Colter Elementary's Think Tank

What is Think Tank?

Think Tank is a behavioral strategy that Colter Elementary School has been implementing since the 2003-2004 school year.  The Think Tank strategy will support students who are having difficulties managing their behavior in the classroom as well as following the school-wide behavioral expectations.  Think Tank is held in a classroom and is supervised by a trained staff member, with support from the administrator, school counselor, and school psychologist.  These individuals help provide curricula for the Think Tank that provides opportunities for the re-teaching of school-wide behavioral expectations and provides the students with strategies on how to improve their behavior in school.
Think Tank will not replace the process for office discipline referrals.  However, the Think Tank will provide the administrator with alternatives to out of school suspensions such as In School Suspension (ISS) as well as less punitive consequences for inappropriate behaviors that may involve behavioral intervention and/or re-teaching.

Need more information? Click on these links: What Think Tank is What Think Tank is not What happens in Think Tank

What Think Tank is:

- A place for a student to 'cool down'
- A place for individual re-teaching of class and school-wide rules
- Think Tank can be used for In School Suspension (ISS)
- A 'prevention' tool; teaching students different ways to react to situations in the future
- Staffed with school personnel who are knowledgeable about behavior, school-wide discipline, and techniques that may reduce the problem behaviors from occurring in the future
- Part of a process for supporting students to improve behavior
- A place to gather information about the behavioral difficulties a student may be experiencing
- An additional resource for teacher who need in-class support for managing difficult behaviors of students

What think Tank is not:

- A place for kids to spend the day if their behavior is inappropriate for the regular classroom. (Students are expected to spend 15-60 minutes in think Tank, depending on the severity of the behavior.)
- A substitute for discipline referrals to the office.  The student will still see the principal  if the behavior warrants.

What happens in Think Tank:

Teachers can refer a student who is not following school or classroom rules to Think Tank for an opportunity for another staff member to provide re-teaching of school rules and a corresponding intervention, if needed.  The intervention may include:

- Writing a letter of apology
- Individual lesson on social skills
- Individual lesson on anger management
- Organizational skills
- Conflict resolution
- Friendship skills
- Managing skills

The children sent to Think Tank will complete a "Behavior Change Form".  These forms will be copied and sent home to the parents.  Think Tank may be used during lunch, recess, or specials (i.e. music, art, library, computer, PE).  Each time a student is sent to Think Tank, the Think Tank coordinator will inform the parents and follow up with the teacher.