Recognizing positive student behaviour throughout the Kootenay Lake School District
By Contributor
Being sent to the Principal’s office has never been so much fun! Students at different schools around the District are being recognized for their positive behaviour through a variety of motivating programs.
Turning up the heat
Blewett Elementary School has always had rules, and now it has RULES (Respect & Responsibility, Understanding, Learning, Environment and Safety). Teachers and Administrators are always on the lookout for who might be following the RULES in the hallway, during class and on the playground. Awarding students with a certificate that ensures positive deeds don’t go unnoticed. Collectively, the number of certificates all count towards a measurement on a hallway thermometer. The poster displays the entire school’s progress, motivating everyone to be more caring and considerate of one another and their learning environment in the hopes for a longer recess as a reward!
Have you filled someone’s bucket today?
The Redfish Elementary School students are busy filling buckets! The wide mouthed smiley faced ice-cream pail eagerly awaits nomination slips from students and teachers. Slips can be made out by anyone that feels another individual deserves recognition for acts of kindness, appreciation or generosity. At assemblies, slips are drawn from the bucket and new pencil prizes are awarded, encouraging positive behavior as the students themselves both witness and benefit from the reward system.
Bring your BEST
Hume Elementary School’s incentive program brings out the BEST in their K–5 students. Belonging, Excellence, Success and Teamwork is the school’s motto, and Hume students are recognized with a ‘Gotcha’ certificate when they are caught demonstrating specific virtues. Principal Joanne Beddoes has gone a step further to integrate the new curriculum, selecting a monthly virtue such as what it means to be Knowledgeable, Principled, or Caring. A different coloured wristband symbolizes each virtue and is the prize, worn proudly by the students to signify their good conduct.
It’s in the can
Each week at Trafalgar Middle School, the custodial staff get to be the judge of which classrooms deserve the honorary Golden Garbage Can awards. Aside from motivating the students to value a tidy learning environment, bragging rights and a chance to be selected in a biweekly draw for a number of appealing prizes is what’s in it for the kids. Involving the custodians also fosters recognition for their important contribution to the school.
Inappropriate behavior can be difficult to change, and can demand both resources and time on the part of administration.
However, reinforcing the positive aims to promote an awareness amongst students that their teachers and administration are interested in everyone, and not just the trouble-makers.
