Cowell Charges Ahead with PBS

Carson Positive Behavior Support Assembly Carson Elementary started off the new school year with a Positive Behavior Support “Passport Adventure.” On August 25, all Carson students got together in the gym for an opening PBS assembly. The new principal, Ms Acevedo introduced herself and everyone read the touchstone. Ms. Acevedo talked about the seven character traits: respect, re-sponsibility, kindness, tolerance, perseverance, integrity and courage. She also talked about the school signal; “Show Me Three” that helps everyone remember to be respectful, responsible and kind. When students were asked how many had earned a character link or a Cougar Buck since school began, many, many hands shot into the air! the character links are earned whenever a student shows good character and Cougar Bucks are earned for outstanding examples of good character. Then it was on to the event of the day. Traveling around the building with a passport and getting stamps in seven areas of the school. Students would learn what “Showing Three” meant in each area. The “showing three” traits are kindness, respect, and responsibility. In each area, there is a poster that shows how to be kind, respectful and responsible. For example, in the hallways, kindness is defined as: •Be polite and use kind words. •Allow others to pass. •Greet others with a smile. The seven areas are: classroom/library, hall-ways, playground, bathroom, cafeteria, auditorium and bus line. When students visited an area, they learned about the three traits, discussed them and received a stamp in their passport when they finished. At the end of the morning all stu-dents had stamped passports that certified that they know how to “Show Three” in all of the areas. Great job Carson!

Cowell Elementary sent a team of seven staff mem-bers to New Team Training in October. This great team has been meeting every Monday afternoon to plan for implementation of PBS

at their school. The team has decided on the motto of “PRIDE”: Prepared, Re-sponsible, Integrity, Deter-mined and Effort. On January 4th, the team presented an overview of PBS and their planning process to all Cowell staff members. Teachers and staff then split into small groups to work on the be-havior matrix. They dem-onstrated wonderful team-

work, thoughtfulness and positive attitude in their work, and ended the morn-ing with a well-developed matrix. Their next steps are to plan for a PBS kick-off with students in August, de-fine and tighten their disci-pline ladder, and to plan for data collection using SWIS. Congratulations to the Cow-ell team for all of your hard work!

School Success!

Special points of in-terest:

• We now have over 40 schools using SWIS to collect and analyze discipline data.

• We will be offering New Team Training for new schools inter-ested in learning about PBS in April. Please keep a look-out for details.

• Katy is going to be on Mater-nity Leave for the remainder of the year starting March 1. Please contact your coach or Mona Romero for any PBS related needs.

PBS and ECE 2

Morey Mustangs 3

Valverde Kick-off 3

Knapp Knights 3

PBS Supports CSAP 4

Learning Opportunities 4

Inside this issue:

January/February 2010

Department of Student Services

Positive Behavior Support (PBS)

Page 2 Positive Behavior Support (PBS)

ECE Teachers Bring PBS to Life in their Classrooms The Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL; http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/) and the Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (TACSEI; http://www.challengingbehavior.org/) offer excellent resources for implementing developmentally appro-

priate PBS in ECE classrooms and for supporting ECE chil-dren’s social-emotional develop-ment. DPS’ teachers provide some excel-lent examples of clearly defining and teaching behavioral expectations in their ECE classrooms, as illustrated in these first two photos. ECE classroom rules – We take care of each other, We take care of our ma-

terials, and We take care of ourselves – and a daily classroom schedule are clearly depicted for children including written as well as a visual representations of each rule and activity. Note that photos of some of this year’s ECE participants help to demonstrate each classroom rule. Helping young children to identify, to appropriately communicate, and to manage emotions is also an important part of most every day in an ECE classroom. One way to help children learn these valuable skills is to use tools like the ‘Feelings’ chart in the final photo. Teachers can discuss emotions and have children complete the chart during group time. Then, when children experience one of these emotions intensely, teachers can use the chart to help them to identify and to communicate their emotion in that moment. Go to the CSEFEL and TACSEI websites for more infor-mation on how to bring PBS to life for ECE children.

