Do you remember your 3rd grade teacher...your 7th grade science teacher...your 12th grade math teacher?  Did they love you? Did they care about you, in spite of what you did?  We believe that successful teaching is grounded in a love for students. Students need a teacher who cares about them, looks out for them, and guides them all along the way. This love is never to be confused with a "romantic love" nor should this love be without accountability. Instead, this love is a caring and supporting love with accountability—the foundation for a strong relationship.

Here's an image: class trip to Washington, DC without a tour guide! What if you, as the teacher, don't have the experience or expertise to offer insights into the many historical landmarks located there?  Perhaps you have some limited historical knowledge to offer, but you certainly cannot bring this history to life. An experienced tour guide would lead your students toward a greater understanding of the city and its significance. A tour guide would make all the difference!

Respect has a powerful and peaceful ripple effect on those around us. Disrespect has a destructive tsunami-like effect. When we give respect we often get respect in return. When we respect students they feel empowered, valued, and needed. When students feel respected they are more likely to demonstrate respect for themselves and others. We believe that mutual respect provides an anchor of safety and security for everyone in your classroom. Just as anchors provide stability and safety when waters get rough a culture of mutual respect helps to establish a positive classroom environment.

Positive Behavior and Intervention Support (PBIS) programs will be weakened if educators perceive them as only a "warm and soft" approach to handling discipline in their school. Warmth, care, and encouragement are absolutely essential in dealing with student behavior issues; however, these perceived "softer" social qualities must be combined with a respectful and appropriate measure of accountability.

When Best Practice Language (BPL) is used consistently and modeled effectively in the classroom, teachers and students can experience positive behavior outcomes. These student behavior outcomes can serve as a catalyst for a Culture of Hope in the classroom and at the school wide level. In a Culture of Hope, all members of the school expect to experience the hope of better days and better ways! Better days: where students and teachers offer their best to one another. Better ways: where everyone works to find promising paths to individual success! BPL reverberates into a cycle of promise that feeds on itself and generates excitement and enthusiasm about—"Why we're all here."

Your school is full of at-risk students. In fact, every single student in your class is at-risk. The misbehaving student, the apathetic student, the confused student, the gifted student—they each have unique challenges that confront them on a daily basis and put them at risk of not reaching their potential. That's where encouragement comes in. We all need encouragement! An effective Positive Behavior Support and Intervention (PBIS) program offers students encouragement when they face academic challenges, struggle with tough choices, or feel insecure about what to do.

In the classroom, relationships are everything!  The relationships you begin to develop with your students on the first day and continue to nurture throughout the year, set the stage for deep trust and understanding. When teachers make an effort to connect with each student individually it tells them, "You are worth my time" and "I care about you." We believe getting to know students personally is a key to reaching them educationally. These caring relationships are the foundation of a strong Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) program.

What does Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) sound like on the first day of school? On the first day of school with a classroom full of students your words can make all the difference. A teacher’s Language of Practice on the first day sets the tone, provides direction, and conveys high expectations of what is to come. What will setting high expectations "sound like" in your classroom? What Best Practice Language (BPL) can a teacher use to set high expectations for ALL students? The high expectations teachers convey to all their students can propel each of them closer to reaching their potential.

What does Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) sound like in the classroom? What can we say to our students to create a positive classroom climate of unity and collaboration? What Best Practice Language (BPL) can we use?