teach our expectations and acknowledge positive behavior when we see it. In this way, we know we are supporting all students to learn the academic and behavior skills necessary for success in and out of school.

Blurb #2:

Research shows that when behavioral expectations are clearly established and taught, children’s problem behavior is prevented or reduced. We cannot assume that children know our expectations, rules or appropriate ways to behave in different settings. Children will learn appropriate behaviors when they are given consistent modeling and practice.

What does it mean to teach behavior? We follow the same basic steps when teaching behavior as we would for teaching any new skill, especially academics.   The graphic below shows a teaching cycle. Think about any new skill you have learned or that you have taught someone else and reflect on the different steps in the teaching cycle. It is critical to move beyond the tell and show phases and give children plenty of practice and feedback about how they did meeting the expectations. Just like we would with an academic error, if a child makes a behavioral error, we engage in re-teaching the expectations.

teaching-cycle

We encourage you to define and teach your expectations at home just like we do at school so the children know exactly what they should do and how they should do it. This helps prevent inappropriate behavior from happening. It could be helpful to use the school-wide expectations when teaching your child your home expectations.

Blurb #1:

What is PBIS?  

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) was adopted by Lincoln Public Schools four years ago. It is not a packaged program or a curriculum, but rather it is a framework for implementing the best evidence-based behavioral practices in order to improve academic and behavioral outcomes for all students. Implementing PBIS has helped LPS schools accomplish the following:

  • Develop ways to prevent behaviors before they happen
  • Define and teach students school and classroom expectations
  • Acknowledge positive behavior
  • Establish consistent consequences
  • Use data to make decisions

Here at __________________, we are working especially hard during these first weeks of school to teach our expectations and acknowledge positive behavior when we see it. In this way, we know we are laying the foundation for a productive and positive school year.