Build and Reinforce a FADAF Mindset to Overcome Academic Difficulties

Failures and difficulties can be seen as an end-point or an opportunity for forward progress.  When we teach students to find the feedback in their failures and difficulties, they can pinpoint exactly what they’re doing well and what they need to improve on to help them get closer to their goals. Fortunately, even if students don’t currently have a mindset of resilience and perseverance, this is a mindset that can be taught and grown.

The Efficacy Institute calls this mindset a FADAF mindset, an acronym that stands for “Failure and Difficulty are Feedback”. Check out this PPS created resource for mini lessons, videos, short activities and circle prompts to help your students build a FADAF mindset: elementary version, secondary version.

One of the most helpful things we can do for students to help them build this mindset is to build in time for them to reflect on their progress during a task or their result at the end of a task.  Here are a few reflective forms to help students find the feedback to promote improvement.

#EFFICACY

“Many approaches and programs in schools certainly do not offer students of color an opportunity for true or full equity. Equity has been mis-defined as simply providing rigor or access to all. But it is much more than that. Equity is teaching and learning that is centered in justice, liberation, truth, and freedom, and is free of bias and favoritism. You cannot talk about true justice, liberation, truth and freedom without talking about anti-racism. Equity is not just about adding a multicultural book to the classroom library or providing access to something educationally good or sound. Doing that does not ensure that children will learn about their identities and histories, nor the liberation of themselves, and others. Multicultural books can still be used to teach in incomplete and deficit ways.”  (Muhammed, 2023)

Below are a few resources to get you started in learning about developing more culturally relevant lessons and fostering a culturally relevant environment for your students: 

But That's Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 2.0 aka The Remix

7 C's for Effective Teaching

And to explore even further, click here to visit the Equity Department's Racial Equity Learning Resources.

#Equity

Classroom Behavior Systems Support:  Targeted and Individual Support

Classroom practices are critical to the implementation of PBIS, and are integrated into the successful implementation of behavior supports across all three tiers (midwestpbis2.org).

The 6 critical classroom practices to implement in your classroom are: 

1. Arrange orderly physical environment

2. Classroom Teaching Matrix to establish expectations, rules and routines

3. Employ active supervision

4. Encourage appropriate behaviors

5. Continuum of responses to inappropriate behaviors

6. Engagement and opportunities to respond

Click here for a tool that identifies look-fors associated with each practice that can be used for self, peer or coach reflections and feedback.

#PBIS

Classroom Management - Video

What Is Classroom PBIS?

In the same way, PBIS operates school-wide as a multi-tiered framework; school personnel implement a full continuum of classroom PBIS practices to meet students’ needs. Beyond that, school and district leadership teams offer a tiered approach to training, coaching, and feedback to educators to support their classroom PBIS implementation. By differentiating support levels for all, some, and a few students and educators, leadership teams can effectively support all students and staff.

Why Address PBIS Implementation in Classrooms?

Classroom PBIS is critical to students' and school personnel's success. When PBIS is implemented in the classroom, individual student outcomes improve.[1]  At the school-wide level, schools experience overall improved outcomes and are more likely to sustain their PBIS implementation.[2]

Foundational Elements

There are three foundational elements to classroom PBIS:

• Evidence-based practices
• Systems to support classroom PBIS Implementation
• Data to guide decision making about classroom PBIS implementation

Classroom PBIS Practices

Classroom PBIS practices are preventative and responsive. They are strategies you can implement with all students needing support at any tier. When implemented with fidelity, classroom PBIS practices lead to fewer disruptions, improved student behavioral and academic outcomes, and more time spent teaching,

Positive classroom practices include:

• An effectively designed physical classroom
• Predictable classroom routines
• 3-5 posted positive classroom expectations
• Prompts and active supervision
• Varied opportunities to respond
• Acknowledgements for expected behavior

For more information and ideas for PBIS practices in classroom settings, check out the Supporting and Responding to Behavior Guide.

Classroom PBIS Systems

For classroom PBIS to work effectively, school personnel need school and district leadership to put systems in place to support their effort. Specifically, leadership teams select and implement systems based on documented needs within their district and schools.

Systems supporting classroom PBIS include:

• Classroom PBIS implementation is a school and district priority
• Available district/school resources to support classroom PBIS implementation
• Alignment and integration with other school/district initiatives.
• Clear expectations and explicit training about classroom PBIS practices.
• On-going coaching and performance feedback

More information about implementing PBIS systems in classroom settings can be found in the PBIS Technical Brief on Systems to Support Teacher's Implementation of Positive Classroom Behavior Support.

Classroom PBIS Data

Classroom PBIS requires on-going attention to improve the systems and practices you have in place. Data is an active, dynamic part of informing these decisions. Data are objective, observable, and measurable pieces of information about students, school personnel, and schools. All data should be valid, accurate, reliable, and efficient.

Data guide instruction and classroom PBIS implementation by:

• Assessing how well core features of a practice or system are implemented
• Evaluating progress toward desired goals
• Guiding a problem-solving process
• Informing an action plan for improvement
• Considering local norms and values when selecting and measuring strategies
• Ensuring strategies support all individuals

For more information about which data best support classroom practices and systems, download a copy of the PBIS Technical Guide on Classroom Data.

Tiers of Classroom PBIS

Just as with school-wide PBIS, school personnel implement a multi-tiered system of PBIS practices in their classrooms. In addition, school and district leadership teams implement a full continuum of training, coaching, and professional feedback systems to support school personnel in their classroom efforts. By differentiating support for all, some, and a few students and educators, leadership teams can effectively support all students and staff.

Tier 1

Tier 1 elements of classroom PBIS apply to every student in the room, regardless of the additional supports they receive. At this tier, school personnel should expect to meet the needs of most (>80%) of their students.

These proactive, preventative, positive elements include:

• Designing effective classroom environments
• Developing and teaching predictable classroom routines
• Explicitly posting and teaching positively-stated classroom expectations
• Delivering engaging instruction
• Providing prompts and active supervision
• Acknowledging students with specific praise
• Responding to problem behavior with redirections and corrections

Similarly, at Tier 1, there are systems to support school personnel. At this tier, school and district leadership teams should expect to meet the needs of most (>80%) school personnel. Systems at this tier include, resources, effective professional development, coaching, and feedback.

Tier 2

The goal at Tier 2 is to align a school’s Tier 2 supports with existing classroom practices. For example, school personnel may teach all students a social skill (Tier 1) that individual students learned during a social skills group (Tier 2). During that instruction, school personnel highlight how that skill fits with their classroom expectations. Following instruction, school personnel may increase prompts and specific feedback for that social skill.

Leadership teams may find some educators require more targeted professional support to successfully implement classroom PBIS practices. For example, while all teachers may have a professional development plan, administrators may require mentoring for newly hired teachers as a Tier 2 strategy.

Tier 3

At Tier 3, school personnel support individual students who require intensive, individualized, support. Student-specific teams design behavior support plans (BSP) which include goals for school personnel to implement these strategies..

At this tier, leadership teams and administrators also support school personnel who require intensive, individualized professional development to be successful (e.g., 1:1 consultation). School personnel needing this type of support consult with a behavior coach, mentor, or administrator to develop his/her own individualized professional development plan. The school leadership team’s goal is to ensure that individualized supports are coordinated within the broader continuum of professional development supports.

Get Started with Classroom PBIS

Whether you are brand new to implementing classroom PBIS practices at your school, or you want to improve your existing framework, there are a few concepts to work around first.

Link to school-wide expectations and systems

Classroom PBIS works best when it is implemented within a school-wide PBIS framework. Expectations in the classroom should mirror the expectations at the building level. Aligning classroom expectations with school-wide expectations ensures students not only understand how the classroom works, but also gain a better understanding of what they need to do school-wide.

• Does your Tier 1 implementation include strategies for identifying and teaching expectations, acknowledging appropriate behavior, and responding to misbehavior in the classroom?
• What supports are in place for staff to implement Tier 1 strategies in their context? Examples might include: leadership teaming, supporting policy, coaching, on-going monitoring of implementation.

Integrate with effective instructional design, curriculum, and delivery

It can be more efficient and effective for school personnel to incorporate both academics and the core features of classroom. They are likely to use similar components for delivering quality instruction when they implement positive classroom systems and practices. Why not find ways to do both at the same time?

Monitor using classroom-based data to guide decision making

To use data to drive decisions, it’s important to have a process. We recommend asking the following set of questions in the decision-making cycle (consider questions related to equity along the way):

1. Are core practices and systems implemented with fidelity?
2. Are all individuals achieving desired outcomes?
   a.  If Yes: What is needed to sustain and improve implementation efficiency?
   b.  If No: continue to question 3.
3. What is the nature of the problem?
4. What action plan will enhance implementation?
5. Repeat steps 1-5 regularly.

Resources

There are three resources best suited to guide your classroom PBIS implementation: one for practices, one for systems, and one for data.

Supporting and Responding to Behavior

This is the document to read about classroom PBIS practices. It includes an interactive map of classroom PBIS strategies, a self-assessment, examples of critical practices in elementary and secondary settings and so much more.

