PBS or Positive Behavior Support might sound complicated or fancy but chances are you are already doing many PBS strategies in your classroom. On today’s show, we will talk about my favorite PBS strategies and why they are essential to a well functioning classroom.
PBS are strategies that teachers and schools use to support positive behaviors and improve the behaviors of students. For those that are well versed in PBS you know that there are 3 levels of support systems.
Tier one supports are universal supports that address most students’ needs.
Tier two supports are more targeted and focus on 10-15% of students who may need more support or additional interventions from Tier one.
Tier three supports are in place for about 5% of students who may need intensive intervention.
For today’s podcast, we are going to focus on tier 1 which supports the majority of the students you will interact with. Below are my top 5 PBS strategies that I use daily with my students.
Routines - Set up clear routines that students need to follow, don’t assume they know what to do. At the beginning of the school year, we spend time working on setting up our class “norms” or “guidelines” that we will follow throughout the year. I like to have my 8th graders help me with these but I usually have a set of guidelines in mind, in case they get a little off task. You can grab a copy of my class “Steps to Success” here.
Modeling - Modeling goes along with my routines. Showing students the correct way to do something and either modeling it yourself or having other students model the routines is very helpful.
Breaks - Thankfully my students are old enough to change classes which gives them a little break but putting breaks in your learning is a great way to help students self regulate and can lead to more positive outcomes. A simple way to include a break is to have the students take a deep break for a few seconds at the start or end of the class or before a big assessment. This gives them time to calm down before moving on to the task at hand.
Proximity - This is a great type of silent signal to help students get back on task. My students often work in partners and groups and when they are doing this I move around the room as much as possible, even if they don’t need my help. This simple action, lets the students know that I am focused on what they are doing and they should be too!
Rewards - This is my FAVORITE of all my PBS strategies. Rewarding positive behaviors. Rewards should be tangible and given out based on very specific criteria. My Class Points system plays off of my class “Steps to Success”. Each of my 5 classes as the chance to earn 5 points a day. The points are earned for:
Quickly and quietly starting the warm up
Coming prepared for class (not having to go to your locker)
Following instructions during the activity for the day
Being polite, kind and respectful
Keeping the classroom clean
They can also earn bonus points for things like everyone having completed homework, insightful questioning or discussions, positive reports for substitutes or anything else that goes along with our general guidelines. The class at the end of the week that has the most points gets a prize the following week.
I also love giving out bonus rewards with my “Wheel of Winners”. This is a prize wheel I have in my classroom that can be spun by any non-team visitors. If they land on the yellow “win” spot the class earns 2 bonus points and a jolly rancher. If the visitor comes in and the class is not behaving, they do not get the spin. This not only encourages positive behavior but it also invites other people in the building to visit the class and see what we are up to. My principal and vice principal love to come and spin the wheel!
I hope that some of these tips or strategies sound doable for you. If you have any other PBS strategies that you use in your classroom, leave a comment or send me a DM on Instagram so we can support each other.
Thanks for listening!
Don’t forget to check out our website www.mrsbadessoteaches.com
Follow on social:
Instagram: @MrsBadessoTeaches
Facebook: MrsBadessoTeaches
Sign up for our email list here: https://forms.gle/yb2imYRH3zC4PdXh7