House Systems can create family-like communities-this is the guide you need to launch your own!
Houses!
That might not be the catchiest riddle, but Houses can engage even the most challenging students. When my school implemented a House system for our 7th-grade students, there was an immediate drop in behavior incidents.
The Houses didn’t just decrease negative behaviors– it increased positive behaviors as well.
House Systems can be tailored to fit the student’s needs, making it an effective behavior strategy for all grade levels.
Want to launch one in your own school? Well, Sabrina Hughes-Tate and McKissack Middle School proved it can be done in as little as one year.
But before we get into how she did it, let’s talk about what exactly a House System is.
A House System is a behavior strategy where students are divided into teams called Houses. The students within each House work together to earn points, support each other, and compete against other Houses.
Usually, each student is assigned to a House during the House induction ceremony, and they stay with that House until they leave the school.
In a recent LiveSchool webinar, Sabrina Hughes-Tate, a Gifted and Talented Teacher in Nashville, pointed out that House systems do more than promote positive behavior and deter negative behavior.
They also promote self-esteem, self-identity, teamwork, and pride.
Another advantage of a House System is that you can customize it to fit your student’s needs, wants, and personalities.
Each House needs a unique culture. Collaborate with the students to design a House flag and create a House motto. If you’re working with younger students, let them vote on team colors and a mascot.
At St. Vincent Ferrer School, each House has its own chant, dance, and handshake they can use to greet their Housemates. By including the students in building the school culture, they’ll feel a stronger sense of community and pride in the House.
Students and teachers need to know what kind of behaviors will cause them to gain and lose House Points. This keeps unconscious bias from creeping in and reassures students that their behavior will be assessed fairly and consistently regardless of whose class they’re in.
Your school’s student code of conduct and PBIS expectations are a good starting point for identifying positive and negative behaviors. Teachers also need to know how frequently they’ll be expected to update points, assign point-giving activities, and distribute incentives.
The House System must be implemented consistently, which means teacher buy-in is critical. Students will notice if one teacher takes away points for certain behaviors but another one doesn’t.
A major barrier to teacher buy-in is that a House System will be another task on their already-overflowing plate.
Behavior management platforms like LiveSchool ease the burden by making it easy for teachers to add and subtract points, communicate with parents, and update students on their progress.
Students need to be able to redeem their points for rewards. There are a few ways to do this. One popular way is to create a rewards store full of items that students love such as stickers, wristbands, books, movie posters, and snacks.
Another popular way to reward students is to host a House celebration for the team with the most points at the end of each month.
By using both types of rewards, you can motivate your students on an individual level while encouraging them to hold each other accountable.
Determine how many Houses you need and how many students you want to include in each one. When setting up your Houses, the goal is for students to feel a sense of community, so don’t make the Houses too large. There should be enough Houses to motivate students to be competitive but not so many that they feel like their house has little chance of winning.
Hughes-Tate recommends choosing House names that are related to the school. For example, her school’s mascot is a tiger, so each House name is named after a different tiger species.
There are a variety of ways to assign and then announce your Houses:
When a House System is used at the classroom level, teachers can keep track of points using paper, the board, or an Excel spreadsheet.
Grade-wide and school-wide house systems require greater collaboration, so they typically use behavior management platforms like LiveSchool. The tool you choose should be simple and shouldn’t demand too much time from teachers.
Hughes-Tate’s school gives points for perfect attendance, organizational notebooks, acts of kindness, and other positive behaviors. Building your behavior rubric can be a collaborative effort between students, staff, and administrators.
LiveSchool allows you to add the behaviors to the dashboard, which serves as a consistent reminder to students and teachers throughout the day.
You’ll probably consult with teachers throughout steps 1-3, but now it’s time to roll out the House System to everyone. Share the benefits of the House System and stats about how they’ve improved behavior at similar schools.
Train them on how to use the behavior management tool, and emphasize their role in making the House System a success.
Now it’s time to bring the energy! Host a House celebration, and build anticipation for it by revealing info about the Houses during the week leading up to it. At the ceremony, you can draw random names to assign Houses or post rosters on the wall.