PBIS Technical Brief on Systems to Support Educators’ Implementation of Positive Classroom Support

This is a short guide to support school and district leadership teams as they work to implement classroom PBIS systems school-wide.

PBIS Technical Guide on Classroom Data: Using Data to Support Implementation of Positive Classroom Behavior Support Practices and Systems

This document describes the critical features of assessing fidelity, assessing outcomes, ensuring equity, and creating action plans. It walks through the types of data included in a comprehensive decision-making process, how to use data to support classroom PBIS implementation, and recommended tools.

[1](Lewis et al., 2004; Office of Special Education Programs, 2015; Simonsen et al., 2008)

[2](Childs et al. 2016; Mathews et al., 2014)

Source: Center on PBIS | Classroom PBIS

Establishing culturally responsive positive classroom expectations, or norms, that reflect the shared values of a classroom community (i.e., educators, students, families) is an important step toward creating a positive teaching and learning environment. This brief provides guidance for creating and using a classroom teaching matrix to explicitly identify, define, and teach (a) predictable classroom routines, (b) positive classroom expectations, and (c) critical social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills.

Video: Culturally Responsive Responsive Learning through Equitable Classroom Acknowledgement Systems

*Additional source for specific behavior strategies in and outside the classroom.

Source: https://www.pbis.org/

#PBIS

Introducing restorative practice usually requires a complete paradigm shift for all stakeholders involved. Rather than ignoring behavior (neglect), punishing behavior (doing to), or enabling behavior (doing for), restorative practice uses informal and formal processes to address behavior with students. The restorative practices continuum ranges from informal processes (affective statements and questions) to formal processes (impromptu conferencing, “circles” and formal conferencing).

The key to restorative practice lies in the questions asked of those involved. Giving all stakeholders the opportunity to share their version of events enables them to be heard.

Relationship Mapping

Course Content Stem Questions

Circle Planning Template

Community Circle Prompts for Adults

Community Circle Prompts for Students

Restorative Practice Circles Icebreakers

#RestorativePractice

Normalize and Celebrate Mistakes

Mistakes are an inevitable part of life, but so many people—students and adults alike—work to avoid mistakes at all costs.  Not only are mistake inevitable, if used well, they help us learn. 

Click here to read more about ways to embrace mistakes to help our students learn.  Or read below for a few strategies highlighted in the article:

• Focus on errors; don’t ignore them. Acknowledge the mistake that occurred, then provide opportunity for students to work towards fixing it or landing on the correct answer.
• Fail first, then learn.  Spend time analyzing failures!
• Adjust the learning context.  Some students find it challenging to work with others when they’re struggling, while others see benefit in working with others when they’re struggling.  Provide students with options to lessen the emotional challenge of making mistakes in front of others.
• Model self-compassion.  When you fail, share the thoughts you’re thinking that help you realize it’s okay.
• Build positive relationships with students. Cultivate relationships that help your students realize that you value them, their abilities and their strengths.  This will make students more comfortable working through their mistakes with you.

Here’s a short video for students that highlights the power in making mistakes:

#EFFICACY

Promote Equity Using SEL 

When social and emotional learning (SEL) is implemented with a culturally responsive lens, educators can use SEL to cultivate equitable learning opportunities, responsive relationships, and inclusive practices. An equity lens helps educators affirm the identities, strengths, and cultures of all students; elevate their voice and agency; create a sense of belonging; cultivate curiosity and collaborative problem-solving; and more fully nurture the strengths and social and emotional development of all students. Source:schoolguide.casel.org

Resource: 

Guiding Questions for Educators: Promote Equity Using SEL in your School

Learn more about Equity and SEL

Read this article  on Transformative Social and Emotional Learning: In Pursuit of Educational Equity and Excellence 

#SEL

Regularly Provide Students with Effective, Formative Feedback

According to John Hattie’s Visible Thinking for Teachers research, feedback is one of the top 10 influences on student achievement (Hattie, 2012).  However, not all feedback is created equally, and if not careful, feedback can actually have a negative effect on student outcomes. 

Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when providing feedback to students:

And while feedback at the end of a task still has benefit, work to provide as much formative feedback as possible throughout the learning process so that feedback can be used when there is still an opportunity to adjust understanding and show mastery.

Looking for some routines to quickly provide effective feedback to students? Check out this Edutopia article.

#EFFICACY

Relevant References to SEL Competencies Authentically Enhance Academic Instruction  

Student Engagement in Data Analysis

Setting aside time for students to reflect on their academic progress before, during and after assignments helps to place students in the driver’s seat of their learning.  This reflective process is especially important when the reflection occurs in a formative vs. summative manner (Hattie, 2012), that is when students still have an opportunity to adjust their learning.  While there are many effective data analysis protocols to choose from, the Efficacy Institute offers a protocol called Data/Feedback/Strategy or D/F/S:

Students can engage in a data analysis protocol like D/F/S individually, with the help of an adult or even with their peers.  Here are a few reflective forms to support students as they engage in each step of D/F/S.

If you’re looking for additional resources to help your students understand the reasons for engaging in data analysis, how to use it or opportunities to practice, check out this PPS created resource for mini lessons, videos, short activities and circle prompts: elementary version, secondary version.

#EFFICACY

Support the Building of Growth Mindsets in Students

Research shows that explicitly teaching students about growth mindsets has a notable effect on their ability to build a growth mindset as well as their future achievements (Yeager, Hanselman, and Walton et al., 2019). It doesn’t take a lot of time to teach your students about having a growth mindset, but the payoffs can be huge!

Here are a few short videos that explain what happens to your brain as you learn new things, the science behind growth mindset:

Elementary Video 

Secondary Video 

The Efficacy Institute developed student-friendly language that refers to a growth mindset as The Get Smart Model:

Check out this PPS created resource for mini lessons, videos, short activities and circle prompts to teach your students about The Get Smart Model: elementary version, secondary version.

#EFFICACY

Circles can serve academic purposes as well. For example, before beginning Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony, I printed out articles with information about issues affecting Native Americans and laid them on the centerpiece with baskets of pens, pencils, and Post-its. I had students pick an article and read and annotate it. Then I asked questions such as: What predictions do you have about the novel based on these articles? What is something that stood out to you, and provide your reasoning for your choice?

Using Circle Practice in the Classroom | Edutopia

The restorative questions can be reshaped to adjust to an academic situation. Below is a list of the questions and how they can be reshaped.

To respond to challenging behavior reshaped for academics

What happened? (What happened to the main character in the text?)

What were you thinking of at the time? (What do you think that antihero was thinking at the time?)

Who has been affected by what you have done? In what way? (Who was affected when Charlotte the spider passed away? In what way? or "When you received your math test back, who is affected by the grade? In what way?)

What do you think you need to do to make things right? (What do you think needs to happen to make things right in the Babysitter's Club?)

#RestorativePractice

If you are working to implement restorative practices in your school or youth focused organization, one of the many informal practices you may have learned is using “affective statements.”  We agree that affective statements can be a powerful way of modeling to kids and youth better ways to express their feelings.  We also agree that using affective statements is a better way of pointing out behavior issues in a way that creates more connection between student and teacher.  Here’s where we have a problem. The current books, toolkits, and even some workshops give examples of affective statements that sound more like blame statements than connection statements.  We think we can do better.

What are Affective Statements?

They are often described as personal expressions of feelings in response to others’ positive or negative behaviors. The idea is for teachers to connect students with how their behavior is “affecting” or impacting self or others. “Using affective statements helps us to specify the behavior that a student is exhibiting and encourage or discourage that behavior while improving or maintaining the relationship between the teacher and student.”

Making "Affective Statements" More Effective in Restorative Practices - Joe Brummer

Affective Statements Stem

Affective Statements and Language

Constructing an Affective Statements

#RestorativePractice

Restorative Questions- English

Restorative Questions- Spanish

Restorative Questions- Nepali

Restorative Questions- Chinese

Restorative Questions- French

Restorative Questions-Swahili

Restorative questions-Arabic

Restorative Questions-Uzbek

#RestorativePractice

Use of Teaching Practices that Promote SEL

Using Interactive Pedagogy

When instructional practices actively involve students in making meaning of content, they are more deeply engaged in their learning and have meaningful opportunities to practice SEL skills.

Your SEL team can support teachers in collaboratively developing instructional practices that put students’ thinking at the center of the learning.

This section provides guidance for two research-based techniques that all teachers can use to promote SEL:

• Class discussions: Students use communication skills to puzzle over ideas, respectfully compare thinking, and deepen their understanding of content.
• Cooperative learning: Small groups of students use knowledge of their own strengths and the ability to take the perspectives of others to complete learning tasks collectively.

Source: https://schoolguide.casel.org/focus-area-3/classroom/integration-of-sel-and-instruction/using-interactive-pedagogy/

CLASSROOM DISCUSSIONS: 

#SEL

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Education requires a genuine commitment to equity for all students. At the core of CR-SE is an anti-racist undertaking that aims to eliminate the systemic and institutional barriers that inhibit the success of all Pennsylvania students. Use the nine competencies as a guide to provide understanding and language that fosters culturally relevant and sustaining education.