Trevista SOARs with PBS Trevista students are busy collecting blue "feathers" by being recognized demonstrating each of the SOAR values (Show Empathy, Outstanding Effort, Accept Responsibility, Respect). Feathers are pulled for a drawing on a weekly basis in the classrooms for small prizes. At the end of the trimester an as-sembly is held to award certificates of recognition and addi-tional drawings are held for gift cards, toys, backpacks, and Ipods, etc. During the assemblies SOAR values are reinforced with some cheering, songs, and slides shows of the kids around school. SOAR ahead Trevista students!  

Morey implements the morning meet-ing structure for the teaching of be-havior expectations. Teachers and staff each have a small group of stu-dents that they meet with every Wednesday morning for “Mustang Meetings”. The PBS team works hard to develop creative and relevant les-son plans for staff to utilize during these meetings. This semester, the team is focusing on the Six Pillars of Character to guide their lesson-planning: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. Tying these pillars in with their PBS motto, they are hoping to

culminate the semester with a school-wide service project in May. Great job, Morey Mustangs!

Morey Mustang Meetings Support PBS

based on their SWIS data, and thus determined that a school-wide re-teaching would be helpful.

In the gymnasium, the Student Leaders performed skits that reviewed recess and bathroom behavior expectations. They did an excellent job encouraging audience participation, and audience members received Charge Slips for sharing ideas.

For the culmination of the event, all students received a temporary tattoo of a lightning bolt, indicating that they’ve been RECHARGED.

Great job Knapp! Keep up the energy and enthusiasm!!

Congratulations to Knapp Elementary for a very creative and energizing event last week! Two teachers from the PBS team, Katie Field and Jenna Schwartz, planned a school-wide “Recharge Day” after winter break to help students get reoriented to school rules and expectations. The large student body was divided into Kinder-garten, 1st and 2nd graders, and 3rd, 4th and 5th graders; these groups then did a rotation to three different areas of the school. Included in the event:

Each grade visited the cafeteria to review behavior expectations In the auditorium, 4th grade Student Leaders performed a skit to demon-strate appropriate assembly behav-ior.

The Student Leaders also reviewed appropriate dress code. The PBS team had identified this as a need

Knapp Knights CHARGE forward with PBS

Valverde Elementary Vikings had a fabulous kickoff greatly aided by community support. Valverde’s motto is SAIL (Success, Achievement, Integrity and Learning) and to bring the idea home, students were visited by a metro area yacht club. Yacht club members brought a beautiful sailboat for all to climb aboard and a mini lesson on sailing was an added treat. Mark Randall, a former Nuggets player and current Nuggets‘ Community Ambassador provided even more fun and motivation for all. Last but not least, visits from Mad Science and the local fire department kept the enthusiasm at an all time high. Way to go, Vikings! We wish you continued success with your PBS efforts.

Valverde Vikings Kick-off PBS

Page 3 Department of Student Services

Future Training Events: Restorative Justice Training: February 9 & 10, 2010 from 8am-4pm at CEC presented by Tim Turley PBS New Team Training: Learn the ABCs of PBS and work as a school-level team to start implementation of effec-tive school-wide PBS. Week of April 19 (date TBD) from 8am-4pm at Temple Emanuel pre-sented by PBS Coaches through SDFS.

The first PBS Southwest Regional Training was a success! Melissa Mincic and Jennifer Shank co-facilitated training at Johnson Ele-mentary on November 23. PBS teams were invited to attend this 2 hour professional development op-portunity. Four schools were repre-sented (Sabin, Hamilton, Kaiser, and Goldrick) and participants included social workers, psychologists, teach-ers, and administrators. Topics in-cluded running effective team meet-ings, creating action plans, and using data for decision making. Regional trainings will continue to be offered in a variety of locations. Be sure to keep an eye out for future trainings or ask your PBS coach for information regarding topics and locations.

Professional Learning Opportunities with PBS

PBS Supports CSAP Prep