What defines your school culture? PBIS/ PBS

Tecumseh Annex ROCKs

Recently at a staff meeting our team had an 'aha moment.'  I will admit I poked the bear here, but isn't that what leaders do?  The discussion was around the topic of The Code of Conduct.   One of our school goals this year is to reduce the number of behavioural incidents particularly coming from less structured, less supervised times and settings such as lunch and recess.

I should give you some background here - Tecumseh Annex is a K-3 school in Vancouver with a reputation for excellence in teaching.  Our staff strives to go above and beyond to serve our families and community.  We are a beacon for social emotional learning, and were recently featured on the front page of the Vancouver Sun for Lora Bird's (one of our Kindergarten teachers) work in this area. link to Vancouver Sun Article

Less than 5% of our office incident referrals come from the classroom.  This isn't to say that students never have behaviour concerns in the classroom, rather seasoned teachers who are child centred build excellent classroom systems to support students with their behaviour. They deliver engaging lessons, and have interwoven opportunities for students to practice self-regulation throughout the day.  

Yet, over the last few years we have seen a trend that I believe many educators will identify with - while students can manage in structured settings like the classroom, things tend to fall apart in unstructured settings such as lunch, recess, transitions, etc.  

Makes sense right?  Our students can and do demonstrate strong pro-social skills under the guidance of an adult, but struggle to do the same independently.  And there seems to be a logical solution... increase the adult supervision.  At Tecumseh Annex this is what we have done, and will remain doing - thoughtful placement of adult supervision to minimize student conflict in predictable settings.

But here's the rub and the simple reason why we cannot stop here.  Isn't the goal of education, be it academic or social emotional learning, to teach kids to be independent? Isn't the playground the best opportunity for kids to practice social independence?  Doesn't the fact that students are struggling in these settings to find success suggest another obvious answer - maybe our kids don't know how.  In Ross Green's "Lost at School" he puts it simply - "kids do well if they can." This premise has always raised a simple question in my mind - what is it that we need to teach kids so that they can be successful in these settings?

This brings me back to that 'aha moment.'  As a team we were discussing the language we use to teach kids about expectations on the playground.  The discussion centred around our current Code of Conduct.  The Code of Conduct was the heading for our behavioural expectations at Tecumseh Annex and refers to the expectation that students - Be Safe, and Be Respectful in all settings.  

So, insert my question to the team -  "Do you think the kids really care about The Code of Conduct?  Does it define our school and what we do, does it engage them, does it make them excited?" 

If someone were to ask me the same question, I doubt that I would say, "at the heart of Tecumseh Annex we are The Code of Conduct."  I would probably say, first and foremost, "We have fun!"  Again I asked, "Is this really the 'title' that should frame the language we use to engage our kids in teaching them how to independently be successful in social situations?"  

And that's when it hit... that magic moment when the light bulbs started going off around the room.  Within minutes we were Tecumseh Annex 'ROCKs.'  Ideas for what the acronym stood for were bouncing around the room - engaging deep conversations about who we are, what we do, what's important for our kids, staff and community.  We were engaged, we were having fun and we were excited!  RESPECT, OPEN MIND, COMMUNITY and KINDNESS - This is the heart of Tecumseh Annex.

Respect, Open Mind, Community, Kindness

Every day for two weeks the teachers have agreed to use classroom time to take the kids out to the playground setting and teach, role model and practice what it means to ROCK in those settings.  

The supervising adults at lunch and recess will try to catch kids being successful and acknowledge them with a positive comment and add their name to our ROCK Star Board.  When we reach 500 ROCK Stars we will have a whole school celebration, dance party and performance of an original song written by Lora Bird and performed by our students.  

We will compare office referrals pre and post ROCK to see if we are on the right track, and if we have been successful may focus our ROCK initiative in a different direction;  lunch room, community building, etc.  

And guess what?  The kids are pumped, excited and engaged.  

Please stay tuned for updates on our progress.  A big thank you to our amazing staff, who never shy away from new ideas and ways of approaching teaching and learning.  To our PAC and their ongoing generous donations for such initiatives.  And to Lisa Sher @ sher designs.

for designing our posters and Rock Stars which so aptly reflect the fun and engagement we are trying to promote.  

What do your school rules say about you?