The original version of the PA Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Education Competencies contain reflective questions that can be used to self-assess and grow your practice.

The newest version of the PA Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Education Competencies can be found here.

#Equity

Build and Reinforce a FADAF Mindset to Adjust Problematic Behaviors

Failures and difficulties can be seen as an end-point or an opportunity for forward progress.  When we teach students to find the feedback in their failures and difficulties, they can pinpoint exactly what they’re doing well and what they need to improve on to help them get closer to their goals. Fortunately even if students don’t currently have a mindset of resilience and perseverance, this is a mindset that can be taught and grown.

The Efficacy Institute calls this mindset a FADAF mindset, an acronym that stands for “Failure and Difficulty are Feedback”.  Just like we can use our failures and difficulties to help us find feedback and adjust course with academics, we can do the same with our behaviors.  Check out this PPS created resource for mini lessons, videos, short activities and circle prompts to help your students build a FADAF mindset: elementary version, secondary version.

One of the most helpful things we can do for students to help them build this mindset is to build in time for them to reflect.  When it comes to behavior, this can happen in a variety of ways: reflecting on points earned through the PBIS system, utilizing a check-in/check-out (CICO) system for Tier 2 students, reactive circles following a problematic behavior and especially through restorative conferencing.  Committing to one specific “how” isn’t nearly as important as making sure that you dedicate the time and space for students to reflect on their behaviors.

#EFFICACY

The circle space is a specific form of sacred space, with particular features that are intentionally applied. By sacred space, I mean a protected space that allows for the deepest truth of a human being to come forth and be present. In a broad sense, the restorative circles provide a fundamental orientation for placing human existence in relation to the greater existence of the Earth itself and all its inhabitants. The starting point of all restorative practices is the awareness that each individual life is part of the Earth’s life, which inherently links to every other individual life that exists.

Circle Planning Template

Community Circle Prompts for Adults

Community Circle Prompts for Students

Additional Circle Questions

#RestorativePractice

Creation and Utilization of PBIS Expectation Matrix 

A schoolwide matrix is simply a table that defines expectations in various settings throughout your school campus. Along one axis are the expectations, while the other axis includes locations in which these behaviors are expected. The corresponding cells illuminate what these behaviors look like in various locations.

A schoolwide matrix spells out what positive behaviors look like in the school’s common areas, such as hallways, restrooms, the cafeteria, and so on. It can also cover off-campus conduct such as bus behaviors and virtual learning, as well as in extracurricular settings such as school-sponsored events (1).

Creation and Utilization of Behavior T-Chart & Discipline Flowchart

Each school level Tier 1 Team will need to create a problem behavior definition T-Chart for Minor (teacher managed) vs. Major (Office Managed) Behaviors. Refer to our district’s definition of each behavior to help you create your school-wide T-Chart and Discipline Flow Chart.

• Behavior T-Chart (Office Managed Behavior vs Classroom Managed Behavior) p. 30

#PBIS

Explicitly Teach Positive, Strong Side Behaviors

To help students build their Strong Side, we need to explicitly teach them what their Strong Side looks like.  While Strong Side behaviors can and do look different in different spaces, your school’s PBIS matrix is a great way to outline for students what Strong Side behaviors look like while they’re at school.  As you teach the PBIS expectations to your students, reiterate that when you meet these expectations you are on your Strong Side.

A fun way for students to reflect on Strong Side behaviors is through role play:

1. Provide each small group with a different behavioral situation that regularly occurs in the classroom.
2. Give students time to prepare a role play that highlights a Strong Side reaction and a Weak Side reaction to that situation.
3. Allow groups to perform their role plays for the whole class

On a whole-school level, Student Envoys (or any other group of student leaders) can prepare and perform Strong Side and Weak Side skits during assemblies.  Following each performance, the audience can answer questions such as:

• • Which of our PBIS expectations were highlighted in these skits?
  • Do you have any other suggestions for Strong Sided ways to handle a situation like this?
  • What type of support might someone need to choose their Strong Side in a situation like this?

#EFFICACY

Grow SEL Skills through Proactive Circles

Proactive circles are regularly thought about to build relationships with and amongst students, but have you thought about using proactive circles to grow student skills?  A particularly effective use is to utilize proactive circles to discuss, reflect upon and grow SEL skills.  

When planning a circle for the purpose of SEL skill building, begin by thinking about the skill you're honing in on:

• What do students need to know about this skill?
• What do students already know about this skill?
• How do they show their skills?
• What might they need to do to improve them?

Decide your entry point then develop prompts to engage them both where they are and  push them where they need to grow.

Check out this resource for some example circle prompts related to emotion regulation, one of the most frequently report areas of growth by students on the Panorama SEL Survey: Emotion Regulation Circle Prompts.  

NOTE: Additional circle prompts can be found on Wayfinder. Any of the discussion questions in WayFinder can be used as a circle prompt. If you notice, there is a “Why” question please use the Restorative_Questions.pdf  to help adapt the prompts to open-ended questions. Once you choose a prompt, use the circle planning template to plan your circle!

#RestorativePractice #SEL

Help Students Identify Strategies to Adjust Their Behaviors

Just as one academic strategy doesn’t work for all students, neither does each behavioral strategy.  When debriefing problematic behaviors with students, consider using D/F/S (Data/Feedback/Strategy) to hold students accountable not only for the behavior, but for being part of the solution.

DATA: Discuss pertinent data with the student based on the behavior.  Some data points might include- attendance data, PBIS points, grades, referral data.

FEEDBACK: Before giving your own feedback, provide students with an opportunity to create their own feedback on what they are doing to positively contribute to the data and what they are doing to negatively contribute to the data.

STRATEGY: Serve as a strategic thought partner to help the students develop strategies to improve.  Remember to suggest strategies that are directly linked to the feedback to maximize the ability for the strategy to shift the data moving forward.  Once a strategy is determined, it’s important to regularly come back together to discuss the current data and feedback to allow for maintenance or refinement to get closer to the goal.

Here’s a sample reflection form to use during a D/F/S conversation.  Additionally, here are suggested strategies linked to a school’s PBIS matrix created by an elementary group of Student Envoys.  The left column is a list of maintenance strategies while the right column is a list of improvement strategies.  Providing students with suggested strategies can be a helpful way to support them as they brainstorm strategies to adjust their behavior.

#EFFICACY

What Is Classroom PBIS?

In the same way, PBIS operates school-wide as a multi-tiered framework; school personnel implement a full continuum of classroom PBIS practices to meet students’ needs. Beyond that, school and district leadership teams offer a tiered approach to training, coaching, and feedback to educators to support their classroom PBIS implementation. By differentiating support levels for all, some, and a few students and educators, leadership teams can effectively support all students and staff.

Why Address PBIS Implementation in Classrooms?

Classroom PBIS is critical to students' and school personnel's success. When PBIS is implemented in the classroom, individual student outcomes improve.[1]  At the school-wide level, schools experience overall improved outcomes and are more likely to sustain their PBIS implementation.[2]

Foundational Elements

There are three foundational elements to classroom PBIS:

• Evidence-based practices
• Systems to support classroom PBIS Implementation
• Data to guide decision making about classroom PBIS implementation

Classroom PBIS Practices

Classroom PBIS practices are preventative and responsive. They are strategies you can implement with all students needing support at any tier. When implemented with fidelity, classroom PBIS practices lead to fewer disruptions, improved student behavioral and academic outcomes, and more time spent teaching,

Positive classroom practices include:

• An effectively designed physical classroom
• Predictable classroom routines
• 3-5 posted positive classroom expectations
• Prompts and active supervision
• Varied opportunities to respond
• Acknowledgements for expected behavior

For more information and ideas for PBIS practices in classroom settings, check out the Supporting and Responding to Behavior Guide.

Classroom PBIS Systems

For classroom PBIS to work effectively, school personnel need school and district leadership to put systems in place to support their effort. Specifically, leadership teams select and implement systems based on documented needs within their district and schools.

Systems supporting classroom PBIS include:

• Classroom PBIS implementation is a school and district priority
• Available district/school resources to support classroom PBIS implementation
• Alignment and integration with other school/district initiatives.
• Clear expectations and explicit training about classroom PBIS practices.
• On-going coaching and performance feedback

More information about implementing PBIS systems in classroom settings can be found in the PBIS Technical Brief on Systems to Support Teacher's Implementation of Positive Classroom Behavior Support.

Classroom PBIS Data

Classroom PBIS requires on-going attention to improve the systems and practices you have in place. Data is an active, dynamic part of informing these decisions. Data are objective, observable, and measurable pieces of information about students, school personnel, and schools. All data should be valid, accurate, reliable, and efficient.

Data guide instruction and classroom PBIS implementation by:

• Assessing how well core features of a practice or system are implemented
• Evaluating progress toward desired goals
• Guiding a problem-solving process
• Informing an action plan for improvement
• Considering local norms and values when selecting and measuring strategies
• Ensuring strategies support all individuals

For more information about which data best support classroom practices and systems, download a copy of the PBIS Technical Guide on Classroom Data.

