Life Skills and Positive Behavior Support

At our school, we use a system called the "Discovery Program" to teach life, social and behavior skills. This program has proven to be especially useful in our alternative high school setting where all teachers are on the same page and teach Discovery classes to students.

"Discovery Bucks"

This year, we have combined this with a positive behavior support system that we call "Discovery Bucks". The basic premise: catch kids doing something right. We put the six Ps from Discovery (prompt, prepared, polite, positive mental attitude, participate, produce) onto a "Discovery Buck" tickets. Whenever we see a student meeting the requirements of one of the six Ps, we check a box, initial the ticket, and give it to the student. The student then writes their name on the ticket and places it in a small bucket (one is located in every class).  

Student-decorated little buckets for each class

 Every Friday morning, the whole school meets for a drawing in which we pour all tickets into a large bucket and draw five winners. Our staff decided that giving the winners an hour lunch (rather than a half hour) would be the best approach for our population. 

Large bucket for drawings

The combination of Discovery and the positive behavior support system helps not only the students, who now try more often to achieve AND for teachers who have a system in place for frequent positive reinforcement.