Change is a Good Thing

"One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful. Subduing the other's military without battle is the most skillful." - Sun Tzu
That is the quote at the beginning of the chapter titled 'Rapport,' in Teach Like a Pirate. That is the purpose of PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports). We don't want to have to manage misbehaviors. We want to be so good with our management tactics that we prevent misbehaviors from happening.

I am in the process of training for a half-marathon that I will be running at the end of October. During the school week, I run when everything is still dark and all is still quiet. One of the things that I love about training for half-marathons, as a result of the peace and quiet of the early morning,  is the time that I have to reflect and think. It was during a run this past week that the content for this blog was drafted.

At the beginning of the school year, our PBIS team (Rebeca Yoder, Janelle Sulhoff, Mallory DeLacy, Jordan Jaspering, and Anna Burns - kudos to you five for the work that you are responsible for with this) decided to create a new system for recognizing students who show the Huskie Way of being caring, respectful, and responsible. Out (for now) were the Huskie Paws, as they were replaced with a ticket system. There are different colored tickets that students receive for being caring, respectful, and responsible; each ticket is labeled with one of those three words. When an adult in the building catches a student being caring, respectful, or responsible that particular student is given a ticket. The student then signs a sheet in his/her classroom that shows all of the students who have earned tickets, and they put their ticket into a drawing. At the end of each week, the drawing takes place and one student from each classroom is recognized for showing the Huskie Way of being caring, respectful, and responsible.

The feedback so far is positive. I am told that while I am announcing the winning students' names, the anticipation in the classrooms is worth seeing. Validating that point is the fact that before I am even finished on the intercom, there is a line of students that have made it to the office to claim their certificate and prize.

Change gets people energized and excited. It keeps things fresh, and it keeps people on their toes. If this was a fable, it would end with a moral. The moral of this story would be that change is a good thing.