Tiers of Classroom PBIS

Just as with school-wide PBIS, school personnel implement a multi-tiered system of PBIS practices in their classrooms. In addition, school and district leadership teams implement a full continuum of training, coaching, and professional feedback systems to support school personnel in their classroom efforts. By differentiating support for all, some, and a few students and educators, leadership teams can effectively support all students and staff.

Tier 1

Tier 1 elements of classroom PBIS apply to every student in the room, regardless of the additional supports they receive. At this tier, school personnel should expect to meet the needs of most (>80%) of their students.

These proactive, preventative, positive elements include:

• Designing effective classroom environments
• Developing and teaching predictable classroom routines
• Explicitly posting and teaching positively-stated classroom expectations
• Delivering engaging instruction
• Providing prompts and active supervision
• Acknowledging students with specific praise
• Responding to problem behavior with redirections and corrections

Similarly, at Tier 1, there are systems to support school personnel. At this tier, school and district leadership teams should expect to meet the needs of most (>80%) school personnel. Systems at this tier include, resources, effective professional development, coaching, and feedback.

Tier 2

The goal at Tier 2 is to align a school’s Tier 2 supports with existing classroom practices. For example, school personnel may teach all students a social skill (Tier 1) that individual students learned during a social skills group (Tier 2). During that instruction, school personnel highlight how that skill fits with their classroom expectations. Following instruction, school personnel may increase prompts and specific feedback for that social skill.

Leadership teams may find some educators require more targeted professional support to successfully implement classroom PBIS practices. For example, while all teachers may have a professional development plan, administrators may require mentoring for newly hired teachers as a Tier 2 strategy.

Tier 3

At Tier 3, school personnel support individual students who require intensive, individualized, support. Student-specific teams design behavior support plans (BSP) which include goals for school personnel to implement these strategies..

At this tier, leadership teams and administrators also support school personnel who require intensive, individualized professional development to be successful (e.g., 1:1 consultation). School personnel needing this type of support consult with a behavior coach, mentor, or administrator to develop his/her own individualized professional development plan. The school leadership team’s goal is to ensure that individualized supports are coordinated within the broader continuum of professional development supports.

Get Started with Classroom PBIS

Whether you are brand new to implementing classroom PBIS practices at your school, or you want to improve your existing framework, there are a few concepts to work around first.

Link to school-wide expectations and systems

Classroom PBIS works best when it is implemented within a school-wide PBIS framework. Expectations in the classroom should mirror the expectations at the building level. Aligning classroom expectations with school-wide expectations ensures students not only understand how the classroom works, but also gain a better understanding of what they need to do school-wide.

• Does your Tier 1 implementation include strategies for identifying and teaching expectations, acknowledging appropriate behavior, and responding to misbehavior in the classroom?
• What supports are in place for staff to implement Tier 1 strategies in their context? Examples might include: leadership teaming, supporting policy, coaching, on-going monitoring of implementation.

Integrate with effective instructional design, curriculum, and delivery

It can be more efficient and effective for school personnel incorporate both academics and the core features of classroom. They are likely to use similar components for delivering quality instruction when they implement positive classroom systems and practices. Why not find ways to do both at the same time?

Monitor using classroom-based data to guide decision making

To use data to drive decisions, it’s important to have a process. We recommend asking the following set of questions in the decision-making cycle (consider questions related to equity along the way):

1. Are core practices and systems implemented with fidelity?
2. Are all individuals achieving desired outcomes?
   a.  If Yes: What is needed to sustain and improve implementation efficiency?
   b.  If No: continue to question 3.
3. What is the nature of the problem?
4. What action plan will enhance implementation?
5. Repeat steps 1-5 regularly.

Resources

There are three resources best suited to guide your classroom PBIS implementation: one for practices, one for systems, and one for data.

• Supporting and Responding to Behavior

This is the document to read about classroom PBIS practices. It includes an interactive map of classroom PBIS strategies, a self-assessment, examples of critical practices in elementary and secondary settings and so much more.

Classroom Management - Video

• PBIS Technical Brief on Systems to Support Educators’ Implementation of Positive Classroom Support

This is a short guide to support school and district leadership teams as they work to implement classroom PBIS systems school-wide.

• PBIS Technical Guide on Classroom Data: Using Data to Support Implementation of Positive Classroom Behavior Support Practices and Systems

This document describes the critical features of assessing fidelity, assessing outcomes, ensuring equity, and creating action plans. It walks through the types of data included in a comprehensive decision-making process, how to use data to support classroom PBIS implementation, and recommended tools.

[1](Lewis et al., 2004; Office of Special Education Programs, 2015; Simonsen et al., 2008)

[2](Childs et al. 2016; Mathews et al., 2014)

Source: Center on PBIS | Classroom PBIS

Establishing culturally responsive positive classroom expectations, or norms, that reflect the shared values of a classroom community (i.e., educators, students, families) is an important step toward creating a positive teaching and learning environment. This brief provides guidance for creating and using a classroom teaching matrix to explicitly identify, define, and teach (a) predictable classroom routines, (b) positive classroom expectations, and (c) critical social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills.

Video: Culturally Responsive Responsive Learning through Equitable Classroom Acknowledgement Systems

*Additional source for specific behavior strategies in and outside the classroom.

Source: https://www.pbis.org/

Incorporate Student Leaders in Reinforcing Positive, Strong Side Behaviors

What’s better than adults reinforcing positive, Strong Side behaviors? Students reinforcing positive, Strong Side behaviors!  Whenever students are meeting PBIS expectations and working to increase their SEL skills, they are exhibiting Strong Side behaviors. Utilize student leaders such as Student Envoys, Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council representatives, student council, etc. to teach, reinforce and reward Strong Side behaviors in your building. 

Below are a number of activities that student leaders have led with their PPS peers to encourage Strong Side behaviors:

#EFFICACY

Lesson Plans & Schedule for Teaching PBIS Expectations are Taught Monthly/Quarterly

PBIS lesson plans are lessons for teaching positive behavior skills to students in all the touchpoints of the school, such as bathroom, hallway, classroom, cafeteria, playground, etc.  They should align with school-wide expectations, have clear objectives and materials, and include examples, instruction, practice, and evaluation. There should also be a monthly/quarterly schedule of when school-wide expectations will be taught and retaught throughout the school year.  This is necessary for staff and students to gain mastery of what is expected and will then become part of the school culture.  Lesson plans can also be used at other tier levels depending on the need.  The school-wide expectations should be developed by the PBIS team along with staff and student  input.

If we want to ensure students have an opportunity to generalize skills/expectations, we must teach, model, practice, reinforce, and reteach.

Creation and Utilization of PBIS Expectation Matrix 

A schoolwide matrix is simply a table that defines expectations in various settings throughout your school campus. Along one axis are the expectations, while the other axis includes locations in which these behaviors are expected. The corresponding cells illuminate what these behaviors look like in various locations.

A schoolwide matrix spells out what positive behaviors look like in the school’s common areas, such as hallways, restrooms, the cafeteria, and so on. It can also cover off-campus conduct such as bus behaviors and virtual learning, as well as in extracurricular settings such as school-sponsored events (1).

• School-Wide Approach to PBIS
• Examples of Lesson Plan
• Blank Classroom Matrix

        #PBIS

Students Use Self-Assessment and/or Reflect on Their Use of SEL Competencies 

In John Hattie's review of 900 studies of visible learning, one of the highest indicators of a positive impact on student learning was self-reflection (Hattie, 2008) This doesn't mean just having students predict their grades at the end of the term or providing an answer key and have students see how they did but rather continuously providing oppurtunities for students to be invovled in prediciting how they will do. This requires teachers to make learning targets and criteria for success clear and ensure they are understood. This teaching practice emphasizes goal setting and monitoring progress toward that goal. (excerpt from SEL Every Day by Meena Srinivasan pg. 96)

Links/ Resources: 

Learn the benefits and challenges and ways to design self-assessment by clicking this link

Getting Started with Self-Assessment

This article details 4 Steps of Student Self-Assessment

Learn more about Creating a Culture of Student Reflection

This NWEA article showcases the importance of student self-assessment

Active Reading through Self-Assessment: The Student-Made Quiz

#SEL

Teachers Use Skills to Foster Academic Mindsets

Use of Affective Statements to Address Positive and Negative Behaviors

If you are working to implement restorative practices in your school or youth focused organization, one of the many informal practices you may have learned is using “affective statements.”  We agree that affective statements can be a powerful way of modeling to kids and youth better ways to express their feelings.  We also agree that using affective statements is a better way of pointing out behavior issues in a way that creates more connection between student and teacher.  Here’s where we have a problem. The current books, toolkits, and even some workshops give examples of affective statements that sound more like blame statements than connection statements.  We think we can do better.

What are Affective Statements?

