Category: PBIS

Series: White People Homework (12) Bad Behaviors

A quick look at school behavior programs.

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Our current institutions are in dire need of systemic overhauls, and education top of the list. Please read and keep Ilana Horn’s thread and work close to your work and research. I am. If you’re a teacher who’s work in a school during the past ten years you may have heard or read, or even supported some of the behavioral management programs. And the trend is to have a white man create, package and sell these programs. This post is going to upset some educators and colleagues, but the intent is to provide information and background, with the hope of impact being you change and help change your own classroom policies, know how to push back, and keep districts accountable.

Here are some I’ve encountered, and others I’ve read:

Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess: I read this book on my own a few years ago, and it didn’t sit right with me. I am already a creative teacher, and I found the ‘pirate’ thing gimmicky. He also fan-boy’d Tony Robbins, and yeah. No. Thanks. So, I put it aside, and moved on. I am kind of repulsed by a grown man who wears a pirate-style bandana on his head and a black t-shirt. I tried to go through the #TLAP hashtag on Twitter and can’t find precise criticisms, but a whole lot of fans who gush over this work. But the criticisms tend to run toward this: It’s teacher-centered. And since 80% of teachers are white women, that’s problematic.

PBIS: PBIS stands for “Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports.” It’s based on a Tier System. Every school I’ve worked in (now at three) has used PBIS, or when I’ve gone in for interviews have been asked about my knowledge and expertise with this system.

It’s a glorified “Change your clip” chart. And these are only my observations, because life at school goes so fast, any chance to discuss and create a sustainable method falls apart. The problems with PBIS is it’s a token economy: it rarely gets to the place for students to get to internalized positive behavior motivation. I have witnessed years of students ‘gaming’ the token system, too. One year in particular, kids kept the tickets that were intended to be traded for prizes and snacks, hoarding them as the treasure or trading them on the open market. It was actually quite genius. Students know inauthentic, tokenized systems of oppression. And the more important factor which lead to lack of success and meaningful change: there wasn’t the support for students. The physical, real-time qualified adult bodies to support students. My dream: instead of school safety officers we have a counselor and adult support for every 30-50 kids, including classroom teaches, counselors, and administration. We don’t overcrowd schools in the first place. We don’t use harmful, hateful violent curriculum (looking at you, programs that use racist, colonized canon). And we stop the systems that promote meritocracy. PBIS is that.

https://www.pbis.org/

Teach Like a Champion: see the above thread for #TLAC. Also: these articles, please:By Layla Treuhaftali, The Power of Pedagogy: Why We Shouldn’t Teach Like Champions

This School Year, Don’t Teach Like a Champion by Ray Salazar

“To some white eduinfluencers who are starting to speak up” by Benjamin Doxtdador

https://dianeravitch.net/2015/09/21/peg-robertson-eviscerates-teach-like-a-champion/

“To be honest, after reading over 100 pages of the book (there will be a follow-up blog when I finish reading the entire book), I have to say it’s incredibly shallow and simplistic – yet the scary part is the dictatorial demand to keep everything shallow, uniform and simplistic. And as mentioned above, Lemov’s beliefs about “teaching like a champion” are beginning to co-opt what true educators really understand about teaching, child development, and engaging learners. This book is a great primer for reducing learning to uniform and robotic student behavior which is easy to “track” (Lemov’s word – not mine) and manage, in order to get the results that you want. And the results that they want are high test scores. Lemov is clear in stating that this work is gauged via state test scores.

https://dianeravitch.net/2015/09/21/peg-robertson-eviscerates-teach-like-a-champion/

“Fast LLama” by Doug Curry http://www.fastllama.com/free-resources – sat in on his trainings. Cute, and he’s congenial, but same stuff.

Second Step: I’ve been through two districts with this and both times they don’t have the money to purchase the support materials. And it’s hokey.

So what to do instead?

Read.

Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond https://crtandthebrain.com/about/

Troublemakers by Carla Shalaby

Article about Troublemakers: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/05/the-power-of-the-troublemaker/525159/

Work with experts on understanding ACES, trauma-informed teaching, etc.

