New Facilitators Conference Calls
Please call in a few minutes before the scheduled time. It is very distracting when people keep signing on after the meeting has started.
Conference Call Number: Dial in number is 415-762-9988 Meeting ID# 702-377-2518.
http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/behaveweb/
Host: Julia Slater / XY / Host: Gia Ostroff Welsh / XY / Sue Zeiders / XYAmy Cook / Barbara Albert / X / Beth Fazio / Y
Stephanie Palmer / Elizabeth Good / Y / Lisa Gragg / X
Laura Heckart / Anna Russo / X
Michele Mahoney / Bobbie McLean / Y
Kimberly Hughes / Y / Judy Witmer / Y
Leslie Holzworth / Barbara Stephens / Y
Brenda Templin / X
Michele Mahoney / Allison Haberman
Tiffany Manning / X / Meghan von der Embse
Jaclyn Maier / X / Diane Deane / Y
Jodi Miscannon / X / Y
Kathy Morgan / Y / Shelbie Eshleman / Y
April Quimby / X / Dina B.
Shannon Terry / Y / Y
IF: Leanne Lorenzo / X / IF: / IF:
IF: / IF: / IF:
SLT: DeVoka Gordon / SLT: Katie Bodnar / XY / SLT: Mary Montgomery
SLT: Aimee Newswanger / X
IF=Independent Facilitator, SLT=State Leadership Team Member (Eastern Region) (Central Region) (Western Region)
X=present during Friday call, Y= present during Monday call
Dates : Nov. 13, 2015 and Nov. 16,2015
Expected Participants / Topics for discussion: Family Involvement / Notes from Discussion /All provisional facilitators.
Interested independent facilitators.
Interested state leadership team members. / Welcome and Introductions
The three keys components of the Family Involvement webinar:
1. Involving families in the initial adoption and implementation of PBS
2. Sharing info with families about PBIS within the center (involving, sustaining and strengthening strategies and practices)
3. Bridging PBIS from the center to the home
What challenges and successes have you had at each of these stages?
What data is important to collect at each of these stages to evaluate and modify practices? / 1. Talking to families individually and building family understanding and buy in slowly. Making intentional time for conversations on PBIS with families. Working on a micro level instead of beginning to roll out globally at this point.
CLT parent representative included and communicates with other parents across classrooms about PBIS.
Recommend a family member to be on the leadership team. The sites that involve a family member at the beginning, it has been seen to roll out to families. The largest challenge is including a family member on the team initially. Concern about BIRs and families on CLT. (Will be anonymous BIR for confidentiality.) Look at patterns with BIRs data.
Involving families in adopting program wide expectations. HLC developed matrixes in classrooms and are sharing them with the families. This helps with the bridge.
2. Have intro. To PBIS at Back to School night with follow-up emails. Also offer Lunch & Learn opportunities for parents. And monthly PBIS meetings with families. And “PBIS Gazette” monthly to parents.
“Information table” staffed during Drop off concerning PBIS and family involvement.
Survey families about “What does matrix look like at home?”
Also use a free app from Scholastics “ Classmessenger”.
Policies are handed to parents directly from classroom teacher and follow-up and monthly conference nights.
Idea: Family member on team – have staff to identify program wide expectations, show families the video, talk about the symbols and mechanism and the parent rep will share about what it looks like to be safe at home.
What are ideas/experiences around involving families into identifying the initial program wide expectations for the center? Some experiences:
Question posed: Is it “false” to “involve parents” when you know your pw expectations will be the same as the local school district implementing PBIS?
Responses:
- School does the “I can” train – the quandary of facilitating the expectations between the local school district and the early learning programs.
- Sometimes just facilitating the conversation and if everyone agrees that it makes sense it will probably work.
Program looking to change their expectations/simplify the behavior matrix. Was modeled more on school wide and now trying to make it more family friendly and tying it into a theme. Feel it will help promote PBIS if there is a solid cohesive theme (i.e. bees, trains, etc.). Committee rotates between 3 counties – presents a challenge to including families. Has anybody experienced having more than one family on a team?
Idea
- Consider using technology to bring families into meetings, so when travel can be a burden technology can often open that door.
- Scheduling the meeting over a family member lunch hour, that on top of using technology.
- Planning meetings around families picking up their children.
The balance between involving and sustaining and strengthening.
Other ideas:
- Having more than one family member on the team.
- Developing it with the team and then having some parents at the initial discussion.
- Have parents who are interested but can’t attend review decisions and provide feedback.
- As a small group choose a time of the day and in small groups develop the matrix.
How are we monitoring and evaluating practices? We think we are, but are we really? Are things getting home when they go in back packs, etc. Be thinking about how could we be evaluating what are we doing with our involvement of families and how can we use that information to modify our practices? What have you tried, is it working and how do you know?
At the monthly meeting we discussed an overview of PBIS and provided information. This month we are working on finding and inviting some parents to join our team. Parent meetings are monthly and average 10/15 families. How will we know the other families are understanding and interested in participating?
There is a lot of pictures and teacher interaction building momentum with families – there is more than 10% that comes into the center and are being supported that way. Primary concern are family members who are not coming into the center at all.
Data is not always about numbers – it can come to us in lots of different ways. Example teachers noticing that papers are not coming out of the backpacks.
One program conducted an online family survey using survey monkey. Questions asked: Are you familiar with the term “Positive Behavior Support” Do you feel like you experience challenging behavior at home? Etc. Had 30 parents respond – using a lot of online communication. Plus survey monkey tabulates all the responses for you.
Question – what did you do with the data and how did it change your practices?
Broke the data down by classrooms and provided that data to the classroom teachers. Those whose families had stronger ideas on PBIS we wanted to reinforce those teachers and make aware those whose families were less aware. Also asked families what was their preferred method of communication – email was the number one response. So now all they make sure PBIS communication is sent out electronically via email. Provided options for families to identify themselves. 10 people identified they were interested in a parent workshop and will be planning this in the future. Note a reminder that if data is requested, to make sure the decisions made from the survey, that follow up is relatively quick to when the survey went out and was collected.
Did anyone have difficulty with using the webinar through the EITA site (for badging credit)?
Key links:
www.PAPBS.org
Family Involvement
Please remember you can reach out to your regional facilitators:
Julia Slater – Eastern –
DeVoka Gordon – Western –
Katie Bodnar – Central –
Did the webinar(s) provide you with useful information? / Yes, I learned something I didn’t know before. / I am not sure / No, I already knew everything covered / No, I think the additional information and resources confused me
Friday / 71.4% (5) / 28.5% (2)
Monday / 77.7% / 22.3%
Was the conference call a good use of your time? / Yes, I learned more about applications of principles / Yes, I got my questions answered / Somewhat, but I still have questions / No, I didn’t learn anything beyond what was in the webinar.
Friday / 85.7% (6) / 14.2%(1)
Monday / 87.5% / 25%
Friday:
Suggestions for Improvement:
Thank you for the opportunity to share ideas and concerns
I appreciate the opportunity to share ideas and concerns.
Love hearing others’ ideas! I always hear and learn something new.
I like being able to chat as well as talk on the phone.
It would be neat for those who have been implementing PBIS for a while to have their own call.
Specific examples like the video from Schuylkill county added to the discussion.
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Monday:
Suggestions for Improvement:
It would be neat if those who have been implementing PBIS for a while could talk with each other separately from those who are new so both groups are able to benefit and feel comfortable asking their questions.
It was good the way it was.
It would be nice if there was a way to know where the people are from (school or program type)
And where they are in the process of implementing PBIS in their program.