Positive Behaviour for Learning

Spot me... the lady in pink!

Being a teacher involves taking on roles beyond the classroom walls. For the last few years, I have been an active member of the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) Team. A few weeks ago I took over as the chairperson. This role includes:

Chairperson

Miss Kwan

Develop agenda with input from team; send to team members.

Facilitate meeting.

Follow up on assigned tasks; seek input from team members/staff.

Before the meeting, I was a bit nervous but as the meeting progressed this feeling disappeared. I used to have stage fright but as a teacher/presenter, it requires me to conquer this fear. 

In prep for today's meeting, I prepared the agenda and covered a few main points:

• Recap of roles

In the last few weeks, I have found three new members to join the PBL team. New members bring in a different perspective that existing members might not be able to offer. 

• Training and network

I will be going to a PBL Network meeting tomorrow after work. It is a showcase of PBL from a few schools. There will be a mini burst raining examining PBL sustainability. The purpose of this is to improve on our existing PBL strategies.

This coordinator role requires me to work closely with other schools and with the district's coach mentor. The coach will provide training requests for Term 3 and I will be offering this up to new staff. I plan to also work with our primary feeder schools to understand the PBL language used and to build a stronger connection with them. 

• Defining expectations

Since 2016, I have been working with different staff to create visual implementations around the school that promote our school values in a positive tone. This includes making clear classroom expectation posters and also look at areas where there needs improvement. The key to successfully implementing this is to use consistent language. 

• Teaching behaviour expectations

Every term we have 3-4 sessions of PBL roll call. This is where teachers model appropriate behaviour through the short lessons. 

• Responding to problem behaviour

We have a strong approach with a predictable flowchart for dealing with behaviour. This requires an understanding of minor behaviour vs major behaviour and having the same consistency with all expectations. I plan to create a teacher survey to collect data/ feedback then respond by creating PBL lessons.

• Encouraging positive behaviour

For the past few years, I have been a rewards advocator. Classroom teachers provide virtual points to students where they can save it up to exchange for a prize. I write letters and ask for funds (monetary or prizes) from local businesses. I try and get teachers to volunteer their time to carry out a teacher service prize. This may include dressing up in a onesie, baking a cake and being a note taker. We constantly look at what simple (instant), medium and large rewards should be updated on the School rewards shop. It is probably time again to ask students what they really want. This requires a survey to be set up. 

• Data training and monitoring

Every month we have a team member who generates a report on the discipline entries at our school. The school has a strong discipline structure in place and as a result, the number of students with 6+ referrals is usually less than 1% of the entire school. All PBL schools work at eliminating the red zone and minimising the yellow zone of the triangle data chart. I will be working with the head of admin to create an action team for PBL. This allows us to look at areas that need to be tweaked and retaught. 

Next Monday, I will be presenting to the staff about 'Why we need PBL?', 'What is working well?' and 'Why we need consistency?' I have used the afternoon to make a draft presentation and have sent it to my team members to get feedback.