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Restorative questions - for use when needing to respond to challenging behavior

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Restorative questions - for use when needing to respond to challenging behavior

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Student-teacher game - strategy to reinforcing student behavior when following expectations in the classroom

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Student-teacher game - strategy to reinforcing student behavior when following expectations in the classroom

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Modeling PBIS in the classroom - a quick video of an educator modeling PBIS in the classroom

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Modeling PBIS in the classroom - a quick video of an educator modeling PBIS in the classroom

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Sample PBIS expectations chart - what a possible schoolwide behavior chart with expectations could look like

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Sample PBIS expectations chart - what a possible schoolwide behavior chart with expectations could look like

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PBIS incentive ideas - so many ideas for rewards and incentives!

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PBIS incentive ideas - so many ideas for rewards and incentives!

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This Ultimate List of PBIS Incentives contains over 350 items to inspire your PBIS rewards program. Sort by tangible, recognition, or privilege.

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Token board use - how to use a token economy board

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Token board use - how to use a token economy board

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When to use:

Use when a student is ready to progress beyond 1-to-1 reinforcement.

Use to build behavioral momentum.

How to use:

1. Select a preferred reinforcer or allow the student to choose one from a choice board. It is important that the reinforcer is motivating enough to keep the student engaged without immediate reinforcement.

2. Each time the student completes a target task or behavior, name the behavior (e.g. - "Sitting at table."), hand student a token, and ask them to place it on the token board.

3. When the token board is full, give the student the identified reinforcer and reset the board for use again.

4. Adjust and fade as needed.

Teaching Token Boards:

1. Begin with a token board that is almost complete. If using a 5 penny board, for example, pre-load the board with 4 pennies. When the student performs the desired behavior, place another penny on the board and immediately reinforce the student. Always place the penny on the board in view of the student and pair with verbal reinforcement each time.

2. As the student becomes more familiar with the token board, preload the board with fewer pennies until you reach the student's current ability level. The ultimate goal is to start with an empty board.

3. When introducing the token board, the teacher may manipulate the board and tokens. As student understanding of the token board increases, allow the student to manipulate the board and tokens.

A token board will not work without a genuinely motivating reinforcer. One way to find out what a student likes is to perform a preference assessment.

The number of tasks must be appropriate for the learner. If they think the tasks are too hard or too long, the motivation for the student is low. Make goals attainable to ensure the student earns reinforcement often.

Once a token is earned, DO NOT take it away. Instead of removing a token for inappropriate behavior, prompt an alternative appropriate behavior that will earn a token.

Print This Tool

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Use when a student is ready to progress beyond 1-to-1 reinforcement. Use to build behavioral momentum. Select a preferred reinforcer or allow the student to choose one from a choice board. It is important that the reinforcer is motivating enough to keep the student engaged without immediate reinforcement.

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The dos and don'ts of token economy - tips for what to do and not to do with a token economy system

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The dos and don'ts of token economy - tips for what to do and not to do with a token economy system

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Token economies are popular classroom management tools. It's an effective intervention that is relatively easy to set up and implement - if done correctly. A token economy can be extremely successful at increasing appropriate behaviors, task completion, and academic skills. Wooho, right?! And if you are successful at increasing all these fabulous responses it will in turn decrease the bad behaviors that are ruining your life (okay... dramatic). You can't be working quietly on your worksheet and be talking to your friend at the same time can you?

So, what is a token economy? A token economy is a system for delivering positive reinforcement to children for engaging in desired behaviors or completing tasks. Target behaviors are set and tokens are delivered by the teacher when children display the target behaviors. The tokens are exchanged for back-up reinforcers at a designated time.

So yes - token economies can be an amazing ball of wonderfulness.... if done correctly. If done incorrectly, get ready for no student buy-in, no participation, and an all around unsuccessful intervention and huge waste of your time (not to scare you but be afraid). Check out these Dos and Don'ts to make sure your token economy rocks!

The Dos:

Do pick target behaviors that are incompatible with negative behaviors. The first thing you need to do when setting up a token economy is pick target behaviors. Target behaviors can be behavioral (sitting in seat, walking in hallway, etc.) or related to academics (completes 3 centers, finishes worksheets, doing quiet reading, etc.). Pick behaviors that your students cannot do while doing negative behaviors (especially ones that commonly occur in your room!). You can't do quiet reading while talking to your friends. You can't walk and run in the hallway at the same time.