Since student buy-in is just as important as teacher buy-in, plan events to help House members get to know each other and begin building a House community.
Some schools choose to create school stores or other types of reward centers to display incentives. Let the students visit the rewards center, so they’ll feel even more motivated to earn points. If your rewards are intangible (such as a pizza party), feel free to skip this bonus step.
Although House Systems usually start on the first day of school, it’s never too late to implement one. Aside from the behavioral benefits, House Systems can create memories and family-like cultures that students will cherish long after they leave the school.
To learn more about House Systems and how to manage them, check out Episode #22 of The LiveSchool Podcast: Push Your School to Greatness with Houses featuring Eric Keiper.
Houses!
That might not be the catchiest riddle, but Houses can engage even the most challenging students. When my school implemented a House system for our 7th-grade students, there was an immediate drop in behavior incidents.
The Houses didn’t just decrease negative behaviors– it increased positive behaviors as well.
House Systems can be tailored to fit the student’s needs, making it an effective behavior strategy for all grade levels.
Want to launch one in your own school? Well, Sabrina Hughes-Tate and McKissack Middle School proved it can be done in as little as one year.
But before we get into how she did it, let’s talk about what exactly a House System is.
A House System is a behavior strategy where students are divided into teams called Houses. The students within each House work together to earn points, support each other, and compete against other Houses.
Usually, each student is assigned to a House during the House induction ceremony, and they stay with that House until they leave the school.
In a recent LiveSchool webinar, Sabrina Hughes-Tate, a Gifted and Talented Teacher in Nashville, pointed out that House systems do more than promote positive behavior and deter negative behavior.
They also promote self-esteem, self-identity, teamwork, and pride.
Another advantage of a House System is that you can customize it to fit your student’s needs, wants, and personalities.
Each House needs a unique culture. Collaborate with the students to design a House flag and create a House motto. If you’re working with younger students, let them vote on team colors and a mascot.
At St. Vincent Ferrer School, each House has its own chant, dance, and handshake they can use to greet their Housemates. By including the students in building the school culture, they’ll feel a stronger sense of community and pride in the House.
Students and teachers need to know what kind of behaviors will cause them to gain and lose House Points. This keeps unconscious bias from creeping in and reassures students that their behavior will be assessed fairly and consistently regardless of whose class they’re in.
Your school’s student code of conduct and PBIS expectations are a good starting point for identifying positive and negative behaviors. Teachers also need to know how frequently they’ll be expected to update points, assign point-giving activities, and distribute incentives.
The House System must be implemented consistently, which means teacher buy-in is critical. Students will notice if one teacher takes away points for certain behaviors but another one doesn’t.
A major barrier to teacher buy-in is that a House System will be another task on their already-overflowing plate.
Behavior management platforms like LiveSchool ease the burden by making it easy for teachers to add and subtract points, communicate with parents, and update students on their progress.
Students need to be able to redeem their points for rewards. There are a few ways to do this. One popular way is to create a rewards store full of items that students love such as stickers, wristbands, books, movie posters, and snacks.
Another popular way to reward students is to host a House celebration for the team with the most points at the end of each month.
By using both types of rewards, you can motivate your students on an individual level while encouraging them to hold each other accountable.
Determine how many Houses you need and how many students you want to include in each one. When setting up your Houses, the goal is for students to feel a sense of community, so don’t make the Houses too large. There should be enough Houses to motivate students to be competitive but not so many that they feel like their house has little chance of winning.
Hughes-Tate recommends choosing House names that are related to the school. For example, her school’s mascot is a tiger, so each House name is named after a different tiger species.
There are a variety of ways to assign and then announce your Houses:
When a House System is used at the classroom level, teachers can keep track of points using paper, the board, or an Excel spreadsheet.
Grade-wide and school-wide house systems require greater collaboration, so they typically use behavior management platforms like LiveSchool. The tool you choose should be simple and shouldn’t demand too much time from teachers.
Hughes-Tate’s school gives points for perfect attendance, organizational notebooks, acts of kindness, and other positive behaviors. Building your behavior rubric can be a collaborative effort between students, staff, and administrators.