The End of Police in Schools

What do you think of some of these ideas? https://ctl.iupui.edu/Resources/Classroom-Management/Tips-for-Handling-Disruptive-Student-Behavior

What are the goals?

Every parent want their child to be able to go to school and feel free to learn, free from obstructions, bullying, racism, distractions, and fear. They want to know when their child comes home after the school day they have friends, healthy relationships based on mutual respect from adults, have grown their brains, bodies, and joy. And we humans are messy. We have bad days. We experience grief, anger, frustration, and a hundred ways to express these emotions based on our upbringing, context, culture, and desires. We get stuck with labels. I don’t have the answers. Every year I’ve made mistakes. I do know there are better ways to do this. I was a troublemaker in school.

And I still am.

Fist-bump currency

Grit. High-leverage. Warm demander. Relationship building. All of these words have begun to get as stale as a piece of Juicy Fruit. And it’s time to reevaluate our use of them, and take a long, honest look at our practice. One thing I’ve learned this year is that I am not as wonderful as I thought I was, or that past students have told me. Or colleagues. One person’s opinion can upset years of professional dedication. So, before I go too far into an unhealthy path of projection, I will speak for myself, and share what others think, too. The big questions are when do we get it right, and when we don’t, how do we fix it?

Novice teachers sometimes equate relationships with “the kids like me.” And yes, it’s true that we can’t learn from people we don’t like. It takes a mountain of maturity and self-actualization to respect/ignore/tolerate others who deride or dehumanize us. And a grand nirvana-level mastery of self-control to learn from others. But everyone can teach us something. The universe doesn’t have a plan, and all we get out of interactions is what we can and can’t control. And most students are not there yet. Most adults aren’t either.

Students want a teacher to like them, but guaranteed most of them would choose someone who’s strict and firm, and doesn’t allow for big theatrical displays of misbehavior in the classroom. And this is where it gets tricky. I don’t “allow” for these levels of misbehavior, but once I’ve exhausted my own treasure trove of tricks, contacted parents, sought out admin’s support, etc., if a student still hops on a chair and spins around, and knows there will be no consequence except for their teacher “getting in trouble” then the relationship becomes one of mistrust. Words matter, and deeds matter more.

via GIPHY

I have raised two sons. They love me, and I love them. I haven’t always liked them, nor they to me. And relationships with other humans is nuanced, complicated, and changing. This notion that if we simply ‘built a relationship’ with our students somehow everything will change, and no discipline issues will arise ever again, and we’ll all get “Distinguished” on classroom culture and Mary Poppins can go to a new house because our house is clean.

It doesn’t take having one’s own children to know how relationships work between teachers and students. My point of bringing it up is to underscore how complicated these relationships can be. Students bring a lot of modeled behavior in our classrooms: parents who abuse one another or them, drug addiction, neglect, passive-aggressive means of communication, depression, and other forms of trauma. And this is a reminder to myself of what works, when applied consistently and gently:

  • High expectations and an explicitly voiced belief they can meet them
  • Explicitly voices belief that who they are in this moment is not their whole life or self: they will grow and mature
  • What they are learning today has relevance and purpose
  • They are creative, funny, and intelligent, and loved.

And most of all: self-respect.

“Character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life — is the source from which self-respect springs.” 
― Joan Didion, On Self-Respect

trial by paperwork*

*Or death by a thousand paper cuts. 

**This end with ice cream.

Life moves pretty fast, as the young man said.

For my evaluation process this year, I attempted a feat of strength, a trifecta, a hat trick, lessons of amazement and wonder, never attempted before! I would have three observations in one week, walking through the first-run process of a passion project.

Animated GIF-downsized

3/26 Monday: Originally scheduled to be a testing day, but the schedule changed to a normal day. We moved forward with analyzing data on multitasking we had procured the week before and had time to work on the passion projects. Met with my evaluator to go over our notes from a book study, Better Than Carrots or Sticks. (I thought that was my only book study, but alas, there is more to do this weekend I found out yesterday/Friday.) Here is the link to a few of my annotations.

What students read:

Learning Target and Success Criteria:

This week we’ll be finishing and sharing our passion projects. 

