PBIS

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. When implemented with fidelity, PBIS improves social emotional competence, academic success, and school climate. It also improves teacher health and wellbeing. It is a way to create positive, predictable, equitable and safe learning environments where everyone thrives. We use ‘students’ to refer to all children and youth in any educational or therapeutic setting (e.g., K-12 school, early childhood program, treatment program, juvenile justice program). Learn more about PBIS in schools, classrooms, early childhood programs and juvenile justice programs on those topic pages.

Students are awarded for their behaviors during our monthly awards assembly - Rascal Rally. Each month we recognize a student from each class for  representing each months focus, being the student of the month, and or receiving a teacher choice award, a Rascal Award!

 

 

MEET OUR COUNSELOR

La Rosa School is committed to student needs. Our Care Counselor, Veronica Mentar works with students’ emotional and social needs. She is dedicated to helping our young students develop a secure self-concept and positive relationships with other students and staff.

Students may request to see the counselor during the school day to help resolve issues. Students may also be referred to the counselor at the request of a parent or staff member. If a family situation may be causing difficulties at school, parents are urged to contact the teacher for an appointment.

Contact Ms. Mentar at vmentar@tcusd.net

MONTHLY FOCUS

For February, I will be visiting classrooms and discussing conflict resolution.  I will be teaching the strategy “Talk it Out” which includes the important practice of using “I” statements.  I want to provide you with ways to teach your children how to deal with conflict so you can support them at home.

1. Tackle feelings first - As parents, it is important to guide your child to a place emotionally where they can think before they act. Parents can start by helping children identify the emotions they are having.  Visual feeling charts, a visual stoplight and/or an emotion thermometer can be helpful tools to help children identify what they are feeling and decide whether they need to calm down before proceeding.  When emotions are still too big, it is not the right time to solve the conflict.  The important thing is helping children come up with a toolbox of coping skills to use if they need to calm down in the heat of the moment.

2. Pinpoint the source of the conflict - Once the big emotions have calmed down, the next step is to figure out exactly what the problem is.  Sometimes, younger children don’t have the emotional awareness to identify the original source of the conflict.  They might need your help to understand why they are fighting.  Helping kids get to the root of the issue will make it easier for them to resolve what is actually wrong.  

3. Brainstorm solutions - Once children understand what the issue is, you can help them practice finding solutions.  Little children will need a grown- up’s guidance here, but even older children can benefit from having someone to bounce ideas off of.  Brainstorming several solutions and then putting your heads together to pick the best one is a good way to support your child’s problem solving.  Here is an example of a way to structure this brainstorming discussion:

  • Problem Solving Baseball - This exercise takes children through the process of thinking up and evaluating possible action plans.  So your child will “pitch” you the problem and then you go through the “bases” together.  First base is “What’s my problem?”,  Second base is “What are some potential options?”, Third base identifies the best options and Home Plate is “Am I safe or out?”  Did I pick the right one?  The object is to help children understand what is going to get them closest to their goal.  

  • The tricky thing here is that it is hard to know what the best option really is.  And that is okay!  Let children know that the goal is to make your best effort, not to solve everything perfectly right away.  Praise your child for trying these skills even if things didn’t work out as they had hoped.  

4. Get some perspective - It is important for kids to practice taking a mental step back.  Some tips may include, Think beyond this one incident - one behavior doesn’t always define an entire person.  Encourage your children to consider the whole person and their relationship with that person.  Put yourself in the other person’s shoes - Acknowledging what others are saying even if we don’t totally understand why they are feeling that way or don’t agree with the way that they are describing the situation is an important skill.  Imagining what the other person is feeling is a great way to help children develop empathy.  Consider the context - It is important for children to understand the time and place of the conflict and their relationship to the other person.  

5. Practice effective communication - Children need to learn to communicate their feelings clearly, without lashing out or making accusations.  Here are some strategies to guide them:

  1. Using “I” statements to name feelings

  2. Writing out talking points

  3. Role-Playing with an adult

6. Model what you want to see - One of the most powerful things you can do to help your child learn conflict resolution is to show them how it is done.  Seeing you succeed and make mistakes along the way shows them that solving conflicts can be done even if it is hard.