Encouraged, a much belated update

Just stopping in to give a very overdue and brief update on our school's implementation of PBIS. 

Of note, there has been an administrative change at our school this year.  One headmaster left for another district as our school's restructuring plans were being finalized.  The new structure moved us from two headmasters to one principal and an assistant principal.  The remaining headmaster was chosen as principal and we hired a former teacher from a neighboring district as assistant principal.  The assistant principal comes from Beecher Elementary, a school using Responsive Classroom.  In a lovely show of irony, the headmaster who left became principal at a school in a district that uses Responsive Classroom system wide. 

In addition, new staff members have joined the "behavior committee" and bring their responsive rather than controlling style to group.  Over the summer some of the committee attended training in Responsive Classroom and saw how well it can complement PBIS.

Updates on the program and training were provided to the school/parent community over the summer.

Within the first month of school, an informational meeting for parents was held by the "behavior committee."  Most parents were very appreciative to have a time for discussion and questions.  I commend the school for providing information proactively. 

At that informational meeting what was outlined is not the "canned" version of PBIS with extrinsic rewards at its core.  Rather, it was very encouraging to hear that the committee has been mindfully tailoring a program specific to our needs as a community of learners.  In particular, BCS will not be using a system of external motivators.  We seem to be taking the best parts of PBIS - consistency, information gathering, well articulated expectations - and combining them with a more responsive format.  Noted were the importance of building positive relationships, providing meaningful learning experiences, and meeting the needs of the full array of students - those behaving regularly to those who struggle daily with behavior. 

(photo by woodleywonderworks)

It was explained that teachers will have autonomy to decide what classroom management works best for the students in their classrooms.  Teachers are being encouraged (and hopefully supported), to reduce (and even eliminate) the reliance on "class-wide" punishments/incentives such as needing a certain number of stars for the class to get a reward.  Students have shared how detrimental this type of system is for developing a positive, caring community.  As my daughter, Emma, stated "they create enemies kid to kid and kid to teacher." 

(photo by dchrisoh)

I am encouraged to be told our district is not just picking up PBIS and slapping it on our students and teachers.  I am encouraged by the personnel changes and that responsive-minded staff have joined the committee.  I am encouraged by the sharing of information.  I hope the goal of helping children develop responsibility and the desire for behaving well in an appropriate and engaging learning environment remains in sight as time goes on. 

If you are visiting this site because your school is adopting PBIS and you have issues with the program I would encourage you to speak up.  It seems voices may have been heard here in Bethany.  I remain very encouraged as the year progresses.

My best,

~Aimee Cotton Bogush

REPOST: Beecher uses Responsive Classroom and they are in good company...

I repeat...our neighbor, Beecher Road School, uses Responsive Classroom -- an approach Bethany Community School did not even consider in their haste to adopt PBIS.  But it's not too late...let's take a look at Responsive Classroom especially since Beecher students COMBINE with Bethany Community School students to attend Amity Middle School together.  Here is the parent info on Beecher's website regarding Responsive Classroom.  And, Responsive Classroom can be used with PBIS instead of the rewards/incentives/tokens.  The Responsive Classroom site has a 2-page fact sheet and an 9-page white paper on combining their approach with PBIS.

Beecher is in good company.  Quinnipiac University trains prospective teachers in Responsive Classroom in their educator preparation classes, and below is information on a handful of the many Connecticut schools using Responsive Classroom school-wide:

• Branchville Elementary School in Ridgefield, CT uses Responsive Classroom.  Follow these links for a newspaper article about their decision and to their school's site.
• A study was done at K.T. Murphy School in Stamford, Connecticut demonstrating Responsive Classroom has a positive impact on the social skills and behaviors of those at the school.  The abstract can be found here and the entire paper here.
• Hurlbutt Elementary in Weston, CT uses Responsive Classroom.
• Highcrest Elementary in Wethersfield, CT uses Responsive Classroom.
• Chase Collegiate School a private school in Waterbury, CT uses Responsive Classroom.
• Canton Intermediate School in Canton, CT uses Responsive Classroom.
• Broadbrook Elementary School, in Broadbrook, CT uses Responsive Classroom.
• The Master's School a private school in Simsbury, CT uses Responsive Classroom.

The following information is excerpted from the Responsive Classroom website by Donna Scanlon, Assistant Superintendent for the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District in Massachusetts:

Seven principles guide the Responsive Classroom approach:

1.The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.