LiveSchool allows you to add the behaviors to the dashboard, which serves as a consistent reminder to students and teachers throughout the day.
You’ll probably consult with teachers throughout steps 1-3, but now it’s time to roll out the House System to everyone. Share the benefits of the House System and stats about how they’ve improved behavior at similar schools.
Train them on how to use the behavior management tool, and emphasize their role in making the House System a success.
Now it’s time to bring the energy! Host a House celebration, and build anticipation for it by revealing info about the Houses during the week leading up to it. At the ceremony, you can draw random names to assign Houses or post rosters on the wall.
Since student buy-in is just as important as teacher buy-in, plan events to help House members get to know each other and begin building a House community.
Some schools choose to create school stores or other types of reward centers to display incentives. Let the students visit the rewards center, so they’ll feel even more motivated to earn points. If your rewards are intangible (such as a pizza party), feel free to skip this bonus step.
Although House Systems usually start on the first day of school, it’s never too late to implement one. Aside from the behavioral benefits, House Systems can create memories and family-like cultures that students will cherish long after they leave the school.
To learn more about House Systems and how to manage them, check out Episode #22 of The LiveSchool Podcast: Push Your School to Greatness with Houses featuring Eric Keiper.
Houses!
That might not be the catchiest riddle, but Houses can engage even the most challenging students. When my school implemented a House system for our 7th-grade students, there was an immediate drop in behavior incidents.
The Houses didn’t just decrease negative behaviors– it increased positive behaviors as well.
House Systems can be tailored to fit the student’s needs, making it an effective behavior strategy for all grade levels.
Want to launch one in your own school? Well, Sabrina Hughes-Tate and McKissack Middle School proved it can be done in as little as one year.
But before we get into how she did it, let’s talk about what exactly a House System is.
A House System is a behavior strategy where students are divided into teams called Houses. The students within each House work together to earn points, support each other, and compete against other Houses.
Usually, each student is assigned to a House during the House induction ceremony, and they stay with that House until they leave the school.
In a recent LiveSchool webinar, Sabrina Hughes-Tate, a Gifted and Talented Teacher in Nashville, pointed out that House systems do more than promote positive behavior and deter negative behavior.
They also promote self-esteem, self-identity, teamwork, and pride.
Another advantage of a House System is that you can customize it to fit your student’s needs, wants, and personalities.
Each House needs a unique culture. Collaborate with the students to design a House flag and create a House motto. If you’re working with younger students, let them vote on team colors and a mascot.
At St. Vincent Ferrer School, each House has its own chant, dance, and handshake they can use to greet their Housemates. By including the students in building the school culture, they’ll feel a stronger sense of community and pride in the House.
Students and teachers need to know what kind of behaviors will cause them to gain and lose House Points. This keeps unconscious bias from creeping in and reassures students that their behavior will be assessed fairly and consistently regardless of whose class they’re in.
Your school’s student code of conduct and PBIS expectations are a good starting point for identifying positive and negative behaviors. Teachers also need to know how frequently they’ll be expected to update points, assign point-giving activities, and distribute incentives.
The House System must be implemented consistently, which means teacher buy-in is critical. Students will notice if one teacher takes away points for certain behaviors but another one doesn’t.
A major barrier to teacher buy-in is that a House System will be another task on their already-overflowing plate.
Behavior management platforms like LiveSchool ease the burden by making it easy for teachers to add and subtract points, communicate with parents, and update students on their progress.
Students need to be able to redeem their points for rewards. There are a few ways to do this. One popular way is to create a rewards store full of items that students love such as stickers, wristbands, books, movie posters, and snacks.
Another popular way to reward students is to host a House celebration for the team with the most points at the end of each month.
By using both types of rewards, you can motivate your students on an individual level while encouraging them to hold each other accountable.
Determine how many Houses you need and how many students you want to include in each one. When setting up your Houses, the goal is for students to feel a sense of community, so don’t make the Houses too large. There should be enough Houses to motivate students to be competitive but not so many that they feel like their house has little chance of winning.