Do include a variety of reinforcers. The beauty of the token economy is that is works for a group of a variety of types of children. So you need to include rewards that are motivating to a variety of students. A token economy will not work if the prizes are all similar. You need a wide range of types of reinforcers for both boys and girls, different interests, and higher quality reinforcers.

Do set up a schedule for delivering reinforcement. Decide if you will be using a time schedule or response schedule. In a time schedule, you could use a time interval (ie. every 5 mins, 10 mins etc.) and whichever students are doing the target behaviors earn tokens. Response schedules would be based on when students are doing the target response. Will you be giving tokens for every target response? Roughly every other response? Every 5 responses?

Do be consistent with all students and in all subjects/classrooms. You want this system to be consistent. Your students will pick up if you are not using this intervention in certain areas or with certain students and you will lose buy in.

Do be excited and enthusiastic. If you think the system is stupid and aren't into it, so will your students. Your token economy is the most amazing, exciting, and cool thing you have ever heard of. That excitement will wear off!

Do include visuals and plan for differentiation. Students with special needs are included in many classrooms. Make sure this system is accessible for them. Make visuals for students with lower receptive language so they understand what is expected of them and how the system works. Here is one I use:

Do make sure your 'costs' for reinforcers that can be achieved. So how much will your reinforcers 'cost'? In order to set these costs - you need to look at how often the target behaviors are currently occurring. So take a quick baseline. If your target behaviors are - sitting in your desk, doing your work, and raising your hand without shouting out, look at how often these are happening (or aren't happening) before you implement your token economy.

Do pair tokens with praise. This will help when you need to fade this system. For some students - praise is not reinforcing so you need to train praise as a reinforcer!

Do take data. Keep it simple but make sure to take some kind of data so your know if you token is (or isn't) working.

Do have a plan for fading. This is the hardest and most easily forgotten aspect of a token economy. This system will eventually not work if you keep it the same! Additionally since this is a contrived system of reinforcement, you want to fade this to a naturally occurring system of reinforcement. Fading can be tricky and you need to have a plan in place for this before you. Think about getting new reinforcers that are more 'expensive' (need more tokens to buy). Or maybe you will lengthen the time between when you buy your rewards. Start at once a day then twice a week then once a week. Gradually start giving less tokens - every 8 responses then every 10 etc.

Do pick tokens that are age appropriate. I hate seeing smiley face stickers in junior high classrooms!

The Don'ts:

Don't let you students go "bankrupt" with no opportunity to earn more reinforcers. Some token economies have a 'response cost.' That means you can lose points for using certain 'bad' behaviors. This can be helpful for some students that need extra motivation to avoid losing points or tokens. However, I have seen a LOT of token economies that use this system with no way for students to earn more tokens. If a student has lost all their points with no way to earn more - than they have nothing to lose. They can be as crazy or as horrible as they want and who cares - they can't earn a reinforcer anyways.

Don't forget to follow through with reinforcers. This is the easiest way to lose student buy in.

Don't pick too lofty of goals or too many behaviors. I have seen token economies that are set up so perfectly to address every goal and issue in the classroom .... but are so complicated that the teacher can in no way implement it. Don't forget you are still going to be teaching while implementing this system. It needs to be something easy, easy, easy! If you can't remember off the top of your head which behaviors you are targeting - neither will your students!

Don't make the cost of buying reinforcers unattainable. Who is going to work towards something that is too hard to achieve? Start by making easy to reach goals and increase slowly from there.

Don't leave the same system in all year. See the 'Do have a plan for fading.' This is so important I included it twice!

Don't make it too complicated. Getting redundant - I know. But again, this is so critically important. Simple is better especially when you start. You can always make it more complicated later but it's much harder to make a complicated system easier.

Good luck in all your token economy endeavors!

I linked up with What the Teacher Wants - Management Monday Linky Party. Go check out some other great behavior management ideas 🙂

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Behavior Week Surprise Addition: The Dos and Don'ts of a Token Economy - The Autism Helper

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Token economies are popular classroom management tools. It's an effective intervention that is relatively easy to set up and implement - if done correctly. A token economy can be extremely successful at increasing appropriate behaviors, task completion, and academic skills. Wooho, right?!