2.How children learn is as important as what they learn: Process and content go hand in hand.

3.The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.

4.To be successful academically and socially, children need a set of social skills: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.

5.Knowing the children we teach-individually, culturally, and developmentally-is as important as knowing the content we teach.

6.Knowing the families of the children we teach and working with them as partners is essential to children's education.

7.How the adults at school work together is as important as their individual competence: Lasting change begins with the adult community.

At the heart of the Responsive Classroom approach are ten classroom practices:

1.Morning Meeting - gathering as a whole class each morning to greet one another, share news, and warm up for the day ahead

2.Rule Creation - helping students create classroom rules to ensure an environment that allows all class members to meet their learning goals

3.Interactive Modeling - teaching children to notice and internalize expected behaviors through a unique modeling technique

4.Positive Teacher Language - using words and tone as a tool to promote children's active learning, sense of community, and self-discipline

5.Logical Consequences - responding to misbehavior in a way that allows children to fix and learn from their mistakes while preserving their dignity

6.Guided Discovery - introducing classroom materials using a format that encourages independence, creativity, and responsibility

7.Academic Choice - increasing student learning by allowing students teacher-structured choices in their work

8.Classroom Organization - setting up the physical room in ways that encourage students' independence, cooperation, and productivity

9.Working with Families - creating avenues for hearing parents' insights and helping them understand the school's teaching approaches

10.Collaborative Problem Solving - using conferencing, role playing, and other strategies to resolve problems with students

Schools implementing the Responsive Classroom approach schoolwide typically adopt the following practices:

•Aligning policies and procedures with Responsive Classroom philosophy - making sure everything from the lunch routine to the discipline policy enhances the self-management skills that children are learning through the Responsive Classroom approach;

•Allocating resources to support Responsive Classroom implementation - using time, money, space, and personnel to support staff in learning and using the Responsive Classroom approach;

•Planning all-school activities to build a sense of community - giving all of the school's children and staff opportunities to learn about and from each other through activities such as all-school meetings, cross-age recess or lunch, buddy classrooms, and cross-age book clubs;

•Welcoming families and the community as partners - involving family and community members in the children's education by maintaining two-way communication, inviting parents and others to visit and volunteer, and offering family activities;

•Organizing the physical environment to set a tone of learning - making sure, for example, that schoolwide rules are posted prominently, displays emphasize student work, and all school spaces are welcoming, clean, and orderly.

COME to the Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, May 12th, at 6:30pm in the BCS library.  Let the BOE members hear your concerns with the full-blown rewards/incentives/tokens being proposed.  Ask the BOE to direct the school to further investigate alternatives such as Responsive Classroom.

"A responsive classroom culture that honors students' voices may enhance students' ownership of literacy learning and alleviate feelings of anger, anxiety, alienation, and powerlessness..." finds Dr. Penny Oldfather

Responsive Classroom can help with more than just behavior.  It can also have a positive impact on literacy learning.  Below is an abstract to a study conducted by Dr. Penny Oldfather who teaches courses on teaching/learning processes, early childhood curriculum, motivation, and qualitative research methodology. Her research interests include qualitative research on student motivation, constructivism in teaching and teacher education, and issues of student voice in research methodology.

When Students Do Not Feel Motivated for Literacy Learning: How a Responsive Classroom Culture Helps

AUTHOR: Penny Oldfather

INSTITUTION: University of Georgia

ABSTRACT: Teachers' responsiveness to and empathic understanding of students' perceptions when they are not motivated are critical in a) promoting students' ownership of the literacy learning agenda; b) in helping students with their motivational difficulties; and c) in establishing classrooms that focus on the enhancement of caring. This report of an interpretive study, conducted in a 5th/6th-grade whole language classroom, provides insights about students' thoughts, feelings, and actions when not motivated for literacy tasks, and examines students' subjective experiences in three different motivational situations. The study offers clues about the affective and cognitive processes that enable some students to become engaged in literacy activities and prevent others from beginning them. It argues that a responsive classroom culture that honors students' voices may enhance students' ownership of literacy learning and alleviate feelings of anger, anxiety, alienation, and powerlessness.

READ THE ENTIRE STUDY

Beecher Road School uses Responsive Classroom and they are in good company!