Hughes-Tate recommends choosing House names that are related to the school. For example, her school’s mascot is a tiger, so each House name is named after a different tiger species.
There are a variety of ways to assign and then announce your Houses:
When a House System is used at the classroom level, teachers can keep track of points using paper, the board, or an Excel spreadsheet.
Grade-wide and school-wide house systems require greater collaboration, so they typically use behavior management platforms like LiveSchool. The tool you choose should be simple and shouldn’t demand too much time from teachers.
Hughes-Tate’s school gives points for perfect attendance, organizational notebooks, acts of kindness, and other positive behaviors. Building your behavior rubric can be a collaborative effort between students, staff, and administrators.
LiveSchool allows you to add the behaviors to the dashboard, which serves as a consistent reminder to students and teachers throughout the day.
You’ll probably consult with teachers throughout steps 1-3, but now it’s time to roll out the House System to everyone. Share the benefits of the House System and stats about how they’ve improved behavior at similar schools.
Train them on how to use the behavior management tool, and emphasize their role in making the House System a success.
Now it’s time to bring the energy! Host a House celebration, and build anticipation for it by revealing info about the Houses during the week leading up to it. At the ceremony, you can draw random names to assign Houses or post rosters on the wall.
Since student buy-in is just as important as teacher buy-in, plan events to help House members get to know each other and begin building a House community.
Some schools choose to create school stores or other types of reward centers to display incentives. Let the students visit the rewards center, so they’ll feel even more motivated to earn points. If your rewards are intangible (such as a pizza party), feel free to skip this bonus step.
Although House Systems usually start on the first day of school, it’s never too late to implement one. Aside from the behavioral benefits, House Systems can create memories and family-like cultures that students will cherish long after they leave the school.
To learn more about House Systems and how to manage them, check out Episode #22 of The LiveSchool Podcast: Push Your School to Greatness with Houses featuring Eric Keiper.
Deiera Bennett is a freelance EdTech copywriter with a background in marketing and 6 years of experience as an educator. When she’s not writing, you can find her binge-watching The Office for the 5th time, spending time with family, or looking up recipes on Pinterest.
Houses!
That might not be the catchiest riddle, but Houses can engage even the most challenging students. When my school implemented a House system for our 7th-grade students, there was an immediate drop in behavior incidents.
The Houses didn’t just decrease negative behaviors– it increased positive behaviors as well.
House Systems can be tailored to fit the student’s needs, making it an effective behavior strategy for all grade levels.
Want to launch one in your own school? Well, Sabrina Hughes-Tate and McKissack Middle School proved it can be done in as little as one year.
But before we get into how she did it, let’s talk about what exactly a House System is.
A House System is a behavior strategy where students are divided into teams called Houses. The students within each House work together to earn points, support each other, and compete against other Houses.
Usually, each student is assigned to a House during the House induction ceremony, and they stay with that House until they leave the school.
In a recent LiveSchool webinar, Sabrina Hughes-Tate, a Gifted and Talented Teacher in Nashville, pointed out that House systems do more than promote positive behavior and deter negative behavior.
They also promote self-esteem, self-identity, teamwork, and pride.
Another advantage of a House System is that you can customize it to fit your student’s needs, wants, and personalities.
Each House needs a unique culture. Collaborate with the students to design a House flag and create a House motto. If you’re working with younger students, let them vote on team colors and a mascot.
At St. Vincent Ferrer School, each House has its own chant, dance, and handshake they can use to greet their Housemates. By including the students in building the school culture, they’ll feel a stronger sense of community and pride in the House.
Students and teachers need to know what kind of behaviors will cause them to gain and lose House Points. This keeps unconscious bias from creeping in and reassures students that their behavior will be assessed fairly and consistently regardless of whose class they’re in.
Your school’s student code of conduct and PBIS expectations are a good starting point for identifying positive and negative behaviors. Teachers also need to know how frequently they’ll be expected to update points, assign point-giving activities, and distribute incentives.
The House System must be implemented consistently, which means teacher buy-in is critical. Students will notice if one teacher takes away points for certain behaviors but another one doesn’t.
