I Used to Hate PBIS. Milaney Leverson leversonm@wisconsinpbisnetwork.org @leversmil

Assessment Connection The content of this session connects to TFI, items 1.7, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11

Why were you reluctant about PBIS? "They should already know how to do this!” "A poster's not going to fix it!” "Why do we have to give out tickets?” “I can never refer students again.”

What happened to change your mind? What advice do you have for dealing with doubters?

Creating Staff Buy-In that Sticks Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Story Simple Creating Staff Buy-In that Sticks SUCCES: Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Story

Keep it Simple: Figure Out the Core of Your Idea What is the critical component vs the components that are simply beneficial? Why does it matter? What is the point? The 5 Why’s based on an initial statement of: We’re implementing PBIS. Why?: The district mandates it. Why?: Our school refers students more frequently than other schools our same size. Why should we refer fewer students?: If students spend less time in the office, they spend more time in class. Why is it important for students to be in class?: We need students in class so they can learn from us. Why do you want them to learn?: Because we care about our students’ futures. So, if everything were to fall apart today, how did we show our students we cared about their future? Everything needs to tie back to this fundamental truth.  The number of ideas coming your way every day adds up to a lot of noise. You have staff meetings, Facebook newsfeeds, soccer practice, dinner reservations, lesson plans, those annoying ads in the middle of a YouTube video, parent-teacher conferences. If you want your idea to stick in someone’s mind, it’s got to be simple. This might be hard. You can’t have three important things; it’s got to be one. When everyone leaves the staff meeting, eventually they’ll be somewhere and need to remember what you told them. The simple idea is their touchstone. Determining the core of your idea boils down to this:

Show Them Something Unexpected: Make your audience pay attention Grab their attention with something surprising before they tune you out. Assumption: Behavior isn’t a problem that needs solving in your building. Sure, some students are familiar faces around the office, but all-in-all things are pretty average. An unexpected way to get their attention is to share your school’s data compared with the national average. Answer: Share your building’s data compared to the average number of referrals other schools like yours send to the office every day (black line on the graph). Force the skeptics in your group to reevaluate their assumptions and engage in the conversation. You’ll know when your unexpected idea connects when you see someone raise a surprised eyebrow, lean in, and ask a follow-up question. https://www.pbisapps.org/Resources/SWIS%20Publications/SWIS%20Data%20Summary%202017-18.pdf

Solidify it with Concrete Examples Make them understand and remember your message Give them something to relate to. Make it tangible.  Vague idea: “We referred an average of six referrals per day per month” Concrete idea: Every referral we write represents a period of time where each student is out of class, not participating in a lesson. Last year, our students lost 53 days of instructional time. That’s about a third of our school year spent in the office dealing with behavior.  The Technical Assistance Center on PBIS provides a spreadsheet that automatically calculates the number of minutes, hours, and days lost due to referrals. https://www.pbis.org/resource/417/cost/-benefit-analysis-worksheet

Deliver Your Message from a Credible Source Help them believe. Who do you believe about food recall notifications? Reasons some people are believed over others: Experience: coach or other authority Relationship Incredible Story, Specific Details Positional Authority: Administrator

Create an Emotional Investment Make them care. Help them believe that solving the problem will be so beneficial to them that they’ll want to work with you to fix it.  Who do your staff believe they are as teachers? What do they care about? Stop saying PBIS if it causes a negative reaction! Talk instead about what respecting the school community would look like in the building. How would classrooms feel? What would staff say to students? What would students say to staff? For an idea to really stick, you have to make people care. Does the term ‘PBIS’ cause a physical reaction for some people in your building? It can sometimes; I’ve seen it happen.

Tell a Good Story Give them a way to act upon it Stories are a way to connect emotionally and share our experiences. Invite your staff to imagine they are part of the moment rather than a passive listener Ask veteran staff to share their experiences with how the building felt before implementing specific practices If no one in your building has implemented PBIS before, ask a teacher from a neighboring school to share how their school changed for the better Bring the idea out of the clouds into the real world of possibility, and give people a way to act on that possibility.

Next Steps When presenting information to stakeholders, ask yourself these six questions: Is my core idea presented in simple terms? Have I shown my audience something unexpected about an assumption they hold? Did I use too much jargon, or does the idea resonate with concrete imagery? Are my examples credible? Where did I get my audience emotionally engaged? Does the story I tell resonate with my audience's shared experience?

Resources Content adapted from: Teach By Design: https://www.pbisapps.org/community/Pages/Successful-Staff-Buy-In.aspx -and- Made to Stick: Why Some ideas Survive and Others Die Heath, C., Heath, D. (2007). Made to Stick. New York: NY: Random House

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