At the heart of every successful school is a shared commitment to creating a safe and supportive space where students feel loved, connected, and recognized for their achievements. Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with a Site Leader, who is leading the charge on this mission at her school. Our conversation revealed key insights into how schools can foster positive behavior, involve parents, and support teachers through cohesive systems that track and reward student progress.
School-wide Focus and Positive Recognition
The Site Leader began by expressing how pleased her staff is with the school-wide approach they’ve taken this year. Teachers are unified around a single, clear focus, and it’s making a big difference. Students are feeling recognized for their positive actions, and parents are more involved in the process, which has been a huge win for everyone.
"I think the students feel like they're being recognized for the good things they're doing, and it’s been nice to have parents be a part of it,” she noted.
Logging Positive Behaviors and Setting Clear Goals
We also discussed the importance of tracking and logging positive behaviors. The Site Leader highlighted the school’s current goals for teachers to log points for student behavior. Initially, each teacher was asked to award four points per day, but that target was raised to ten. This shift created some friction, as teachers felt ten points was too high.
"We're still struggling with that," she admitted, "but we're working on finding the right balance."
Recognizing Top Performers and Building a Culture of Friendly Competition
Another important aspect of the school’s strategy has been recognizing and rewarding teachers who are actively logging points and engaging in positive behavior reinforcement. The Site Leader shared that gift cards were given to the top teachers in each building, which helped create a bit of friendly competition.
"We gave the top teachers in each building a gift card, and they’re excited to keep up the competition for next time,” she said with a smile.
However, with budget constraints in mind, she’s also thinking about other ways to reward teachers in the future—possibly through creative, cost-free rewards like extra prep time or other small perks.
Moving Forward
As our conversation came to a close, this Site Leader and I reflected on how far the school has come in creating a more positive, cohesive environment for both students and staff. There are still areas for growth—particularly in reducing referrals and balancing the demands on teachers—but the foundation is strong, and the commitment to continuous improvement is evident.
The journey to creating a school-wide culture of positive behavior isn’t easy, but with leaders like her at the helm, it’s clear that progress is being made every day. By listening to teacher feedback, analyzing data, and making adjustments along the way, schools can truly become places where students feel recognized, loved, and empowered to succeed.
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