A major barrier to teacher buy-in is that a House System will be another task on their already-overflowing plate.
Behavior management platforms like LiveSchool ease the burden by making it easy for teachers to add and subtract points, communicate with parents, and update students on their progress.
Students need to be able to redeem their points for rewards. There are a few ways to do this. One popular way is to create a rewards store full of items that students love such as stickers, wristbands, books, movie posters, and snacks.
Another popular way to reward students is to host a House celebration for the team with the most points at the end of each month.
By using both types of rewards, you can motivate your students on an individual level while encouraging them to hold each other accountable.
Determine how many Houses you need and how many students you want to include in each one. When setting up your Houses, the goal is for students to feel a sense of community, so don’t make the Houses too large. There should be enough Houses to motivate students to be competitive but not so many that they feel like their house has little chance of winning.
Hughes-Tate recommends choosing House names that are related to the school. For example, her school’s mascot is a tiger, so each House name is named after a different tiger species.
There are a variety of ways to assign and then announce your Houses:
When a House System is used at the classroom level, teachers can keep track of points using paper, the board, or an Excel spreadsheet.
Grade-wide and school-wide house systems require greater collaboration, so they typically use behavior management platforms like LiveSchool. The tool you choose should be simple and shouldn’t demand too much time from teachers.
Hughes-Tate’s school gives points for perfect attendance, organizational notebooks, acts of kindness, and other positive behaviors. Building your behavior rubric can be a collaborative effort between students, staff, and administrators.
LiveSchool allows you to add the behaviors to the dashboard, which serves as a consistent reminder to students and teachers throughout the day.
You’ll probably consult with teachers throughout steps 1-3, but now it’s time to roll out the House System to everyone. Share the benefits of the House System and stats about how they’ve improved behavior at similar schools.
Train them on how to use the behavior management tool, and emphasize their role in making the House System a success.
Now it’s time to bring the energy! Host a House celebration, and build anticipation for it by revealing info about the Houses during the week leading up to it. At the ceremony, you can draw random names to assign Houses or post rosters on the wall.
Since student buy-in is just as important as teacher buy-in, plan events to help House members get to know each other and begin building a House community.
Some schools choose to create school stores or other types of reward centers to display incentives. Let the students visit the rewards center, so they’ll feel even more motivated to earn points. If your rewards are intangible (such as a pizza party), feel free to skip this bonus step.
Although House Systems usually start on the first day of school, it’s never too late to implement one. Aside from the behavioral benefits, House Systems can create memories and family-like cultures that students will cherish long after they leave the school.
To learn more about House Systems and how to manage them, check out Episode #22 of The LiveSchool Podcast: Push Your School to Greatness with Houses featuring Eric Keiper.
What school program has teams, points, competition, and rewards?
Houses!
That might not be the catchiest riddle, but Houses can engage even the most challenging students. When my school implemented a House system for our 7th-grade students, there was an immediate drop in behavior incidents.
The Houses didn’t just decrease negative behaviors– it increased positive behaviors as well.
House Systems can be tailored to fit the student’s needs, making it an effective behavior strategy for all grade levels.
Want to launch one in your own school? Well, Sabrina Hughes-Tate and McKissack Middle School proved it can be done in as little as one year.
But before we get into how she did it, let’s talk about what exactly a House System is.
A House System is a behavior strategy where students are divided into teams called Houses. The students within each House work together to earn points, support each other, and compete against other Houses.
Usually, each student is assigned to a House during the House induction ceremony, and they stay with that House until they leave the school.
In a recent LiveSchool webinar, Sabrina Hughes-Tate, a Gifted and Talented Teacher in Nashville, pointed out that House systems do more than promote positive behavior and deter negative behavior.
They also promote self-esteem, self-identity, teamwork, and pride.
Another advantage of a House System is that you can customize it to fit your student’s needs, wants, and personalities.
Each House needs a unique culture. Collaborate with the students to design a House flag and create a House motto. If you’re working with younger students, let them vote on team colors and a mascot.