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Supporting students with ASD through PBIS - how to assist students with ASD through school wide positive behavioral supports

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Supporting students with ASD through PBIS - how to assist students with ASD through school wide positive behavioral supports

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Partial interval recording data sheet - a behavior recording data sheet

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Partial interval recording data sheet - a behavior recording data sheet

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Token Economy board for student with ASD

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Token Economy board for student with ASD

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Do you want your students to be successful? - highlights how PBIS helps students achieve success

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Do you want your students to be successful? - highlights how PBIS helps students achieve success

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Do You Want Your Students to be Successful? PBIS COACHING & TRAINING VIDEO

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PBIS Interventions - PBIS interventions for educators

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PBIS Interventions - PBIS interventions for educators

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Research on classroom management and effective behavioral interventions suggests that a system called PBIS leads to better student behavior overall. So what is PBIS and why should schools be using it as their prime behavioral initiative?

What is PBIS?

PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. It is a set of ideas, tools, and strategies that schools use to promote positive behavior and build dynamic school culture. Unlike many punitive behavioral systems, PBIS points a proactive, strategic approach.

Instead of relying on consequences for disruptive behavior, it supports the explicit teaching of the desired behaviors to students and reinforces these behaviors positively.

The PBIS system fits into a three-tiered framework.

Tier 1 consists of the strategies that reach most learners in the typical K-12 classroom.

Tier 2 contains more specific, monitored interventions that serve the needs of students who need some extra support.

Tier 3 includes the most intensive interventions created for students who have distinct needs as observed by behavior professionals.

In using PBIS tiers, the desired outcome is that eventually, most students are able to learn and thrive in the Tier 1 setting.

Why Use PBIS?

Schools have dozens of options when it comes to choosing a behavior system for their learning environment. PBIS strategies stand out because of the many benefits they offers educators and students alike.

One prime benefit is that it was masterfully created with all students in mind. The main focus of the system is to teach and promote positive behavior across the board.

Classroom teachers are trained on Tier 1 best practices and they use these strategies to support all students. Due to its inclusive nature, students who have more complex behavioral needs do not feel excluded. Instead, interventions are offered to them not only on the Tier 1 level but on Tier 2 or Tier 3 levels as well.

This, in turn, helps to build a dynamic school culture. Other benefits include...

● Improving and building social-emotional skills

● Increasing student engagement

● Allowing a focus on academic instruction

● Flexibility

Let's look at some effective interventions that are used within a PBIS behavior plan. They are divided into sections and will show you the progression of interventions used from Tier 1 (universal) to Tier 3 (most intensive).

Examples of PBIS Interventions

Tier 1 PBIS Interventions

1. Explicitly Teach & Model Positive Behaviors

A common misconception is that routines, procedures, and behavior expectations are only taught at the beginning of the year.

Positive behavior should be explicitly taught at the beginning, but then also needs to be reinforced consistently throughout the entire school year. The more you talk about, model, and reinforce good behavior, the faster students will naturally show it.

2. Give Tangible Rewards

PBIS works best when classroom behaviors are tied to a point and reward system. This means that when students exhibit a desired behavior, they earn points (immediate reinforcers) that can then be exchanged for tangible rewards.

Platforms like LiveSchool help teachers and students keep track of points until enough is earned for rewards from a class or school store. This intervention is perfect for Tier 1 because rewards can be differentiated, which allows for further student choice.

3. Use Non-Verbal Cues & Signals

Verbal cues and reinforcing language are important but are not the only ways you can encourage positive behavior. Teaching non-verbal cues or signals to students will help to re-engage learners quickly and with minimal distraction.

Not all students respond well to verbal redirects, especially if they are used consistently. Non-verbals are a perfect alternative and work well for all students.

4. Positively Narrate

Classroom narration is not a natural skill but a powerful one. Teachers should use positive narration to proactively encourage good behaviors before students even begin following an instruction.

The great thing about the narration is it can be used at any time in a lesson or unstructured moment, like in the hallway or transition. If students watch teachers observe them and hear positive affirmations, they are more apt to meet the expectation.

