EDUCATION FORWARD SHAKOPEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS | DISTRICT UPDATE
Susan Wangen and her fourth grade students
JANUARY 2020
Flipping the Script By Susan Wangen, Sweeney Elementary School fourth grade teacher
As my fourth grade class comes out of lunch, we pass a group of kindergarteners walking in a line down the hall to their physical education class. Several of the fourth graders give them a thumbs-up. It’s our secret sign with the kindergarteners to let them know they are meeting our school’s hallway expectations. A few weeks earlier, my fourth graders visited the same kindergarten class for “live modeling” of hallway expectations as part of the PBIS system that is in the process of being implemented in all Shakopee elementary schools.
PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. It is a school-wide framework that supports, reinforces and teaches behavior expectations. Sweeney students are given PAWS tickets when they are following expectations. PAWS stands for Practice safety, Act responsibly, Work together and Show respect. The tickets can be turned in for a weekly drawing or saved to be used as currency to buy privileges such as extra recess or getting to use the principal’s chair for a day.
Sweeney is now in its second year under the PBIS framework, following in the footsteps of Jackson where PBIS has been in place for ten years. Red Oak is in its first year of implementation, and so is Sun Path Elementary. Eagle Creek is learning about PBIS this year with plans to implement in the 2020-21 school year. The addition of PBIS is not a major change for Sweeney teachers and staff. It’s simply defining and framing what we expect at our school and recognizing students who are following those expectations. Teachers and staff are not given a behavior curriculum, but a shared set of guidelines for our school’s success. I watch the shift in my student’s attention as art teacher Ali Kopseng holds up two PAWS reward tickets at the door to the art room. “I’m looking for two people showing their PAWS as you enter today,” she enthusiastically tells the class. She smiles as kids straighten up and try their hardest to earn the small green tickets she is holding. The increase in positivity is refreshing in education. PBIS allows schools to ‘flip the script’ on the old systems that don’t work anymore, such as lecturing, writing students names on the board, etc. When the framework is followed and effective, it says to the students: ‘This is what we expect here, and I can’t wait to see you do it.’