By Hadlee Larsen
Enhancing many school environments, PBIS, also known as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support, has been applied to over 16,000 schools across the United States which has shown to foster education. This is intended to help boost good behavior in students and school environments. Many may wonder why this system is so effective for students and teachers alike.
PBIS is basically all the expectations that are set by the school for the students and teachers along with all the support and PBIS leaders to go along with those expectations.
Michelle Taylor, a student advocate at Fremont, speaks about the impact this system has. She states “This is just all around helping every kid so we are teaching everybody to learn what respect is and what responsibility is, so the supports are there for all kids not just the behavioral.”
To help promote these good expectations there are three main focuses to PBIS: be safe, be respectful, and be responsible. These target different sections of improvement for what the students may need to focus or work on.
There are also three tiers to the system that help classify students’ needs and focuses. Tier 1 is basic support, tier 2 is increased support, and tier 3 is further support. An example is if a student is seen having some difficulties after being in tier 1, they can get bumped up to tier 2 which gives them more additional support.
To go along with noticing those students that are struggling, teachers are also looking out for students that are improving and following those expectations. When a teacher becomes aware of good behavior from a student they will give them a ticket for one of those 3 focuses. Once a student has received three tickets for that certain focus, such as respect, they are given a bracelet. When a student has obtained all of the three bracelets they qualify to enter a raffle for a limited edition silverwolves t-shirt. The tickets can be entered into a different raffle to win gift cards for places such as Skinny Dogz, Cinemark, Toads and more.
Nelson Nash, a science teacher and PBIS leader stated, “As a teacher, it got me excited to reward kids that maybe don’t get rewarded all the time and so, me personally, I’m trying to pay closer attention to good behavior.” PBIS not only helps improve students’ lives, but teachers’ as well. This allows the teachers to direct more attention and recognition towards the students who do those good things.
This program can serve as a reminder to teachers and staff to look for good behavior in all students. It has set the tone and fosters a healthy environment for many classrooms and culture in schools. Remember to be safe, respectful, and responsible. It can help in more ways than you know.