They are often described as personal expressions of feelings in response to others’ positive or negative behaviors. The idea is for teachers to connect students with how their behavior is “affecting” or impacting self or others. “Using affective statements helps us to specify the behavior that a student is exhibiting and encourage or discourage that behavior while improving or maintaining the relationship between the teacher and student.”

Below are a few resources to help you as work to make your affective statements more effective:

Making "Affective Statements" More Effective in Restorative Practices - Joe Brummer

Affective Statements Stem

Affective Statements and Language

Constructing an Affective Statements

#RestorativePractice

Reintegration

In order to complete the process, the community allows the person who caused harm to accept responsibility and begin the reintegration process. Reintegration encourages collaboration of the community and the person who caused harm rather than turning toward coercion and isolation. This process recognizes the assets the person who caused harm brings to the table and what they have learned through the process. By accepting responsibility and agreeing to repair the harm, the person who caused harm creates space and trust to be reintegrated into the community.

The 5 R's of Restorative Justice - Conflict Center

General Conflict Script

Informal Reintegration

#RestorativePractice

Establishing Learning Environment and Circle Expectations Practice

Background: In restorative practice, we strive to be in the WITH box, displaying high support and high control. One way we do this is to make sure we not only understand the school-setting norms, but we consistently review the norms. We know once we break the routine, we may not keep up with certain expectations. Repeating the norms daily and checking-in to ensure that all stakeholders are maintaining the norms keeps us in the WITH box of having high support and high control in our school settings.

Directions: Establish learning environment/ circle norms (Staff along with students will develop 5 learning environment/ circle norms for all stakeholders to adhere to.)

After norms are established, conduct frequent check-in circles before the next module to see where everyone strived or struggled when it comes to maintaining the learning environment/ circle norms.

Examples of learning environment/ circle norms may be:

•Be engaged

•Be Respectful of the opinions of others

•Be authentically you

•One speaker at a time

Use of Mindfulness Practices to Promote Self-Regulation 

When we teach mindfulness to kids, we equip them with tools to build self-esteem, manage stress, and skillfully approach challenges. Explore our guide on how to introduce mindfulness and meditation to your children—at any age. When we teach mindfulness to kids, we equip them with tools to build self-esteem, manage stress, and skillfully approach challenges. Explore our guide on how to introduce mindfulness and meditation to your children—at any age. (Source: https://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-for-kids/ )

Resources: 

Deep Breathing

Calm Breathing Techniques

Self-Awareness Mindfulness Practice

Deep Breathing Strategies for Self-Regulation

Body Scan

Experiencing Joy

Resource for Mindfulness for Staff 

Mindfulness Staff PP

#SEL

Utilization of Check-In Check-Out Intervention Protocol

Check-In Check-Out is a Tier 2 PBIS intervention protocol where students needing additional supports receive a facilitator/mentor to meet with them at the beginning and end of the day to provide encouragement, review goals and strategize for a good day ahead.  While students meet with their mentor at the beginning and end of the day, feedback is received throughout the day in every class that a student attends.

It's important that Tier 2 PBIS strategies appropriately match a specific student's needs. The following are indicative of a student benefitting from the Check-In Check-Out intervention: 

• Low-level behaviors (reoccurring minor incidents)
•  2-5 office referrals
• Behavior occurs across multiple locations

If your PBIS team determines that Check-In Check-Out is an appropriate intervention for a student, below are the 5 key steps for implementing an effective Check-In Check-Out protocol: 

To learn more about each step of Check-In Check-Out and to view examples, please click here. 

When Necessary, Teachers Coach Students on the Use of SEL Competencies 

In this guide from Panorama Education, you'll learn about the five core SEL competencies—complete with definitions and examples of what these competencies may look like and sound like in practice. 

A Guide to the Core SEL Competencies for Students

#SEL

Differentiated Options for Family Engagement

When districts support families through thoughtful, equitable policies and programs, it encourages broader community engagement that can help to enrich student learning and optimize student success. (Panorama Education)

Family Engagement in Schools: A Comprehensive Guide from Panorama Education

This resource is a guide for schools on how to engage families in authentic partnerships. 

Learn more about the key responsibilities of School-Family partnership

Check out this cool resource on ways to enage families in the CASEL 5 Competencies

#SEL

PBIS Framework

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. When implemented with fidelity, PBIS improves social emotional competence, academic success, and school climate. It also improves teachers' health and wellbeing. It is a way to create positive, predictable, equitable and safe learning environments where everyone thrives (2).

• PPS – PBIS

#PBIS

Embrace a Students First Standard of Service

Customer service is:

• An attitude NOT a department.
• A personal responsibility of every employee at all levels.
• A marketing and recruitment strategy. 

In developing the PPS Experience, we seek to develop standard expectations so customer experience from person to person and building to building are consistent. 

Always remember that students and Pittsburgh Public Schools employees are customers, too. By creating positive and supportive school cultures, all students will feel valued, families will feel welcomed, staff will feel supported, and community partners will feel engaged. 

Below are a few tips to help all PPS employees embrace a students first standard of service: 

- S: Say hello and begin each engagement with warmth and promptness. 

- T: Treat everyone with dignity and respect. 

- U: Understand the needs of your customers so that you may anticipate their needs and exceed their expectations. 

- D: Demonstrate great customer service. 

- E: Engage kindly and empathetically. 

- N: Never pass up an opportunity to promote your school, department, or the District. 

- T: Thank and check back in. 

- S: Students First Always, in all ways. 

For additional information and tips to help you provide exceptional customer service, visit https://www.pghschools.org/customerservice. 

Provide Opportunities for Students to Share Feedback with Administrators

When there’s a school issue to be solved, it too often lands solely on the shoulders of staff.  Involving students in the problem-solving process helps to uncover the root cause of the problem, distributes the work needed to fix the problem and further engages students in their school community.

Consider hosting a quarterly feedback session for student leaders to share their feedback on what is going well and what could be improved in their school.  If you already have a student leadership group like Student Envoys or Student Council, these representatives can gather feedback from their peers to ensure that the views they share with school leadership are representative of their peers.  If a student leadership group does not exist in your school, invite a student from each homeroom to participate in the session. Below are some tips to maximize the effectiveness of these feedback sessions:

1. Have student leaders engage in a process with their homeroom to gather feedback such as creating a survey or hosting a conversation.
2. Summarize the feedback and compile an agenda to make sure the most widely held opinions are shared during the session.
3. During the feedback session, start with what is going well then move on to what could be improved.
4. Take notes and decide on actionable next steps!

Additional strategies for allowing students to share feedback with administrators include: a suggestion box placed in a highly trafficked student area, administrator office hours to receive student feedback, and/or a schoolwide student perception survey.

#EFFICACY

School Culture Strategies are Rooted in Student Data and Feedback 

Just like academic decision making is rooted in data, so should be our school culture-related decisions.  When it comes to school culture-related data, there are many different sources to analyze and inform decision making.  Below are a few data sources with links for accessing the data:

• Teaching and Learning Conditions Survey- annual school-based staff perception survey
• Panorama SEL Survey- biannual student survey to measure student perceptions of their SEL skill strengths and opportunity areas
• PBIS Dashboard- up-to-date snapshot of reported events that can be filtered by event type, time and location specifics, and student demographics
• Attendance Data- up-to-date snapshots of regular attendance and the attendance rate

Used in isolation and combined, these data points can help paint a picture of school culture on the school-level.  Once the data is reviewed, staff should be provided with opportunities to voice feedback to better understand why the data looks the way it does.  Based on the added feedback, strategies can be put into place to work towards moving the data positively.  Here is a basic graphic organizer that can be used to guide data, feedback and proposed strategy conversations with staff.

 EXAMPLE: 

Here is a year-long calendar of SEL skills to focus on each month based on Panorama data. After analyzing the data, students reported weaknesses in emotion regulation and self-efficacy.  From there, conversations were had about the use of SEL time, the resources available and sequencing to develop a plan for the next year.  If you would like support analyzing SEL data to create a differentiated SEL calendar for your school, please contact schoolculture@pghschools.org.

#EFFICACY

Fair Process has a central idea, such as: …Individuals are most likely to trust and cooperate freely with systems – whether they themselves win or lose by those systems – when fair process is observed.

There is a difference between systems, e.g., individual classrooms, entire school districts, criminal justice settings, workplaces, etc. For Example:

o …STUDENTS are most likely to trust and cooperate freely with TEACHERS – whether they themselves win or lose by those systems – when fair process is observed.

o …TEACHERS are most likely to trust and cooperate freely with ADMINISTRATORS – whether they themselves win or lose by those systems – when fair process is observed.

o …PARENTS are most likely to trust and cooperate freely with SCHOOL SYSTEMS – whether they themselves win or lose by those systems – when fair process is observed.

Fair process has three components. When these components are observed, individuals – students AND adults, are more likely to trust and cooperate with systems and decisions, even if they don’t get their way! Simply engaging WITH people via fair process helps folks to “come along” and makes them more likely to be content with the outcome, simply because they were involved in it.

