Posters to Increase Positive Social-Emotional Interactions
Parent Posters
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Suggestions for Rolling Out the Parent Posters:
- We suggest the parent posters be introduced as part of a parent training with small groups of families in order to facilitate good discussion. Groups can be of any size, but we recommend 20 as a maximum. Ideally, the Parent posters would be laminated for families; and this activity would be coordinated with the use of the Classroom posters.
- Begin by discussing the importance of Positive Statements, Choices and Building Emotional Vocabulary to social-emotional development and to preventing problem behaviors. Review the “Morning” poster and ask parents to think of additional Positive Comments, Choices and Emotional Vocabulary Statements.
- Ask each parent to choose one routine where they will begin using the posters. In a round-robin format ask each parent to tell a little about how their chosen routine works in their home and why they chose that routine.
- Ask parents to agree to use the poster in the chosen routine for one week and be ready to report back to the group in two weeks as to how things went. Suggest that parents review the poster prior to the routine occurring. Invite parents to call the facilitator should they run into difficulty.
- At the next meeting, the facilitator should model Positive Comments as parents report back on their use of the posters. Ask parents to help problem-solve for each other. Finally, encourage parents to add one additional poster to their routine per week to their schedule and be ready to report back in two weeks.
- At the next meeting parents should be encouraged to use all the posters.
Classroom Posters
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Suggestions for Rolling Out the Classroom Posters:
- We suggest the posters be introduced in multiple classrooms at a time in order to facilitate good discussion. Smaller groups of 3-4 classroom teams, comprised of teachers and support staff, would work best so that there can be good discussion.
- Begin by discussing the importance of Positive Statements, Choices and Building Emotional Vocabulary to social-emotional development and to preventing problem behaviors. Review the “Arrival” poster with the entire group and then, if necessary, split the large group into smaller groups to increase discussion. Ask the groups to think of additional Positive Comments, Choices and Emotional Vocabulary Statements that could accompany their classrooms’ Arrival routine.
- Ask each classroom team (i.e., teachers and support staff) to choose two routines where they will begin using the posters. In a round-robin format ask classroom teams to share with the other teams in their group a little about how their chosen routines work in their classroom and why they chose those routines.
- Ask the members of each classroom team to agree to use the posters with the chosen routines for two weeks and to then be ready to discuss how things went. Suggest that teachers review the posters prior to the routine occurring. Encourage classroom team members to discuss any issues or difficulties that occur prior to their two-week follow up conversation.
- After two weeks, bring the groups of classroom teams together again. At this meeting have each classroom team report on their experiences using the posters. Suggest that other classroom teams help problem solve around any issues they have had. Next, each classroom team should select two more routines that they will work with for the next two weeks (continuing with the two they have already chosen). Finally, encourage the teams be ready to report back to the larger group on their progress with all four of their chosen routines at the next training event, ideally around one month from the initial training.
- At the follow up training, have classroom teams share their experiences with one or two of their chosen routines. Encourage the teams to move forward and utilize all of the posters from this point forward. Discuss adding the parent posters for families in these classrooms as well.