At St. Vincent Ferrer School, each House has its own chant, dance, and handshake they can use to greet their Housemates. By including the students in building the school culture, they’ll feel a stronger sense of community and pride in the House.
Students and teachers need to know what kind of behaviors will cause them to gain and lose House Points. This keeps unconscious bias from creeping in and reassures students that their behavior will be assessed fairly and consistently regardless of whose class they’re in.
Your school’s student code of conduct and PBIS expectations are a good starting point for identifying positive and negative behaviors. Teachers also need to know how frequently they’ll be expected to update points, assign point-giving activities, and distribute incentives.
The House System must be implemented consistently, which means teacher buy-in is critical. Students will notice if one teacher takes away points for certain behaviors but another one doesn’t.
A major barrier to teacher buy-in is that a House System will be another task on their already-overflowing plate.
Behavior management platforms like LiveSchool ease the burden by making it easy for teachers to add and subtract points, communicate with parents, and update students on their progress.
Students need to be able to redeem their points for rewards. There are a few ways to do this. One popular way is to create a rewards store full of items that students love such as stickers, wristbands, books, movie posters, and snacks.
Another popular way to reward students is to host a House celebration for the team with the most points at the end of each month.
By using both types of rewards, you can motivate your students on an individual level while encouraging them to hold each other accountable.
Determine how many Houses you need and how many students you want to include in each one. When setting up your Houses, the goal is for students to feel a sense of community, so don’t make the Houses too large. There should be enough Houses to motivate students to be competitive but not so many that they feel like their house has little chance of winning.
Hughes-Tate recommends choosing House names that are related to the school. For example, her school’s mascot is a tiger, so each House name is named after a different tiger species.
There are a variety of ways to assign and then announce your Houses:
When a House System is used at the classroom level, teachers can keep track of points using paper, the board, or an Excel spreadsheet.
Grade-wide and school-wide house systems require greater collaboration, so they typically use behavior management platforms like LiveSchool. The tool you choose should be simple and shouldn’t demand too much time from teachers.
Hughes-Tate’s school gives points for perfect attendance, organizational notebooks, acts of kindness, and other positive behaviors. Building your behavior rubric can be a collaborative effort between students, staff, and administrators.
LiveSchool allows you to add the behaviors to the dashboard, which serves as a consistent reminder to students and teachers throughout the day.
You’ll probably consult with teachers throughout steps 1-3, but now it’s time to roll out the House System to everyone. Share the benefits of the House System and stats about how they’ve improved behavior at similar schools.
Train them on how to use the behavior management tool, and emphasize their role in making the House System a success.
Now it’s time to bring the energy! Host a House celebration, and build anticipation for it by revealing info about the Houses during the week leading up to it. At the ceremony, you can draw random names to assign Houses or post rosters on the wall.
Since student buy-in is just as important as teacher buy-in, plan events to help House members get to know each other and begin building a House community.
Some schools choose to create school stores or other types of reward centers to display incentives. Let the students visit the rewards center, so they’ll feel even more motivated to earn points. If your rewards are intangible (such as a pizza party), feel free to skip this bonus step.
Although House Systems usually start on the first day of school, it’s never too late to implement one. Aside from the behavioral benefits, House Systems can create memories and family-like cultures that students will cherish long after they leave the school.
To learn more about House Systems and how to manage them, check out Episode #22 of The LiveSchool Podcast: Push Your School to Greatness with Houses featuring Eric Keiper.
What school program has teams, points, competition, and rewards?
Houses!
That might not be the catchiest riddle, but Houses can engage even the most challenging students. When my school implemented a House system for our 7th-grade students, there was an immediate drop in behavior incidents.
The Houses didn’t just decrease negative behaviors– it increased positive behaviors as well.
House Systems can be tailored to fit the student’s needs, making it an effective behavior strategy for all grade levels.
Want to launch one in your own school? Well, Sabrina Hughes-Tate and McKissack Middle School proved it can be done in as little as one year.
But before we get into how she did it, let’s talk about what exactly a House System is.
A House System is a behavior strategy where students are divided into teams called Houses. The students within each House work together to earn points, support each other, and compete against other Houses.
