Feb - Coffee Talk Tuesday Summary
Behaviors, ODRs, Flowcharts, OH MY!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our virtual coffee talk session.
In this insight, we want to share the thoughts that were on our minds as we met to discuss our favorite topic: behavior. Fortunately we have a lot of experience with this subject and a lot of resources to share. Our facilitator this month, Mr. John Speer, is a seasoned educator who taught in high school classroom for years, and has also lead educators as an assistant principal, principal, district athletic director, and assistant superintendent.
What follows is not a complete lesson on student behavior, just some thoughts we shared during the Coffee Talk. For a How-To guide, get our PBIS Tier 1 Manual.
We hope you will join us next time!
Accountability Prerequisites
Everyone want to hold students accountable for their bad behavior. Right? But before we do can do that consistently, predictably, and equitably, a few things must be in place. For giggles, let’s call these prerequisites Tier 1 PBIS/MTSS practices:
Expectations - As a school community, decide on 3-4 school wide expectations and define what each looks like/sounds like/feels like. For example: In the classroom we expect Respect and define it as using school appropriate language, following staff directions, and collaborating with peers.
Teach Expectations - Create lessons plans to teach each expectation (and defined skills) in each location of the school. Create large 3’ x 4’ posters with the expectations and skills in each location so that teachers can easy remind students and students can easily remind each other of the expected behavior in that location (such as the classroom, hallway, cafeteria, etc.).
Reinforce Expectations - Just like we acknowledge students when they give us the correct academic answer (with grades, GPA, showing their work on our bulletin board, putting them on the honor roll) we should also acknowledge students when they demonstrate our social expectations at the schools. Teach staff this prompt: Thanks for showing (Expectation) by (Skill). For example, “Thanks for showing Respect by using school appropriate language”.
Accountability - Once these three prerequisites are in place, you can hold students accountable with a 4-Part Accountability System:
Defined Behavior
Behavior Flowchart
ODR Forms and Procedures
Database
Behaviors
Every person on planet earth defines “Respect” differently. It’s almost certain that your district or charter school or private school has a student handbook with a section that defines a whole bunch of behavior violations. Do not reinvent the wheel. Use your current list so that you are consistent, predictable, and equitable.
Identify which behaviors are Minor, those initially managed by the teacher or school staff who see’s the problem behavior. Next, list the behaviors that are Major, and immediately sent to the office. This list of Major/Minor behaviors becomes part of your Behavior Flowchart. Here is a list with definitions of problem behaviors.
Problem Behavior Definitions - Sample (DOC)
ODRs
Office Discipline Referral (ODR) forms must include 10 pieces of information to allow your PBIS/MTSS team to analyze the Big 7 data graphs on a monthly basis (minimum). Here are some templates to compare to your current system or practices:
ODR Form - Sample (Google Doc) (PDF)
ODR Handling Procedures - Sample (PDF)
See more on our Tier 1 Resources page, look under Accountability System.
Behavior Flowchart
The purpose of an Adult Behavior Flowchart is to ensure staff are consistent, predictable, and equitable when holding students accountable to the school expectations. Are you noticing a theme yet? Here are some resources to get you started:
Behavior Flowchart - Template (Google Doc) (DOC)
Behavior Flowchart Student Lesson Plan - Template (Google Doc) (DOCX)
Behavior Flowchart Staff Case Study (Google Slides) (PPT)
Database - Oh My!
The database is critical (not a Google form or excel file - that is just not good enough, ask me why and I can share a dozen reasons). For an inexpensive option, check out SWIS from the national Center on PBIS: PBISapps.
Please ensure your ODR form (if it is paper-based) is in the same order as your database entry form, this makes data entry very quick and less frustrating then hunting for data.
See our Insight blog titled Is Your School Database Ready for PBIS? for details.
Hope to See You Next Time!
Thanks again to all who participated! If you happened to miss this coffee chat, please join us for the next one. We’d love to have you be part of the conversation. If you’ve already registered, no need to register again–you will be invited to all the chats for the remainder of this school year! If you have not attended before, please sign up at our Events page. As always, If you ever have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.