In collaboration with Bloomz, opinions are my own

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports or PBIS, is used in the classroom as a way to promote positive classroom behavior and assist with classroom management. PBIS has a 3-tiered framework: Tier 1 universal one is a foundation for Behavioral academics, tier 2 is prevented, which focuses on improving some specific skill deficits and tier 3 is intensive and individualized prevention.

PBIS has been used in schools as a way to provide support for students throughout the year and although it may seem like there is a lot involved, it should not be thought of as something extra added on to what teachers are already doing in their classrooms. When PBIS systems are in place, there are many benefits. It leads to a more positive and supportive classroom community and culture, it makes a positive impact on student academic achievement, and there is a reduction in disciplinary practices.

When schools are implementing PBIS Management, they want to be able to check on the strategies that are being used in the classroom and reflect on their effectiveness. Having a system that allows you to look at student data and see what is being provided and decide what is best and most effective for each student is important. Having access to this data enables schools to better monitor student progress, and share and involve families with how the student is doing in the classroom.

PBIS is not something new. Research started in the late 1990s and it was initially developed as an Effective Behavior Support (EBS) system that then evolved into PBIS. With PBIS, teachers can have different strategies, depending on how they set up their classroom space. When teachers have a consistent routine and set clear expectations for students, it helps to build this classroom culture. As teachers are focused on building relationships with students and employ a variety of classroom management strategies and ways to help students understand and reflect upon their behaviors, it leads to benefits for student well-being, academic growth, and behavior. Being able to capture all of this in one space and to be able to communicate to families and to other teachers is important for ongoing student growth.

During the month of May, there is a focus on school safety and wellness. Using PBIS is a way for teachers to focus on student well-being by creating a supportive structure in the classroom. This structure then leads to a reduction in disciplinary incidents by focusing on good behaviors and student well-being which are essential for learning. It helps to focus on the whole child.

When we focus on the whole child by addressing social-emotional learning (SEL) which is very important in our schools today, we better prepare students for the future as they develop the five core SEL competencies. These competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision-making will benefit students now and in the future. Bringing PBIS into the classroom and combining it with a focus on SEL and strategies will help teachers to create a supportive and positive classroom environment for schools to be successful.

For anyone who is not familiar with Bloomz, it offers a communication platform where educators and families can stay connected in a unified, streamlined, consistent space. Rather than relying on multiple apps or tools for many of the tasks and communications that need to happen in our schools, Bloomz can be used to facilitate all of this in one space. One big thing that makes Bloomz stand out is that it also has PBIS within its platform. While there are other communication platforms available, Bloomz is the only one that offers everything for schools and families to focus on PBIS and to be able to have behavior tracking.

What makes the Bloomz PBIS system unique is that teachers can record the behaviors happening in class through a powerful dashboard. Teachers can track student behavior and access the information to analyze it, and then work with students to improve and also reward them for their behaviors over time. There are also different modes in the Bloomz behavior tracking system which makes it easy to see where students are when it comes to behavior and to track their growth over time. The three modes are flowers, monsters, or neutral.

At the school level, Bloomz provides access to reports which are customizable and can include any of the information from the platform and make it available to teachers and to the school administrators. Another option is that teachers can set it up so that behaviors are tracked over time and students are automatically given a reward which then saves some time for the teachers.

Using Bloomz for communication enables teachers to stay connected and keep parents informed about how things are going in the classroom. Being able to send a quick note or even a photo can truly engage parents in the learning experience of the students. The communications happen in real-time and are based on each parent’s preference for receiving notifications whether through an SMS text message or an email. With all of the options for including audio, video, images, or text, teachers can send examples directly to parents. The benefit of having a behavior tracking system is that it helps teachers and families to work together to create a positive and supportive classroom community, focusing on the building of relationships that are essential to our classroom environment.

Bloomz enables schools to foster the essential home-to-school connection. Teachers can share learning as it’s happening, inform families about student progress, identify students needing additional support, and focus on promoting student wellness and setting students up for success.

About the Author

Rachelle Dené Poth is a Foreign Language and STEAM Educator at Riverview High School in Oakmont, PA. She is also an Attorney, Edtech Consultant, Speaker and the Author of seven books about education and edtech. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @Rdene915.

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