Planning a virtual PBIS team meeting?
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If the Spring walkthrough was completed, reflect on TFI goals for next year and prioritize next steps.
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If the scheduled Spring walkthrough was unable to be completed, we recommend using the TFI to reflect on next steps and focus areas for next year.
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Look ahead to the Fall when considering how staff can refresh routines and support community building among staff, students, or families. You can find the pbis.org brief here which shares some considerations.
Several PBIS team leaders have asked about meeting virtually as a team before the end of the school year. If you are planning to meet as a PBIS team before the end of the school year, below are some agenda items that might be helpful to guide your discussion. Your PBIS coaches are able to join you virtually:
Family support resources
When reinforcing classroom expectations, teachers often talk to students about how to recognize their emotions. This can help students make positive choices in the classroom. At home, working to recognize our emotions can be just as useful! Check out this awesome video for families!
Work Avoidance & Motivation
The following ASCD article offers great tips for families supporting learning at home. They point out that students’ work avoidance may not be a lack of motivation but may reflect a need to teach them how to engage in work and to develop skills. The following excerpt shares:
“Chunking (breaking work into smaller pieces) can help students with low initiation skills. Give them one [section] at a time instead of the whole [assignment], or tell them to do only the even-numbered problems...For a writing assignment, try filling in the first sentence and first half of the second. Stopping in the middle of a word, mid-sentence, is a great way to get the student to continue. He/she can be taught to stop mid-sentence so when he returns to the assignment it'll be easier to keep working.”
Helping Anxious Students Move Forward - Educational Leadership
Behavior is a Form of Communication
Remember, behavior is communication. Your children may respond differently to situations depending on their age. To the right is a resource shared by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network regarding some reactions according to age group and the best ways you can respond.
(resource: Helping Children Cope):
Parks and Recreation has offered some awesome resources in their recent newsletter! Check out these cool virtual tours and their Fitness and Wellness Facebook page which posts great at-home workouts!
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Do Good From Home
If students and families are looking for ways to help others during this time, here is a great opportunity to share with your community!
Student support resources
Responding to Difficult Questions
As we keep lines of communication and connection open, educators need to feel prepared to respond to difficult questions from stressed and traumatized students. Here is an excerpt from a recent ASCD article “Maintaining Connections, Reducing Anxiety While School Is Closed” which offers suggestions for responding:
Validate feelings. Before you make any suggestions, reflect back something like "It sounds like you're scared" or "I'm sorry you are so worried." Tell the student it's normal to feel anxious when routines have changed.
Stay calm. Sometimes it's not what you say, but how you say it. When reassuring students, have the cadence, intonation, and volume of your voice on the phone or video mimic the way you would read a story to a youngster. Students are watching us. If we seem anxious, it could confirm their worst fears.
Remind students to look for the helpers. Mr. Rogers famously said that when frightening information is on the news, children should look for the helpers. This positive focus helps deter negative thinking. A wonderful suggestion to give students after they report an upsetting news story is to ask them to count the helpers mentioned, focusing them on the good that often far outnumbers the bad. Young students can be asked to list five helpers supporting people at this time. Teens might write a letter to—or an essay about—a helper.
Staying connected and informed during this time can be challenging. Check out this awesome resource provided to Seniors at Green Run HS!​
The Power of Teacher Feedback
The power of praise when influencing student behavior is that it both indicates teacher approval and informs the student about how the praised academic performance or behavior conforms to teacher expectations (Burnett, 2001). As with any potential classroom reinforcer, praise has the ability to improve student academic or behavioral performance—but only if the student finds it reinforcing (Akin-Little et al., 2004). Here are several suggestions from Interventional Central for shaping praise to increase its effectiveness:
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Describe specific noteworthy student behavior connecting to school expectations (i.e. safe, respectful, responsible or social emotional skills such as social awareness).
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Praise effort and accomplishment, not ability. It can help students to see a direct link between the effort that they invest in a task and improved academic or behavioral performance.
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Connect feedback to student goals related to accuracy, fluency, growth or learning targets.
Interventioncentral.org
Our school staff are finding creative ways to continue or create traditions in order to nurture community and connection during our time at home.
Below are a couple of highlights!
Trantwood staff use Flipgrid to maintain connection with military-connected staff and students!
Visual Morning Announcements at Brickell Academy
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“We Miss Our Lions Week” celebrating community and connection all week!
#LionStrong
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