A passion project that combines creativity with technology and personal interests can be open-ended, but doing nothing or no exploration is not acceptable.

Creating projects and designs keeps life interesting!

Success Criteria:

By the end of the week, I’ll have my passion project ready to share in a Gallery Walk. I will write my own reflection on the process, as well as receive feedback from my peers. 

What some of them heard: “I can sit and play Roblox all week, I have plenty of time, I don’t know what to do, I NEED HALP, *scowl* *roll eyes* *scowl some more*

3/27 Tuesday: 1/3 observation

(One thing my evaluator noticed was that I read the Learning Targets and Success Criteria to students: for about eight years that is what I was instructed to do by other evaluators. I guess we have something different in place now. Oftentimes I have them write it in their notebooks, turn and talk, and allow photos of the LT/SC. I also put them on the Canvas site, too, every day. There is a triangulation of students knowing what to do. That doesn’t guarantee, however, they do it.)

IMG_7301 (1)

Okay, I loved this lesson, and am going to tweak it for future use.

Each student received a 3″x5″ index card and talked to each other about their projects. This is not the only opportunity students received, in fact, along the way there were 4-6 chances to talk about their project and publically and partner declare what it might be. There was a brainstorming process, a self-interview, etc. Students still asked me “Is it okay if…” questions. Yes, young padawon. It’s okay.

Aside from one girl who fell backward in her chair, and another new-ish student who is often defiant about seating arrangements, and another who just could not control gravity, I chalked it up to fairly typical middle school stuff. I keep calm and my teacher moves include not adding to the stress or drama, but using humor.

March_27_2018

March_27_2018 2

PowerPoint:

March 27 2018

3/28 Wednesday: 2/3 observation. Wednesdays are shortened schedule days, and the students were a little off. My friend Sharon and I share one student in particular who will not work with others, or in class. If we contact his dad he’ll stay after and work, and I think he appreciates the time and attention.

3/29 Thursday: Back to a 3-hour testing block

3/30 Friday: Final 3/3 observation. The final passion projects are due. Rough estimate 70% are in a panic in every class. One girl who made a YouTube video shared with me in a whisper she was nervous about sharing. And one girl in the sixth period quietly told me how much she loved reading the feedback on her Wows/Wonders form. Throughout the day there were many successes.

Almost forgot one of the best parts: give students who didn’t finish the work an out, and help build community. On the Wow/Wonder feedback sheet, students were directed to write encouraging statements and offers of help/support:

feedback_types

feedback types

Gallery Walks for students the first time through are usually mild chaos. It takes a lot of practice to do them well. Did my students during my observation participate wonderfully? Of course not. But I know the pitfalls: even if the expectations and success are clearly stated, that does not guarantee those targets will be met. I wish sometimes evaluators would look at a lesson more like a rocket launch: it takes a lot of experimentation before that thing flies. Great teachers know this.

Here is what how the assessments informed my future instruction:

  1. They still need practice with specific feedback. For their first Wow/Wonder attempt, not too shabby. I’ll pull together some quotes and have them revise and evaluate what they think is helpful feedback and what isn’t.
  2. There will be another passion project/genius hour project soon. This takes repetitive practice. Although this one was all about choice, that left many flailing. As they become stronger with the technology tools at their disposal, their craft will be better, too.
  3. When they wrote their reflections on their rubrics, many struggled on what to say. This is not uncommon when self-assessment is a rote answer and not necessarily about a creative process.
  4. When I shared my observations, the one thing I said from the heart is that to do something on one’s own is scary, that I understand that many of them just want ‘the worksheet’ and fill in the blank, and when a teacher offers choice, the fear of the blank canvas can be overwhelming. Some students are overconfident and think they can make something last minute just to get it done, and then realize that others have things they’re proud of, and it becomes a sour grapes moment for them.

This is the altered rubric I used from PBL:

Creativity Rubric BIE

But the biggest success of all was one student who has barely done a single assignment all semester. He put together a presentation on fun cooking ideas that completely rocked! I am so proud of this kid! That was a perfect launch and landing, and I can’t ask for more than that. Next time the turn-in rate will go from 50% on time to much higher, I have no doubt.