Fair process includes

Engagement. In restorative practice, we focus on engaging with students to hear their voices, to let them know that their thoughts, opinions, and input is being heard and is welcome and valued.

Explanation. We take time to talk with students and explain why decisions were made. They have the opportunity to hear from others and hopefully understand the rationale behind the decision, especially as it relates to a consequence or punishment. It’s not a black box mystery “Mrs. So-and-so doesn’t like me, so I got detention.” Rather, they hear the impact that their behavior had on others, and see why there’s a reason for something to occur. Again, we’ll see in a bit about a strategy to do this.

This is a chance for you, as an authority figure, to reinforce your basic rationale: “This is the decision I made, and this is why.”

Finally, Expectation Clarity. In restorative practice, expectations are made clear to individuals. You can’t just do whatever you feel you want to. Remember, control is high. Expectations for appropriate behavior still exist, but with high support, agreements are reached that include the voice of students, and appropriate follow-up is done to ensure that students meet expectations. Students can’t just say that they’ll do something and not comply. If they say it but don’t follow through, there's a consequence to be imposed. This is also included in the strategy we’ll see, which is called “affective questions”.

The combination of support and expectation is evident when utilizing all three components of fair process. (WITH). When in a position of authority and making decisions, fair process is a check to stay in the WITH box.

Fair Process Learning Activity

Fair Process

#RestorativePractice

Why Circles ?

The reasons for circles are the following:

• Equality – everyone literally has equal seating.

• Equity – everyone has the same opportunity to speak and have their voice heard.

• Safety and trust – you can see everyone else in the circle.

• Responsibility – everyone plays a role.

• Reminds you to facilitate – rather than lecture.

• Builds connections – everyone hears everyone else’s response.

• Ownership – shared sense of ownership felt by all participants.

September 11th Circle Discussion

Social Justice Circle Prompts

How to Talk to Students About Mass Shooters

How to Talk to Students About Intersectionality- Circle Prompts

Values and Agreements Activity

Terms - Sexuality and Gender Definitions

We See Color and Accept You- Lesson Plan

Welcoming Those Who are Different- Lesson Plan

What do you think when you hear BLM- Lesson Plan

Affective Statement Sentence Stems Student

Constructing an Affective Statement handout

Preguntas_Restaurativas

Restorative Questions Chinese Version

Restorative Questions- English

Restorative Questions- French

Restorative Questions- Nepali Version

Restorative Questions Swahili Version

Restorative questions-Arabic

Restorative Questions-Uzbek

#RestorativePractice

Why Circles ?

The reasons for circles are the following:

• Equality – everyone literally has equal seating.

• Equity – everyone has the same opportunity to speak and have their voice heard.

• Safety and trust – you can see everyone else in the circle.

• Responsibility – everyone plays a role.

• Reminds you to facilitate – rather than lecture.

• Builds connections – everyone hears everyone else’s response.

• Ownership – shared sense of ownership felt by all participants.

September 11th Circle Discussion

Social Justice Circle Prompts

How to Talk to Students About Mass Shooters

How to Talk to Students About Intersectionality- Circle Prompts

Values and Agreements Activity

Terms - Sexuality and Gender Definitions

We See Color and Accept You- Lesson Plan

Welcoming Those Who are Different- Lesson Plan

What do you think when you hear BLM- Lesson Plan

#RestorativePractice

Use of PBIS Dashboard in PowerBI to Collect and Analyze Discipline Data 

A defining feature of PBIS is continuous improvement driven by data. Teams collect and analyze data to diagnose problems or gaps and select strategies to address these challenges. Data tells us which strategies are most effective, so we continue to include them in our repertoire (5).

• Video: Power Bi How to Use Microsoft Power Bi
• Using Data to Make Decisions

#PBIS

 Meaningful, Creative, and Recent Student Work is Prominently Displayed

A classroom filled with the work of children is a delight to be in and sends a message to students that their work and their learning are important. Although early in the school year, the teacher might do much of the display planning and caretaking, as the year progresses, students can take an increasingly active role in displaying their work. There are several ways in which children can be involved. They can simply choose pieces of their own work that they give to the teacher to assemble into a display. They can create the actual display by, for example, designing and putting together a bulletin board. And they can manage the entire process from choosing the work, to building the display, to providing ongoing maintenance. (Excerpt from Responsive Classrooms) 

Learn more about displaying student work from Responsive Classrooms

Learn more about showcasing student learning here

If you want to deepen your learning on how to highlight student work, click here

#SEL

Creating a Welcoming Back to School Environment

With a focus on Social Emotional Learning at the beginning of the school year, you can help to lay the foundation for a positive school culture in your classroom and your school.  

Here are a few SEL strategies, recommended by CASEL, to narrow your focus: 

- Get to Know Students

- Create Shared Agreements

- Set Goals

- Welcome Students Warmly at Back to School Night

- Check in with Yourself and Your Colleagues

For additional information, check out this article. 

Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy and Classroom Acknowledgement

Most school systems reflect the beliefs, cultures, values, and worldview of the White American Society.   For some students who fit this mold, school can be a seemless, uninterrupted transition between home and the school community, according to S. Hurley, 2019. What about the rest of our students? PPS has a large diverse population making up many diverse communities and countries.  "Yet in many important ways, school systems have not responded to this significant cultural shift," (S. Hurley, 19).  While most, if not all, of our students now go through metal detectors upon school entry, checking all of their personal items and belongings, Hurley suggests that they are often asked to check their cultural assets, which makes them unique, at the school house door as well.

Establishing culturally responsive, relevant and positive classroom expectations, or norms, that reflect the shared values of a classroom community (i.e., educators, students, families) is an important step toward creating a positive teaching and learning environment. This brief provides guidance for creating and using a classroom teaching matrix to explicitly identify, define, and teach (a) predictable classroom routines, (b) positive classroom expectations, and (c) critical social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills.

By creating a culturally responsive, relevant, and sustaining classroom environment, students of different races and backgrounds not only see themselves in their learning, but feel fairly treated, connected, and supported.  

Here are a variety of examples and tools to use to organically recognize/acknowledge/praise students daily.

"The relationships you build with students make a big difference in the way your whole school feels. An important way to create a positive impact is to acknowledge when you see students doing the right thing. We created Be+ to give you an easy, accessible way to remind, count, and track all the times you offer positive acknowledgements to your students every day. The possibilities are endless with this app. We can’t wait to see how you take advantage of it in your school (PBIS.org)."

Be+ App- A Great Way To Acknowledge and Praise Students

ClassDojo

#PBIS

Incorporate Student Leaders in Reinforcing Positive, Strong Side Behaviors

What’s better than adults reinforcing positive, Strong Side behaviors? Students reinforcing positive, Strong Side behaviors!  Whenever students are meeting PBIS expectations and working to increase their SEL skills, they are exhibiting Strong Side behaviors. Leverage the relationships of student leaders with their peers to teach, reinforce and reward Strong Side behaviors in your building. 

Below are a number of activities that student leaders have led with their PPS peers to encourage Strong Side behaviors:

#EFFICACY

Monthly/Quarterly Lesson Plans & Schedule for Teaching PBIS Expectation

PBIS lesson plans are lessons for teaching positive behavior skills to students in all the touchpoints of the school, such as bathroom, hallway, classroom, cafeteria, playground, etc.  They should align with school-wide expectations, have clear objectives and materials, and include examples, instruction, practice, and evaluation. There should also be a monthly/quarterly schedule of when school-wide expectations will be taught and retaught throughout the school year.  This is necessary for staff and students to gain mastery of what is expected and will then become part of the school culture.  Lesson plans can also be used at other tier levels depending on the need.  The school-wide expectations should be developed by the PBIS team along with staff and student input.

Example of Reteach Schedule

#PBIS

Restorative practice is a philosophy or guiding principle that sees relationships as central to learning, growth, and a healthy community or organizational climate. Restorative practice aims to provide proactive strategies to build a sense of community, encourage relationship building, and decrease confrontations.

Circle Planning Template

Community Circle Prompts for Adults

Community Circle Prompts for Students

Additional Circle Questions

#RestorativePractice

Provide Opportunities for Students to Learn from Each Other

According to John Hattie’s Visible Learning Plus research, feedback, peer tutoring and reflection are all impactful teaching strategies (Hattie, 2017). So why not bring all of these strategies together with the added bonus of student relationship building?

Assign student leaders to serve as feedback partners for students who are struggling academically or behaviorally.  Together, the student leader and student in need of additional support can reflect on the student’s current data, discuss feedback together and suggest strategies for improvement.  Here’s a peer feedback form that can be distributed to student leaders to guide their conversation. Suggested strategies can and should be updated based on grade-level, content area and behavioral expectations.

Here are some tips for creating a culture of feedback that maximize the benefits of peer feedback:

• Emphasize reflection, not correction
• Assign feedback partners
• Offer choices through a peer feedback choice board
• Deliver feedback that is specific
• Model feedback, and suggest peer feedback sentence starters
• Prompt deeper engagement

#EFFICACY

Provide Students with Opportunities to Offer Feedback on School Conditions

When there’s a school issue to be solved, it too often lands solely on the shoulders of staff.  Involving students in the problem-solving process helps to uncover the root cause of the problem, distributes the work needed to fix the problem and further engages students in their school community.