Tier 2 PBIS Interventions

5. Provide a Check-In & Check-Out

This Tier 2 intervention requires student-specific goals and a person who is able to complete the check-in and check-out on a daily basis. It is also important for the person chosen to have a strong relationship with the Tier 2 student.

Every morning before school, the teacher meets with their student(s) to review their goals for the day and see how they are doing. This 1:1 conversation will normally help students to start their day on the right foot.

At the end of the day, the same teacher will meet with their student(s) to go over the highs and lows of the day. Teachers can also use this time to reward great behavior or have more reflective conversations.

6. Offer Structured Breaks

Both teachers and students benefit from breaks throughout the day. Some students though need more breaks than others in order to reset and re-engage in classroom learning.

Structured breaks are planned periods of time in which Tier 2 behavior students are able to step away and reset themselves. Students with the ability to self-monitor can eventually move from structured, timed breaks to requested ones.

7. Implement Skill Builders

As teachers identify their Tier 2 behavior students, similar skill gaps may become evident. Skill Builder Interventions would work well in this case because these students would be able to meet in a small group at a designated time during the week.

Here, they will learn specific skills that will help them meet their behavior goals. These skill builder groups could focus on social-emotional topics or help students to build relationships. This intervention is extremely flexible and can be implemented by teachers or counselors, depending on teacher availability.

Tier 3 PBIS Interventions

8. Daily Behavior Forms

This intervention is for students who need more consistent touch points than a check-in/check-out system would provide. The highest leverage goal is chosen and a form is made that reflects the student's daily class schedule.

For younger kids, there could be smiley faces next to each period whereas, for older students, there could be a number system. After each class period, the teacher would fill out the form to share if the student met their goal or did not.

A restorative conversation could then be had earlier in the day if the goal was not met to help students get back on track before moving into their next class.

9. Offer Sensory Tools

Though this intervention is more commonly used with students that have ADHD, anxiety, or autism, it can also be used as a Tier 3 intervention for undiagnosed students.

The usage of a sensory tool requires a specific need to be fulfilled, so it will take extra observation and time to determine what will work best. Commonly used sensory tools are flexible seating, rubber pencil grips, and textured items like sandpaper or velcro strips.

Before introducing a sensory tool, teachers should teach students how to use the tool and create boundaries around it.

10. Create Individualized and Visual Schedules

Though most students catch on and are able to follow a daily schedule easily, some students cannot. This intervention works well for students who need an even more detailed plan.

An individualized schedule can be paired with a check-in/check-out system as well as a behavior plan. The consistent 1:1 check-ins throughout the day as well as a more visual schedule will ensure students are able to stay on track and reset when necessary.

Putting it all together

PBIS is a proactive, strategic framework that promotes positive behavior and supports all students in the classroom. Behavior intervention is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to serving students and helping them learn and grow every day.

As you look forward to the coming school year, be sure to consider implementing PBIS and some of these interventions to better your school culture and environment. Want to learn all you can possibly learn about PBIS? Check out our Complete PBIS Field Guide.

Looking for a place to start your school culture journey? Check out our free PBIS template where you can download a sample to get started.

To learn what other educators are saying take a look at our PBIS reviews. How do you unlock the full potential of PBIS? Check out our resources on harnessing the power of PBIS for your school district. Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL.

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The PBIS Interventions Every Educator Needs to Know | Article

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Research on classroom management and effective behavioral interventions suggests that a system called PBIS leads to better student behavior overall. So what is PBIS and why should schools be using it as their prime behavioral initiative? PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports.

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Implementing PBIS - a how to implement PBIS guide

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Implementing PBIS - a how to implement PBIS guide

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An essential component of universal positive behavior supports is ensuring classroom teachers are implementing key instructional and management strategies with fidelity and intensity to match student risk. We will provide an overview of key classroom strategies, how to design and implement systemic supports to promote high implementation fidelity, and a range of examples of professional development and on-gong coaching at the school and district level.

District & State PBIS

Coaching

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Center on PBIS | Video: Implementing District-wide Classroom Supports through Brief Professional Development and Coaching

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An essential component of universal positive behavior supports is ensuring classroom teachers are implementing key instructional and management strategies with fidelity and intensity to match student risk. We will provide an overview of key classroom strategies, how to design and implement systemic supports to promote high implementation fidelity, and a range of examples of professional development and on-gong coaching at the school and district level.