I told you this would end with ice cream:

https://teach4theheart.com/17-ways-get-students-actually-work/

I will never mark down for late work, but there are some good ideas in here.

17 tips

Oh, and yes: I had a few kids text or call their parents.

This one sounds a little dreamy, but it might work.

Internal drive.

run train

What makes us go?

Pernille Ripp from Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension provides some challenging and mindful questions about rewards. I am a skeptic of Alfie Kohn, but after what I’ve seen the past two years with PBIS am experiencing my own ‘growth mindset,’ too.

PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports), according to the mission statement on their website: 

PBIS is a framework or approach for assisting school personnel in adopting and organizing evidence-based behavioral interventions into an integrated continuum that enhances academic and social behavior outcomes for all students. 
PBIS IS NOT a packaged curriculum, scripted intervention, or manualized strategy. 
PBIS IS a prevention-oriented way for school personnel to (a) organize evidence-based practices, (b) improve their implementation of those practices, and (c) maximize academic and social behavior outcomes for students.
PBIS supports the success of ALLstudents.

Here are the four questions asked, and my thoughts:

1.  Will the rewards only go to certain kids?

Currently our system throughout the school means rewards go to certain kids by design.

I am considering doing more class/period competitions, not in terms of grade or score displays (a thousand times NO), but in terms of what students from other classes say/contribute. As it stands, I use class discussions to capture contributions from all classes on the Smartnotebook, but a means to share those contributions in a visual way might be amazing. The expectation is everyone contributes. More exit tickets with thinking. I used e-learning to host forums every week; perhaps I’ll create a cross-class workshop next year. The message in my room stands on valuing contributions: not loudest voices, one reason forums and space to think/write is highly valued in my room.

2.  Have you seen long-term changes as a result of giving extrinsic rewards?

The short answer: no.

The longer answer: yes, but not the kinds of changes I’ve wanted to see.

I miss the longer forms, what we used to call “Way to Go” slips, because when I filled one of those out it carried more weight and thought than our current ‘carnival’ ‘Chuck E. Cheese’s’ token economy currently in place. The staff has worked so hard to provide a prize table in the cafeteria, and spent their own money for items. Having spent thousands of dollars myself on books, pencils, snacks, clothing, toiletries, and yes, prizes, this isn’t sustainable. Again, I am not advocating for the abolishment of a prize table, but I wish it was dissociated with the learning environment. When I go to Chuck E. Cheese’s I’m not there for the literature or algorithms. (Well, I don’t need to go at all anymore: that phase is over for me!) Perhaps the students clubs and groups could work at earning those prizes, or some other extra-curricular culture? I’m not sure what the answer is.

And this is squarely my fault: I am not good at this. I never have been. When it comes to keeping track of tickets and tokens, it is not in my nature or style. I have been expected to change my own teaching style, and feel hypocritical and guilty when my name or number isn’t counted among the thousands of tickets when admin checks how many teachers gave away tickets.

Yes, they collect the data on teachers for our compliance. Supposedly this isn’t the case anymore, but the spirit of the tickets is tainted for me.

I have stacks of books, stories, student work to hang up, and adding tickets to the mix was my personal tipping point. I don’t want to burn out. One factor is when others’ agendas and projects  suck the oxygen out of me.

I’ve asked if the tickets can be used to choose kids to participate in assemblies, go first in line at lunch (I believe this has happened, but not sure), and they’ve given the kids with slips an extra treat at lunch. I would be interested to know how many tickets are given because the student worked really hard on a project versus picked up trash in the classroom. I actually wouldn’t object if tickets were given out for cleaning up and helping out, but the tickets should be clearly associated with classroom culture and safety, and NOT learning. Some other academic showcase should be reserved for that: hallway displays, blogs. forums. One of the highlights of my year was when a student from another team complimented me on hanging up student work in the hallways–she wanted to be part of it, too.

