This year at Valentine Elementary, we have embarked on a new journey, implementing PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports). A large part of that is choosing common school-wide expectations; the three we chose are be safe, be responsible, and be respectful. We have worked hard this year teaching, modeling, and reinforcing those expectations.
Another part of PBIS is to publicly acknowledge students who have shown positive behavior regarding those expectations. Wow, we have had so many students already acknowledged for their positive behavior! We have recognized students in one of two ways, giving them a red badger paw (as show in the picture) or through a positive office visit.
With our badger paws, students get a copy to take home and display on the fridge, and then the badger paw has been displayed on our library window for parents and community members to see upon entering VES. We have had such success with students' positive behavior, that we have presented our students with a new challenge.
We are now displaying our badger paws on the wall one by one, in hopes to wrap the building in badger paws by the end of the year! Upon doing so, we will have a school-wide celebration of achieving this goal. Stop in to see our progress with this--we have already made it out of the east hallway and are making our way through the north hallway!
Every Monday morning, we announce a new behavior that we will focus on for the week such as be respectful: use manners. All week, teachers reinforce the behavior and recognize students who have shown the behavior. On Fridays, we announce some of our successes. We will now be taking a weekly photo of students who have achieved the badger paw or positive office visit for our focused behavior and displaying that on our social media and website.
Kudos to our amazing students for their work in choosing positive behavior!