Respect + Recognize + Reward + Reinforce + Relationships = Results™

What do a standing ovation, a congratulatory card and a 5-star review all have in common? They’re feedback. Something we depend on to gauge our actions, reactions, and general success. Feedback is key to providing positive reinforcement in the classroom and beyond, and a powerful tool for building greater confidence. Unfortunately, in many schools, feedback is a piecemeal affair at best. Jostens Renaissance helps change that.

Feedback Takes Many Forms

When a Jostens Renaissance team begins their work, their first order of business is to identify what their school respects, AKA the first R in the Renaissance formula. In other words, they identify the values that they want to promote and be known for. Once those respected values are identified, then planning and implementing systems for positive feedback can begin.

The second and third R’s of the Renaissance Formula are Recognize and Reward, perhaps the most direct forms of positive feedback available. These can take the form of awards, public recognition events, earned perks or even simple day-to-day verbal acknowledgement.

Then there’s the fourth R; Reinforce. And, while it can feel less immediately tangible than Recognition and Reward, it’s no less crucial to a total school culture transformation

Positive Reinforcement in the Classroom and Beyond

Positive reinforcement in classrooms and schools takes many forms. It’s shows up in how these spaces look, how they feel, and in the actions taken (or not taken) by students, Staffulty and community stakeholders.

To start developing your plan for reinforcing positive behaviors in your school, you need to first understand what your school currently reinforces. Ask yourself:

• What behaviors and belief systems are REINFORCED in our school?
• How consistently, and in what forms does reinforcement occur?
• Is the reinforcement applied consistently across all members of our school community?
• Are we inadvertently reinforcing anything that doesn’t align with what we respect?

For example, let’s say your school chooses academic success as a core value. It respects graduating students on time and equipped with the necessary skills for college, careers, and global citizenship. How and where is that value made visible on campus? Can students, Staffulty and even visitors see it prominently displayed? If not, then it’s time to change things up.

Create a system of visual reinforcement. For example, create displays of students who have set goals following graduation, such as:

• Students who have been accepted into college.
• Students who have job opportunities waiting for them after graduation.
• Students who have enlisted in the military.
• Students who have received academic or athletic scholarships.

You can also create displays that highlight where previous alumni have gone after high school. Make these displays prominently visible to anyone entering your school. It’s a simple form of visual branding, and highly effective. It helps reinforce the importance of building opportunities to younger students every single time they walk through the front doors.

Of course, that’s just one example. True transformation comes when positive reinforcement is in the classroom, hallways, athletic facilities and more. At first, that might sound like an overwhelming goal. But you’ve got Jostens Renaissance, here to help. Renaissance offers a deep well of resources and events precisely designed to help you innovate around recognizing, rewarding and reinforcing the things you respect most.

Learn More About Jostens Renaissance

Just one more thing! At Jostens, we believe in the power of positive reinforcement so much, we practice what we preach! Check out our Renaissance Schools of Distinction – these schools have received honor, reward, and recognition from Jostens for the exemplary way they employ the Jostens Renaissance Results Formula™ on their campuses and they have the RESULTS to show for it!

Learn more about Jostens School of Distinction here.

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