Georgia PBS Interventions - Florida's Positive Behavior Support ...

Individual Contingency/Group ConsequenceSecret Soldier or Secret StudentTell the class that every day you will put the name of one person in an envelope. You will be watchingthat one person and if they are: Respectful of Self, Respectful of Others, and Respectful of Property(or whatever expectations you choose to focus on) the class will earn a reward. There are twoimportant things to note here: 1) if the secret student does not follow the rules it is important not toturn the class against them by stating who it was. Just say, —I‘m sorry the secret student didn‘t meetexpectations today, we‘ll try again tomorrow.“ 2) If the secret student had a great day then you cantell the class who the secret student was that day. This will help the class identify with the behaviorof that student and boost the ego of that particular student on that day.Links on a chainTell the class that you see someone being respectful of others by sitting up straight and tall andpaying attention and add a link on the chain (see suggestion on previous page). Every student in theclass will think you were talking about them and sit up a little taller. We know from research that thequickest way to change behavior is to point out what someone is doing right. As a matter of fact,research indicates that you can improve behavior by 80% by doing just that.Ego BoosterHave a child who really needs an ego boost? Pass out double the amount of problems you want thestudents to do. Tell the class that —Johnny “was caught exhibiting excellent behavior in the hallwayby a secret spy and because of that he gets to pick whether they do the odd or the even problems.”The students will never know that the secret spy is you. They will be constantly looking out for anyadult to make sure they look good in front of that adult so they can get picked the next time you dothis activity.Want an idea about how to pick a student fairly? Put all the names of your students on separatepopsicle sticks and then put them all in a can. Draw one out in the morning and you’ll know whoto pick.Positive Interventions and Effective Strategies Riffel -© 2005 - 25 -