PBIS the Thunder Way
What is PBIS?
If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach.
If a child doesn’t know how to swim, we teach.
If a child doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach.
If a child doesn’t know how to drive, we teach.
If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we… teach? …punish?
Why can’t we finish the last sentence as automatically as we do the others?
— Tom Herner (NASDE President, 1998)
It’s happened so often that it’s almost a cliche. Students – whose entire purpose is to learn – are punished for not knowing how to behave, rather than being taught appropriate behavior.
Fortunately, attitudes toward misbehavior in the educational setting are changing. There are more than 131,000 schools (public and private) in the US, and each of them is unique in terms of school culture and climate. In each of these schools, there are students who struggle with appropriate behavior. Teaching positive and appropriate behavior, instead of punishing misbehavior, is the goal of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, or PBIS.
PBIS Website Resources
PBIS at West Carroll Primary School
WCPS has implemented PBIS on a Tier I/II/III level. Some things we have incorporated on a Tier I level include regular Thunder Way Assemblies, Thunder Bucks, Thunder Way Store, Visual Reinforcements throughout the school, practicing behaviors with classroom teachers at the beginning of the year, and staff training.
