Make a kid smile...

We've been doing some pretty cool things this year at PBJHS. Many of these cool things have been shared and archived on our school webpage and our Facebook page. One of the coolest things we have done this year is the resurgence of our positive referral program.

The program is quite simple; teachers and staff members recognize students for a whole host of reasons: academic improvement and/or excellence, going above and beyond both in and out of the classroom, and just being an all-around good school citizen.

Some teachers fill out the positive referrals and present them to the students themselves. Others fill out the positive referrals and send them down to the office for me to present to the students. I really enjoy when the positive referrals are sent to me because it gives me the opportunity to pull a prank on the students.

Depending on the individual student, I have been known to call students down to my office and give them one opportunity to be honest and tell me the truth. Typically the students respond with a bewildered look on their face and a response like, "the truth about what? I haven't done anything." After the failure of the forced confession, I then say "fine, we will call your parents and I will tell them everything."

By this time the students are squirming in the chair and replaying their every action at school from the last two days in their head. Once I get the parent on the phone I then pull the positive referral out and proceed to tell them the good news. As I am speaking to the parent I continue to look at the student as their face transforms from scared and confused to happy and relieved...

Now, I am aware of the discussion around rewards and recognition, but I believe that when students unknowingly get recognized for their positive actions it can be quite powerful. I have seen first-hand what can happen as a result of a positive referral. I have witnessed students have a drastic change in both classroom and overall school behavior; I have seen students start taking an interest in school again, and not only turn work in, but turn it in early; I have seen students smile from ear to ear as a result of simply getting recognized for something positive they have done...

My challenge to you and to anyone who reads this is simple: take the time to recognize a student who might need a little positive boost in their life. Do it a couple times and I know you will be hooked. Once you see the smile on that student's face, you will want to share that smile with as many other students as possible...

How many smiles are you going to help create today...?