Description
Social, emotional, and behavioral factors hugely affect academic performance. As growing research shows, schools can do a lot to support pupils and students in developing their socio-emotional and behavioral learning (SEB).
In fact, when effectively taught with the proper strategy, social-emotional and behavioral competencies support learners in adapting to the classroom, crucially encourage their engagement, and promote their academic achievement.
This course will introduce the participants to the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework, an evidence-based three-tiered framework created to improve student performance through continuum support.
Course participants will familiarize specifically with the framework’s first two levels: classroom universal essentials (Tier I) as a positive proactive framework for classroom management that employs preventive strategies, and reactive practices (Tier II) that support and respond to students’ social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) needs and challenges in classrooms.
Participants will also learn about Tier III, which discusses how to intensify and individualize practices that involve further support to meet the specific needs of individual students.
Along with the PBIS framework, participants will get familiar with activities about teaching social and emotional competencies related to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework.
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to manage their classrooms with a positive, preventive, and reactive style. Moreover, they will be able to create a supportive classroom environment to respond to their students’ social, emotional, and behavioral needs and challenges. Thus, they will be in a better position to increase learners’ academic success and to lead to effective quality of life outcomes.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Define the universal essentials of classroom management to establish a positive teaching and learning environment;
- Identify high-leverage preventive and reactive classroom management practices;
- Highlight the benefits of applying the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework;
- Employ practices that provide an important foundation of universal (tier 1) classroom support to increase students’ engagement and decrease both off-task and disruptive behaviors;
- Use activities to support student social and emotional development (SEL) organized around each of CASEL’s five core competencies;
- Apply classroom strategies to engage students in expected behaviors;
- Conduct practical Functional Behavior Assessment of consistent behavioral problems;
- Develop an effective Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) to teach expected behavior and provide corrective feedback.
Tentative schedule
Day 1 – Effective Classroom Management
- Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
- Icebreaker activities;
- Presentations of the participants’ schools;
- Personal goal setting;
- Reflecting on Classroom Management: what is it? What are the types of effective actions and strategies?
Day 2 – The Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework
- The PBIS framework: tier I, tier II, tier III;
- Critical features of a safe environment with positive connections and predictable routines;
- Creating positive expectations by co-developing a classroom matrix with the students;
- Applying classroom strategies to engage students in expected behaviors (e.g. the Student /Teacher Game).
Day 3 – Planning an effective differentiated instruction
- How to consider students’ learning history, SEB and academic needs;
- How to plan an effective differentiated instruction.
Day 4 – The CASEL cluster for SEL
- The five core competency clusters of Social Emotional Learning (SEL);
- How do we foster positive relationships among and with our students?
- Activities and on going teaching practices that promote social, emotional and behavioral growth;
- Encouraging and monitoring the use of social-emotional and behavioral skills;
- How to provide proper feedback.
Day 5 – Planning intervention
- Targeted tier 2 support for students with socio-emotional and behavioral difficulties;
- Functional Behavior Assessment of consistent behavioral problems: the “What” and the “How”;
- Step-by-step planning of effective Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP);
- Presentation, feedback, and discussion on the BIP designed by the participants.
Day 6 – Course closure & cultural activities
- Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
- Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
- Excursion and other external cultural activities.