Consider hosting a quarterly feedback session for student leaders to share their feedback on what is going well and what could be improved in their school.  If you already have a student leadership group like Student Envoys or Student Council, these representatives can gather feedback from their peers to ensure that the views they share with school leadership are representative of their peers.  If a student leadership group does not exist in your school, invite a student from each homeroom to participate in the session. Below are some tips to maximize the effectiveness of these feedback sessions:

1. Have student leaders engage in a process with their homeroom to gather feedback such as creating a survey or hosting a conversation.
2. Summarize the feedback and compile an agenda to make sure the most widely held opinions are shared during the session.
3. During the feedback session, start with what is going well then move on to what could be improved.
4. Take notes and decide on actionable next steps!

Just like quarterly feedback sessions can be held on the school-wide level, they can also be held on the classroom level with a whole class or a subset of students!

#EFFICACY

Reintegration

In order to complete the process, the community allows the person who caused harm to accept responsibility and begin the reintegration process. Reintegration encourages collaboration of the community and the person who caused harm rather than turning toward coercion and isolation. This process recognizes the assets the person who caused harm brings to the table and what they have learned through the process. By accepting responsibility and agreeing to repair the harm, the person who caused harm creates space and trust to be reintegrated into the community.

The 5 R's of Restorative Justice - Conflict Center

General Conflict Script

Informal Reintegration

Reintegration Reflection Prompts

Reintegration Case Study

#RestorativePractice

Use of PBIS Dashboard in PowerBI to Collect and Analyze Discipline Data 

A defining feature of PBIS is continuous improvement driven by data. Teams collect and analyze data to diagnose problems or gaps and select strategies to address these challenges. Data tells us which strategies are most effective, so we continue to include them in our repertoire (5).

#PBIS

Responsive Circles

Restorative Circles is a space for the community to gather as a response to wrongdoing or conflict. The community impacted discusses what happened, the impact it has on the community, and what is needed to make things right. Common examples include microaggressions that are witnessed in a classroom or conflicts as a result of miscommunication between members of a group. Restorative circles give every participant an opportunity to speak and be heard. 

The purpose of the circle is to:

• understand impact on others,

• take accountability,

• repair harm,

• rebuild relationships, and

• create an agreement for moving forward

Restorative Questions- Swahili

Restorative Questions- Uzbek

Restorative Questions- Chinese

Restorative Questions- Nepali

Restorative Questions- Arabic

Restorative Questions- English

Responsive Circle Sample Script

Responsive circle Scenario

Responsive Circle staff Climate Script

Restorative Questions Elementary School

#RestorativePractices

Impromptu Conversations fall close to the middle of the Restorative Practice Continuum. Impromptu conversations can be both proactive and responsive. They are relational and informal and are consistent with the restorative culture of the school. In places in the United Kingdom, they call them restorative chats, which have a nice ring to it and convey their dialogic intent. An example of this is by saying statements such as:

“Excuse me before we go into class. Can we check-in?”, 

Crouching next to a student {within a safe distance} and stating, “Hey, I see you seem tired today, do you need anything?” or “Hey I see you have your head down, how can I  help?”,

Or in the hallway as a class passes by “I like how fourth grade is following the hallway norms” 

The idea of using small impromptu conversations may be new for a few of us, while others use them implicitly without knowing the name of the technique. Just like any new task, practice helps us to become proficient or even distinguished in having diverse, evidence-based tools in our toolbox. Here is a guide to help with these impromptu conversations. Please feel free to take a picture of this slide. You can also find information about scripting an impromptu conversation on page 91 of your Restorative Practices Playbook. 

•Tell the story: "What happened? I'd like to hear your story first."

•Explore harm: "Who do you think has been affected?"

•Repair the harm: "What needs to happen so that it can be right again?"

•Reach an agreement: "What help do you need to make things right or to move forward?"

•Plan a follow-up: "What's a good time to check in with you to see how you are doing?"

#RestorativePractice

Active listening is a communication skill that involves going beyond simply hearing the words that another person speaks but also seeking to understand the meaning and intent behind them. It requires being an active participant in the communication process.

Active listening techniques include:

• Being fully present in the conversation
• Showing interest by practicing good eye contact
• Noticing (and using) non-verbal cues
• Asking open-ended questions to encourage further responses
• Paraphrasing and reflecting back what has been said
• Listening to understand rather than to respond
• Withholding judgment and advice

Active Listening: Techniques, Benefits, Examples (verywellmind.com)

Affective Listening

#RestorativePractice

Allow Student Choice in Their Classroom Learning Experience

Providing students with a voice in their learning experiences is a great way to make them feel valued and included.  When given the opportunity, students are able to provide meaningful feedback into classroom instruction and activities (Flutter and Rudduck, 2004).  From the overall classroom culture to content to instruction, there are countless opportunities in a day to offer students choice and voice in their learning experience.  Below are a few strategies compiled by the Institute of Education Sciences (2020) to incorporate student voice to increase equity:

Note: right-click image and click "open in new tab" to enlarge.

#EFFICACY

At least 1 Parent Serves on PBIS team 

• Family Role in PBIS

#PBIS

Clear Avenues Invite Student Voice and/or Choice at the School and Classroom Level

Student voice refers to the "values, opinions, beliefs, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds of individual students and groups of students in a school, and instructional approaches and techniques that are based on student choices, interests, passions, and ambitions." (Great Schools Partnership, 2013) (Excerpt from SEL Every Day pg. 98) 

When student voice and choice are authentic and not just symbolic, it also develops student agency, which is defined as "learning through activities that are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests, and often self-initiated with appropriate guidance from teachers" (EdWords, n.d.)  (Excerpt from SEL Every Day pg. 98)

SEL Every Day (pg. 99-100) 

5 Ways to Give Your Students More Voice and Choice

Strategies for Elevating Student Voice

Student Survey: How I Feel About My Classroom

Voice and Choice in a Student Centered Classroom

Student Empowerment Opportunities

Classroom Routines That Support Students’ Voice and Choice

#SEL

Inclusion of Community Partners 

School communities can deepen the impact of systemic social and emotional learning by thoughtfully and intentionally leveraging community partnerships. Through prioritizing alignment – in language, in strategies, in practice and in communication around SEL – we ensure that youth have opportunities to deepen their SEL skills in seamless ways across all learning environments. (Source: https://casel.org/ )

Learn more about coordinating SEL work with community partners 

Check out this tool on how to partner with community organizations to support SEL 

Help students understand and cultivate awareness about their community using this resource

This tool will support growing your relationships with community partners.

#SEL

Incorporate Student Voice in the School Improvement Planning Process

All high schools are required to invite at least 1 student to participate in their school improvement planning process. But what does meaningful engagement look like for student participation? And why not include a student in the process for elementary and middle schools as well?

Below are suggestions for ways to meaningfully include students at different points in the school improvement planning process:

• Invite a group of students to have a discussion around the Essential Practices.  Consider narrowing the scope of the practices for this conversation to include only Condition 1 (academics) and Condition 3 (school culture).  Utilize the feedback generated from this discussion to help determine academic and school culture areas of focus.
• Share the academic and school culture priority statements over the announcements and ask teachers to conduct a classroom brainstorm for possible action steps that could benefit those areas.
• Review action plans with student leaders, and ask for their feedback on the likelihood of the proposed plans positively impacting the areas of focus.  Provide the student leaders with opportunity to propose edits and additions to the drafted action steps.
• Write student leaders/leadership groups into your action plan.  Share the action steps you are asking them to complete and begin drafting a plan to help them complete those action steps.

By including students in the school improvement planning process, there is a greater likelihood that the chosen strategies will have the intended effect.  When certain voices are left out, the opportunity to hear their feedback is missed, which could result in the choosing of strategies that don’t fully align to what is needed to achieve your intended result.  When we’re all working together in a data-driven way towards our goals, this is collective efficacy.

#EFFICACY

One of the most profound experiences we can have in our lives is the connection we have with other human beings. Positive and supportive relationships will help us to feel healthier, happier, and more satisfied with our lives. So here are a few tips to help you to develop more positive and healthy relationships in all areas of your life:

1. Accept and celebrate differences. One of the biggest challenges we experience in relationships is that we are all different. We can perceive the world in many ways. Certainly astumbling block that we come across when we try to build relationships is a desire or an expectation that people will think like we do and, in this way, it is so much easier to create a rapport. We feel more comfortable when we feel that people “get” us and can see our point of view. Life, however, would be very dull if we were all the same and, while we may find it initially easier, the novelty of sameness soon would wear off. So accepting and celebrating that we are all different is a great starting point.

2. Listen effectively. Listening is a crucial skill in boosting another person’s self-esteem, the silent form of flattery that makes people feel supported and valued. Listening and understanding what others communicate to us is the most important part of successful interaction and vice versa.