Perhaps my own failure to hand out tickets is because I don’t do this for my own sons: there is a standard ‘chore list’ with the understanding that for the good of the family they’ll help. And they have. Not once have I received back-talk or non-compliance for asking a son to take out the trash, and most times I don’t even have to remind them. I have been honest, kind of that ‘if momma ain’t happy, no one is’ thing – let’s all do what we can so we can get to the ‘fun’ stuff: watching a movie, reading, stargazing, etc.

3.  Will the rewards increase or devalue the learning?

The rewards in place clearly devalue learning. The rise of ‘grade grubbing,’ questions such as, “How many points is this worth?” and “What will I get?” is as frequent as students asking for pencils or using proxy servers to download games and music. I am considering creating a poster/chart of the banned phrases in my room, such as “How long does it have to be?” and “How many points is it worth?” It’s gotten out of hand. No longer does any learning have value to most students because of the increase in extrinsic motivation. They (students) are connecting compliance with engagement, and are going to be in sad shape when they can’t think of anything to engage their minds with on their own, or haven’t meditated on metacognitive thinking.

“If little else, the brain is an educational toy.”

― Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

Now, perhaps the learning is happening invisibly. But in terms of the current system of rewards, it’s been a huge distraction. Any small favor, any helpful contribution is often followed by, “Can I have a Pride Slip?”

I am not against extrinsic motivation. The other morning someone said a kind word to me, and like drought-ridden Texas, when I was showered with a modicum of kindness I started crying. (Yes, the climate at my school as been really negative.) We all need to have a kind word or acknowledgment.

4.  Will students actually care?

The prize is a thing, not value. Giving a blank journal to a girl who loves to write, or a book to a boy who loves to read snarky, sarcastic writers has value. I offer my time and counsel to those even after they leave my classroom. The personal gestures hold weight, the chotskies or novelty items are ephemeral. Students greedily grab up tokens in the moment, and then when they don’t ‘have enough’ are discouraged. Students have stolen tickets, bartered, traded, etc. in order to get the big prizes at the prize table (soccer balls, etc.). Like hustling for cigarettes and contraband in prison, much of the ‘ticket culture’ has lead to some unsavory behaviors.

harry bored

And I wonder if the token economy decreases curiosity, which increases boredom, which then may increase process addictive behaviors (those twitchy, compulsive behaviors: checking our phones, etc.

 

Last year, when our school implemented PBIS, the students were hoarding the ‘pride slips.’ The teachers’ names were printed on them, and then because of an outcry, the tickets then had anonymous numbers printed on them correlating to teachers, so administration could collect data on how many teachers were in compliance with the program. No one addressed the equity issue, or the hoarding at that time. No one provided any debate or counter-discussion to the token economy implemented by the PBIS committee. (To be fair, the committee members are some of the hardest working, responsive colleagues and professionals I know: they offered the times and dates of their meetings. And perhaps I am misremembering the staff meetings: little motion for debate or questioning was truly encouraged at staff meetings in the past. I am hoping that changes.) I did pop my head into one meeting, and offered my insight as to why hoarding occurred. Most of our students are raised by twitchy games: coins, blinking jewels, cartoon noises when achieved a temporal goal. Micro-transactions (small purchases to get to the next level of a game) induce process addictive behaviors. Oh wow: did I just suggest that a prize ticket at school may lead to a gambling addiction? That’s hyperbolic, and I apologize. I’ll try to focus more (after this level!)

game

Here’s where I am: 

Students want to be seen. The ones who aren’t rewarded merely for turning in an assignment, or rewarded because “Johnny didn’t dance on the tables today” are the ones who respectfully, and courageously, just want my time and insight, as I theirs. When I ask them if I may share their story or poem with the staff, when we invite others to hear their performances, when we help them carry their legacy and give them the academic portfolio to honor their work, those students not only thrive, learn, and grow, but carry that enduring love of learning with them.

So, what were my results by not handing out little blue tickets? Actually, pretty great. Yesterday I went to the high school with my 8th grade students for ‘move up day.’ One of my sweet students was in my group, and she remarked at how many high school students came up and hugged me, worked to catch my attention, and in general were happy to see me, as I them. That motivates me as I pack up a tough year. And I don’t need a ticket to prove it.