School Wide Programming
Tier 1 interventions apply to all students at Yokayo, school wide. They are generalized interventions that are created in the classroom by teachers or anywhere on campus by all staff. These are interventions that the vast majority of students will respond to, such as classroom and school expectations, rules, reward systems, routines, and consequences. Tier 1 interventions are formally taught and practiced on a large scale in a systematic and structured manner on an ongoing basis. 80-90% of students will respond to these interventions and remain at a Tier 1 intervention level.
Character Counts
Every 6 weeks, a school wide rally is held to implement the focus of one of the six pillars of character (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship). During each six-week period, the specific pillar is taught and reinforced in the classroom. Teachers are provided with materials (such as Today’s Counts flip books) to help aid in the teaching of character pillars during morning meetings or general class times.
Posters are found in every classroom and every other area of the school that focus on the character pillars and how students are expected to behave in different areas of the school such as the cafeteria, hallways, bathrooms, etc.
During the first month of each school year, the Student Success Coordinator leads each classroom teacher in Expectation Station projects in an effort to teach all students the basic behavior expectations in all areas of the school. Projects are worked on in each classroom and finished projects are displayed in the school gymnasium. Each classroom then tours the gymnasium to view what other classrooms have accomplished.
Every Learner Counts
This curriculum tool includes an annual calendar with school wide common language and routines, spirit days, initiatives and presentations, as well as classroom activities for creating a school wide culture and impart key character lessons.
August: Building the School Community
September: Making Good Choices
October: Growth Mindset
November: Friendship & Empathy
December: Attitude of Gratitude
January: Gold Star Start
February: Diversity & Equity
March: Wellness
April: Peace
May: Appreciation
June: Finish Strong
TRRFCC Ticket Procedure
Students will receive TRRFCC tickets from any school staff member who witnesses the student acting in a way that exemplifies one or more of the six character pillar traits (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship).
Teachers have been trained to use Affective Statements when giving a TRRFCC ticket to a student so that the student understands why what they did is appreciated by the teacher and how it is connected to one of the character pillars.
After receiving their TRRFCC ticket, the student will bring the ticket to the main office and deposit it into one of the six boxes marked with each character trait. The student then also receives a colored token marked with the character traits from a bucket next to the deposit boxes.
Every Thursday, the counselor will retrieve all of the TRRFCC tickets from the marked boxes and will create a certificate for each student who has received a ticket that week (number of tickets each student receives is also tracked weekly in PBIS binder). Those certificates are then taken to the student’s classroom and the student’s picture is taken holding their certificate. The pictures are compiled and used to create a weekly Character Counts video that is shown in every classroom at the beginning of the week, using recognition as an incentive for students to continue to be students of good character. In each video there are generally 50-70 students recognized for being students of character. Counselor will use the tracking system also to identify when a student reaches 10 tickets, at which time they earn a TRRFCC necklace. Additionally, students may be recognized for physical fitness milestones, academic success, or other such school-related achievements or events and featured in the video.
Love and Logic
There is also a heavy focus at Yokayo School on the practices of the “Love and Logic” model. Student recovery areas are utilized, with one area being in the classroom and a second recovery area in another classroom that has been pre-arranged by classroom teachers. If a student needs a third recovery during a school day, the student can be sent either to the Student Success Center (room 30), the counselor’s office, or to the office for discipline to be determined by the principal. All discipline is logged into Aeries. Additionally, the Student Success Coordinator and the school counselor are to log all interventions for students who require recovery or are seen for other reasons. Love and Logic offers a foundation of how adults should speak to students using empathy in order to get the student to behave in the way that the adult desires. Each year a rotating handful of staff members attend a national Love and Logic conference, and there is Love and Logic literature and DVDs available on site to all staff members as well.
Second Step Curriculum
Kindergarten through fourth grade also participates in the Second Step program provided by the district. Second Step is evidence-based to decrease problem behaviors and to promote success for students at school, as well as to promote self-regulation and a sense of safety and support. The program teaches social emotional skills with the idea that a student will be more academically successful if he is healthy socially and emotionally. Children show gains in prosocial behavior, empathy and behavior when utilizing the Second Step Program.
Bucket Filling
The philosophy of Bucket Filling is a major part of Tier I at Yokayo as well. Bucket filling simply means that we do our best each day to show kindness and respect to the people around us. Bucket filling can be small acts of kindness like greeting someone in the hallway, holding a door for someone or saying a kind word to someone, or something bigger like befriending a new student or sending someone a special card. Staff and administration is constantly voicing that there are many ways to fill others buckets and that we should work each day, no matter where we are, to fill as many buckets as we can. Additionally, we talk consistently at school about putting the lid on our buckets in order to not allow others who might be unhappy for some reason, to dip into our buckets and take from them. This movement started with the children’s book by Carol McCloud, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?