You've probably never had behavioral issues come up in your class, right? Your students are all over-achieving, well-behaved angels. You've of course never taught a student who doesn't like school or who is so uneager to be there that they're late...every single day. No, no. Your students are all perfect.

Ha. Right.

We're guessing it's the opposite—that your students have given you every behavioral issue in the book. We're talking everything from texting in class to attitudes so stinky you need a gas mask to deal with 'em.

Cut to an office scene where you ask the principal, "So how do I deal with these students?" She happily but dramatically waves you over to her side, opens a tab in Internet Explorer (really), and says, "Let's try PBIS."

Then, you both smile at the camera.

End scene.

Oh, wait, sorry—we confused you with an old aspirin commercial. But if something here rings a bell, read on.

The Basics

In case you haven't met PBIS yet, let us introduce you. (If you and PBIS go way back, feel free to skip ahead.)

Its full name is Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and it's a behavior management system. If you're reading this, you've hit the jackpot—finally, something to help you with those inevitable discipline problems.

PBIS has been around since 1997 and is effectively being used by over 21,000 schools from sea to shining sea. Now that your school is involved, the number has jumped to over 21,001 schools, and whether you volunteered for all this or had to be gently (or not-so-gently) prodded, we bet you'll quickly see the benefits.

Here's a quick run-down: PBIS is a school-wide system that gets teachers and staff involved in teaching students what good behavior looks like and then focusing on and rewarding that good behavior. The point? To knock out the bad behavior. PBIS is a framework, not a curriculum; the details of how it looks are designed and implemented by each school, so it'll feel slightly different from school to school.

• It starts by getting the teachers (that's you) in a powwow to find out what issues (i.e., tardiness, bullying, disrespect, etc.) are getting in the way of you doing your job—and the students thriving.

• Then, the teachers (you, again) work together to develop some strategies (i.e., incentives, school-wide rules and routines, verbal praise, etc.) for dealing with those issues.

• Finally, you'll look at the data (e.g., number of office referrals) to see how things are working out.

Did we mention that PBIS is school-wide? That means bus drivers, cafeteria workers, administrators, and teachers are all on the same page; they all know what's expected of the students, and they're all watching to praise and reward the good behavior ("You're on time today!") and intervene when they see the wrong behavior ("Please, keep your legs and heads inside the bus!").

Sound cheesy? It is.

That's where Shmoop comes in. Head on over to Shmoop's PBIS Resources to get your interventions and supports on without turning kids' brains off.