Dresden students all fired up for 'dragon scales'

Green glass gems are the currency of good behavior for students at Pettis County R-XII School.

“Dragon scales,” based on the Dresden school’s mascot, are rewards given to students and classes that exhibit positive actions and live up to the school’s three expectations: Be responsible, be respectful, be safe.

Sandy Terrell, counselor at the school, said the program has given building staff a consistent way to reward good behavior. Students also have bought into it, she said, as anticipation builds to see who at each grade level has received the most dragon scales each month, which qualifies them to spin the prize wheel. The class that accumulates the most dragon scales gets an extra 20 minutes of recess.

Second grade teacher Deana Pomajzl said the class reward has students coaching each other to increase their chances of getting the extra recess. Pomajzl said the students are even using the same language that teacher use, asking their peers, “Are you being responsible?”

The system, the school’s Positive Behavior Support mechanism, is not rooted in academics, but rather is behavior-based. PBS programs are focused on building academic and social behavior success for all students through the use of preventive school discipline. Dresden school’s September 2010 PBS memo sent to parents read, in part, “Schools in Missouri have used PBS for 10 years and it has proven to be effective for teaching social skills and allowing more time for instruction with a more positive atmosphere.”

Terrell said, “Since this is only our second year actually implementing PBS, we don't have test scores to show concrete data that the program has improved our educational environment. But, judging from the classroom climate (staff and student interactions) and number of minor office referrals, the program has had a positive impact on the kids.”

At Dresden, students are rewarded for lining up quietly, completing all of their assignments on time, and so on. Dragon scales also are used as positive reinforcement in the face of negative behavior. For example, if one student is acting up and those around him are not, the other students may be rewarded for working quietly; the student who doesn’t get a dragon scale gets the message that his behavior is not acceptable.

Terrell said the key to the program’s success has been clearly explaining the school’s expectations to students at all levels, which removes the excuses for counterproductive behavior.

Signs proclaiming, “Be Responsible,” “Be Repectful,” “Be Safe” are hung throughout the building. Also, the school’s behavior matrix is posted at water fountains, in rest rooms and in classrooms; the matrix describes what actions are acceptable. For example, in the cafeteria, reporting spills and facing forward in line fall under “Be Safe,” eat only your food qualifies as “Be Respectful” and cleaning up after yourself is under “Be Responsible.”

Another key, Terrell said: “The whole building is using the same language, recognizing what things are OK and not OK. ... (The program) lets all of us monitor behavior of all kids in the same way.”

She said not only teachers, but also bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria staff have been trained in the program and can give out dragon scales.

Pomazjl said students now are more aware of their behavior and the decisions they are making.

“They understand if they are following the expectations,” she said, adding that students get excited for the first Friday of each month to see who will be spinning the prize wheel.

Terrell said Dragon Scales is not just about winning prizes; students also like the peer recognition that comes with the program. A bulletin board in the cafeteria is covered with photos of students in each grade who had the most dragon scales for the previous month. The prize wheel is spun during the lunch period, and Terrell said everyone cheers for the winning student. The school’s dragon mascot also attends, and Pomazjl said the younger students always like to give the dragon a hug.

Prizes include food (sodas, bundles of lollipops, Burger King and McDonald’s gift cards), entertainment (games, movie passes), books (some individual or bundles of books, gift certificates to Sedalia Book and Toy) and “Cool Stuff” (caps, T-shirts, small toys). Many of the prizes are donated, while others are paid for with district funds.

Second grader Lucy Mahalovich has has spun the wheel a few times over the past two years. She has won a bubble wand and a jewelry kit, and once chose to be the teacher’s assistant for a day. Pomazjl said another popular prize is getting to have lunch with two friends from any class.

Bailey Ashlynn Brown, another second-grader, said when she gets a dragon scale, “I am proud of myself ... because I did something good.”

She admits that she gets a little jealous when someone else gets a scale, because she wanted one herself. Bailey and Lucy said they try to encourage their classmates to live up to the school’s expectations so their class can earn the extra recess time. Bailey said when they are correcting other students, “Sometimes kids will say, ‘You’re not the boss of us,’ but other times they listen.”