I repeat...our neighbor, Beecher Road School, uses Responsive Classroom -- an approach Bethany Community School did not even consider in their haste to adopt PBIS.  But it's not too late...let's take a look at Responsive Classroom especially since Beecher students COMBINE with Bethany Community School students to attend Amity Middle School together.  Here is the parent info on Beecher's website regarding Responsive Classroom.  And, Responsive Classroom can be used with PBIS instead of the rewards/incentives/tokens.  The Responsive Classroom site has a 2-page fact sheet and an 9-page white paper on combining their approach with PBIS.

Beecher is in good company.  Quinnipiac University trains prospective teachers in Responsive Classroom in their educator preparation classes, and below is information on a handful of the many Connecticut schools using Responsive Classroom school-wide:

• Branchville Elementary School in Ridgefield, CT uses Responsive Classroom.  Follow these links for a newspaper article about their decision and to their school's site.
• A study was done at K.T. Murphy School in Stamford, Connecticut demonstrating Responsive Classroom has a positive impact on the social skills and behaviors of those at the school.  The abstract can be found here and the entire paper here.
• Hurlbutt Elementary in Weston, CT uses Responsive Classroom.
• Highcrest Elementary in Wethersfield, CT uses Responsive Classroom.
• Chase Collegiate School a private school in Waterbury, CT uses Responsive Classroom.
• Canton Intermediate School in Canton, CT uses Responsive Classroom.
• Broadbrook Elementary School, in Broadbrook, CT uses Responsive Classroom.
• The Master's School a private school in Simsbury, CT uses Responsive Classroom.

The following information is excerpted from the Responsive Classroom website by Donna Scanlon, Assistant Superintendent for the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District in Massachusetts:

Seven principles guide the Responsive Classroom approach:

1.The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.

2.How children learn is as important as what they learn: Process and content go hand in hand.

3.The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.

4.To be successful academically and socially, children need a set of social skills: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.

5.Knowing the children we teach-individually, culturally, and developmentally-is as important as knowing the content we teach.

6.Knowing the families of the children we teach and working with them as partners is essential to children's education.

7.How the adults at school work together is as important as their individual competence: Lasting change begins with the adult community.

At the heart of the Responsive Classroom approach are ten classroom practices:

1.Morning Meeting - gathering as a whole class each morning to greet one another, share news, and warm up for the day ahead

2.Rule Creation - helping students create classroom rules to ensure an environment that allows all class members to meet their learning goals

3.Interactive Modeling - teaching children to notice and internalize expected behaviors through a unique modeling technique

4.Positive Teacher Language - using words and tone as a tool to promote children's active learning, sense of community, and self-discipline

5.Logical Consequences - responding to misbehavior in a way that allows children to fix and learn from their mistakes while preserving their dignity

6.Guided Discovery - introducing classroom materials using a format that encourages independence, creativity, and responsibility

7.Academic Choice - increasing student learning by allowing students teacher-structured choices in their work

8.Classroom Organization - setting up the physical room in ways that encourage students' independence, cooperation, and productivity

9.Working with Families - creating avenues for hearing parents' insights and helping them understand the school's teaching approaches

10.Collaborative Problem Solving - using conferencing, role playing, and other strategies to resolve problems with students

Schools implementing the Responsive Classroom approach schoolwide typically adopt the following practices:

•Aligning policies and procedures with Responsive Classroom philosophy - making sure everything from the lunch routine to the discipline policy enhances the self-management skills that children are learning through the Responsive Classroom approach;

•Allocating resources to support Responsive Classroom implementation - using time, money, space, and personnel to support staff in learning and using the Responsive Classroom approach;

•Planning all-school activities to build a sense of community - giving all of the school's children and staff opportunities to learn about and from each other through activities such as all-school meetings, cross-age recess or lunch, buddy classrooms, and cross-age book clubs;

•Welcoming families and the community as partners - involving family and community members in the children's education by maintaining two-way communication, inviting parents and others to visit and volunteer, and offering family activities;

•Organizing the physical environment to set a tone of learning - making sure, for example, that schoolwide rules are posted prominently, displays emphasize student work, and all school spaces are welcoming, clean, and orderly.




COME to the Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, May 12th, at 6:30pm in the BCS library.  Let the BOE members hear your concerns with the full-blown rewards/incentives/tokens being proposed.  Ask the BOE to direct the school to further investigate alternatives such as Responsive Classroom.

PBIS without the tickets/tokens/rewards: Integrate it with Responsive Classroom

BCS: please consider our options before accepting that we must provide tokens and tickets and prizes.  Here's one of those options:  Integrating PBIS and Responsive Classroom.

(Photo by horizontal.integration)