Active or reflective listening is the single most useful and important listening skill. In active listening, we also are genuinely interested in understanding what the other person is thinking, feeling, wanting, or what the message means, and we are active in checking out our understanding before we respond with our own new message. We restate or paraphrase our understanding of their message and reflect it back to the sender for verification. This verification or feedback process is what distinguishes active listening and makes it effective.

3. Give people your time. Giving time to people is also a huge gift. In a world where time is of the essence and we are trying to fit in more than one lifetime, we don’t always have the time to give to our loved ones, friends, and work colleagues. Technology has somewhat eroded our ability to build real rapport and we attempt to multi-task by texting and talking at the same time.

Being present in the time you give to people is also important, so that, when you are with someone, you are truly with someone and not dwelling in the past or worrying about the future. The connection we make with other people is the verytouchstone of our existence, and devoting time, energy, and effort to developing and building relationships is one of the most valuable life skills.

4. Develop your communication skills. Communication occurs when someone understands you, not just when you speak. One of the biggest dangers with communication is that we can work on the assumption that the other person has understood the message we are trying to get across.

Poor communication in the workplace can lead to a culture of back stabbing and blame, which, in turn, can affect our stress levels, especially when we don’t understand something or feel we have been misled. It also can have a positive effect on morale when it works well and motivates individuals to want to come into work and do a great job.

5. Manage mobile technology. By now, pretty much everyone has a mobile phone and many people have two or more. While they are a lifesaver in an emergency, and an effective tool for communication, they also can be a complete distraction when people exhibit a lack of mobile phone etiquette.

6. Learn to give and take feedback. Feedback, in my opinion, is the food of progress, and while it may not always taste great, it can be very good for you. The ability to provide constructive feedback to others helps them to tap into their personal potential and can help to forge positive and mutually beneficial relationships. From your own personal perspective, any feedback you receive is free information and you can choose whether you want to take it on board or not. It can help you to tap into your blind spot and get a different perspective.

7. Learn to trust more. A long time ago, my brother and I had a philosophical debate about what was more important in a relationship—love, trust, or passion. I was a lot younger and more naive then and caught up in the heady rollercoaster of sensation seeking. I have grown to understand, however, that trust is hugely important in any relationship. Years later, I bought my brother a photograph of a little girl who was smiling and staring confidently at the camera with an elephant’s foot just above her head. The caption was: “To trust is more important than love.” I believe that sentiment is true because no love will last without equal amounts of respect and trust.

8. Develop empathy. There is a great expression that I learned a long time ago: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Empathy and understanding builds connections between people. It is a state of perceiving and relating to another person’s feelings and needs without blaming, giving advice, or trying to fix the situation. Empathy also means “reading” another person’s inner state and interpreting it in a way that will help the other person and offer support and develop mutual trust.

Every relationship we have can teach us something, and by building positive relationships with others, we will be happier and more fulfilled and feel more supported, supportive, and connected.

Quick Tips

• Ensure that the relationship you have with yourself is a positive one.
• Accept and celebrate the fact that we are all different.
• Actively listen to hear what other people have to say.
• Give people time and “be present” when you are with them.
• Develop and work on your communication skills.
• Manage mobile technology and be aware of its pitfalls.
• Learn to give and take constructive feedback.
• Open your heart and find the courage to trust.
• Learn to be more understanding and empathetic.
• Treat people as you would like to be treated yourself.

8 Tips for Developing Positive Relationships (trainingmag.com)

#RestorativePractice

At Least 1 Student Serves on School’s PBIS Team (High Schools) 

When students have voice and agency in their education, magical things start to happen.  Students can drive how their educational environment (culture) feels.  This act of agency can enhance a system that purely exists to serve students. Instead of being told what to do every minute of their school day, students will begin to take ownership of their environment if they have a voice and choice in their school day.  Allowing this gives an effective way to bring an inclusive, welcoming, and deeply engaging school and classroom environment, where students are engaged in their learning.

Student Voice on PBIS Acknowledgement System & Implementation at the school level

Student Envoy & Student Voice

Most Pittsburgh Public Schools now have student voice groups known as Student Envoys.  Our Student Envoy groups our student leadership groups that not only help with various activities around our schools, they also give voice to our student population.  Elementary, middle and high schools have Student Envoy groups who can be invited to contribute and advocate for fair and equitable treatment and school systems. Schools that do not have a Student Envoy should consider starting one. In the meantime, provide a space for student representation to be a part of your PBIS Tier 1 Team.

Incentivizing of Positive Behaviors through Acknowledgment System 

1.9 Feedback and Acknowledgement:

A formal system (i.e., written set of procedures for specific behavior feedback that is [a] linked to school-wide expectations and [b] used across settings and within classrooms) is in place and used by at least 90% of a sample of staff and received by at least 50% of a sample of students (p.44).

School-wide positive behavior support (SW-PBS) is effective, efficient and consistent practice for implementing a school’s code of conduct. Also, it provides consistent school-wide and school-based guidelines for responding to student behavior (4). Safe and Caring Schools Policy, Department of Education, 2006.

Powerful Video:  Rainbows Over Housing Projects  

                   #PBIS

Fair Process has a central idea, such as: …Individuals are most likely to trust and cooperate freely with systems – whether they themselves win or lose by those systems – when fair process is observed.

There is a difference between systems, e.g., individual classrooms, entire school districts, criminal justice settings, workplaces, etc. For Example:

o …STUDENTS are most likely to trust and cooperate freely with TEACHERS – whether they themselves win or lose by those systems – when fair process is observed.

o …TEACHERS are most likely to trust and cooperate freely with ADMINISTRATORS – whether they themselves win or lose by those systems – when fair process is observed.

o …PARENTS are most likely to trust and cooperate freely with SCHOOL SYSTEMS – whether they themselves win or lose by those systems – when fair process is observed.

Fair process has three components. When these components are observed, individuals – students AND adults, are more likely to trust and cooperate with systems and decisions, even if they don’t get their way! Simply engaging WITH people via fair process helps folks to “come along” and makes them more likely to be content with the outcome, simply because they were involved in it.

Fair process includes

Engagement. In restorative practice, we focus on engaging with students to hear their voices, to let them know that their thoughts, opinions, and input is being heard and is welcome and valued.

Explanation. We take time to talk with students and explain why decisions were made. They have the opportunity to hear from others and hopefully understand the rationale behind the decision, especially as it relates to a consequence or punishment. It’s not a black box mystery “Mrs. So-and-so doesn’t like me, so I got detention.” Rather, they hear the impact that their behavior had on others, and see why there’s a reason for something to occur. Again, we’ll see in a bit about a strategy to do this.

This is a chance for you, as an authority figure, to reinforce your basic rationale: “This is the decision I made, and this is why.”

Finally, Expectation Clarity. In restorative practice, expectations are made clear to individuals. You can’t just do whatever you feel you want to. Remember, control is high. Expectations for appropriate behavior still exist, but with high support, agreements are reached that include the voice of students, and appropriate follow-up is done to ensure that students meet expectations. Students can’t just say that they’ll do something and not comply. If they say it but don’t follow through, there's a consequence to be imposed. This is also included in the strategy we’ll see, which is called “affective questions”.

The combination of support and expectation is evident when utilizing all three components of fair process. (WITH). When in a position of authority and making decisions, fair process is a check to stay in the WITH box.

Fair Process Learning Activity

Fair Process

#RestorativePractice

Why Circles ?

The reasons for circles are the following:

• Equality – everyone literally has equal seating.

• Equity – everyone has the same opportunity to speak and have their voice heard.

• Safety and trust – you can see everyone else in the circle.

• Responsibility – everyone plays a role.

• Reminds you to facilitate – rather than lecture.

• Builds connections – everyone hears everyone else’s response.

• Ownership – shared sense of ownership felt by all participants.

Effective Communication With Older Children

Effective Communication With Younger Children

Home Respect Agreement Instructions

#RestorativePractice

Fishbowl Circles

• Fishbowls are an effective way to use circles with a larger number of participants.

• The fishbowl allows certain participants – in the inner circle – to be active participants, while those in the outer circle act as observers.

• It can be structured entirely for the observers' benefit, so that they can watch a specific process or interaction.

• It can also be used for the participants' benefit by allowing the observers to share their feedback at the end of the activity.

• The fishbowl can be designed to benefit both the observers and the participants.

• A modification of the fishbowl is to include an empty chair in the inner circle.

o Those in the outer circle are invited to leave their seats and sit in the empty chair to briefly participate in the discussion.

o After they say what they want, they return to their original seats, leaving the empty chair available for anyone else who wishes to participate.

o The empty chair is a helpful tool in fishbowls, even if members of the outer circle do not use the empty chair, they know they can – which helps them pay more attention to the activity.

o This may be hard for some to visualize, but we will be doing a fishbowl exercise later in the day.

Circles are not "special events.”

They are a way of doing business, of accomplishing the things we need to get done in the classroom, whether that's getting to know one another, discussing an academic topic or addressing behavior.

Like lectures, video and small group discussions, circles are just another possible delivery mode for teachers.

#RestorativePractice