Usually, each student is assigned to a House during the House induction ceremony, and they stay with that House until they leave the school.
In a recent LiveSchool webinar, Sabrina Hughes-Tate, a Gifted and Talented Teacher in Nashville, pointed out that House systems do more than promote positive behavior and deter negative behavior.
They also promote self-esteem, self-identity, teamwork, and pride.
Another advantage of a House System is that you can customize it to fit your student’s needs, wants, and personalities.
Each House needs a unique culture. Collaborate with the students to design a House flag and create a House motto. If you’re working with younger students, let them vote on team colors and a mascot.
At St. Vincent Ferrer School, each House has its own chant, dance, and handshake they can use to greet their Housemates. By including the students in building the school culture, they’ll feel a stronger sense of community and pride in the House.
Students and teachers need to know what kind of behaviors will cause them to gain and lose House Points. This keeps unconscious bias from creeping in and reassures students that their behavior will be assessed fairly and consistently regardless of whose class they’re in.
Your school’s student code of conduct and PBIS expectations are a good starting point for identifying positive and negative behaviors. Teachers also need to know how frequently they’ll be expected to update points, assign point-giving activities, and distribute incentives.
The House System must be implemented consistently, which means teacher buy-in is critical. Students will notice if one teacher takes away points for certain behaviors but another one doesn’t.
A major barrier to teacher buy-in is that a House System will be another task on their already-overflowing plate.
Behavior management platforms like LiveSchool ease the burden by making it easy for teachers to add and subtract points, communicate with parents, and update students on their progress.
Students need to be able to redeem their points for rewards. There are a few ways to do this. One popular way is to create a rewards store full of items that students love such as stickers, wristbands, books, movie posters, and snacks.
Another popular way to reward students is to host a House celebration for the team with the most points at the end of each month.
By using both types of rewards, you can motivate your students on an individual level while encouraging them to hold each other accountable.
Determine how many Houses you need and how many students you want to include in each one. When setting up your Houses, the goal is for students to feel a sense of community, so don’t make the Houses too large. There should be enough Houses to motivate students to be competitive but not so many that they feel like their house has little chance of winning.
Hughes-Tate recommends choosing House names that are related to the school. For example, her school’s mascot is a tiger, so each House name is named after a different tiger species.
There are a variety of ways to assign and then announce your Houses:
When a House System is used at the classroom level, teachers can keep track of points using paper, the board, or an Excel spreadsheet.
Grade-wide and school-wide house systems require greater collaboration, so they typically use behavior management platforms like LiveSchool. The tool you choose should be simple and shouldn’t demand too much time from teachers.
Hughes-Tate’s school gives points for perfect attendance, organizational notebooks, acts of kindness, and other positive behaviors. Building your behavior rubric can be a collaborative effort between students, staff, and administrators.
LiveSchool allows you to add the behaviors to the dashboard, which serves as a consistent reminder to students and teachers throughout the day.
You’ll probably consult with teachers throughout steps 1-3, but now it’s time to roll out the House System to everyone. Share the benefits of the House System and stats about how they’ve improved behavior at similar schools.
Train them on how to use the behavior management tool, and emphasize their role in making the House System a success.
Now it’s time to bring the energy! Host a House celebration, and build anticipation for it by revealing info about the Houses during the week leading up to it. At the ceremony, you can draw random names to assign Houses or post rosters on the wall.
Since student buy-in is just as important as teacher buy-in, plan events to help House members get to know each other and begin building a House community.
Some schools choose to create school stores or other types of reward centers to display incentives. Let the students visit the rewards center, so they’ll feel even more motivated to earn points. If your rewards are intangible (such as a pizza party), feel free to skip this bonus step.
Although House Systems usually start on the first day of school, it’s never too late to implement one. Aside from the behavioral benefits, House Systems can create memories and family-like cultures that students will cherish long after they leave the school.
To learn more about House Systems and how to manage them, check out Episode #22 of The LiveSchool Podcast: Push Your School to Greatness with Houses featuring Eric Keiper.
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