Positive Behaviors
The Positive Behavior feature in Focus allows administrators to use positive reinforcement strategies to reward good behavior. Students can earn and spend badges. Teachers and administrators are able to review the total badges earned, total badges spent, and the available balance for students. Administrators set up district wide or school badges and/or badge types before teachers can set up badges associated with the badge types.
Focus uses the terms badge and badges for items that are awarded to students for good behavior. The district can rename these terms.
1. In the Discipline menu, click Positive Behaviors.
2. At the top of the screen in the Name field, enter the term the district will use instead of "Badge."
Once you click or tab out of the Name field, the Plural field will auto-populate with the plural of the name you entered. Edit the Plural field if needed.
3. Click Save.
Administrators can set up badges that are awarded to students or set up badge types that act as categories. If teachers are allowed to set up badges, the teacher-created badges are associated with the administrator-created badge types.
At least one school or district-wide badge/badge type must be setup in order to enable the Identify Badge Awards and Reward Positive Behaviors screens for teachers, in addition to being able to award badges in the mobile app or from the Seating Chart.
1. In the blank row at the top of the table, enter the Badge Title/Type.
2. To select an icon for the badge, click Select.
Badges can be saved without selecting an icon, if desired. The star icon will be used for badges saved without an icon.
3. To use a recommended icon, click the icon on the left side of the screen.
4. To upload an icon from your computer, click Choose a file and select the file, or drag the file from your computer into the blank area.
Any icons administrators at your school have previously uploaded will be available on the right side of the screen.
5. To take a photo with your webcam, click Take Photo and follow the prompts to take a photo.
The selected icon is displayed in the Icon column.
6. If the badge will be used at all district schools, select District-Wide. If it will only be used at the school you are currently logged in to, do not select the check box.
7. To restrict when the badge can be awarded to students, enter a Start Year and/or End Year.
Enter the syear for the start year or end year, e.g. 2021.
8. Press Enter to add the row.
9. Click Save.
When a badge/badge type title or icon is edited, any badges that have already been awarded will be updated with the new title or icon.
The Start Year and End Year can be used to restrict when a badge can be awarded to students. It is recommended to set the End Year on a badge rather than delete a badge if it has been awarded to students. Badges awarded to students prior to setting a Start Year or End Year are still counted in the student's earned badges.
1. To edit the title of an existing badge/badge type, click the Badge Title/Type field and make the change.
2. To edit the icon for an existing badge/badge type, click Select and choose a new system icon, upload a file, or take a photo with your webcam.
3. Select or deselect the District-Wide check box as needed.
If the District-Wide check box is deselected and teachers from other schools have already created and awarded badges associated with this badge type, the awarded badges and badge history will be unaffected and the teacher's associated badge can still be awarded, but the badge type will be blank on the teacher's Identify Badge Behaviors screen. The teacher can select a different badge type for the badge.
4. Enter a Start Year and/or End Year to restrict when a badge can be awarded to students.
5. Click Save.
It is recommended to set the End Year on a badge rather than delete it if it has been awarded to students. See the Editing a Badge/Badge Type section for details.
When a badge/badge type is deleted, it can no longer be awarded to students. Teacher-created badges linked to a deleted badge type are also deleted. Deleted badges that have been earned by students still display in the student's earned totals and History detail in Positive Behavior Awards.
1. Click the red minus sign next to the badge/badge title to delete.
2. In the confirmation message, click OK.
The row is grayed out to indicate it will be deleted.
3. Click Save to complete deletion.
The Positive Behavior Rewards screen allows school administrators to award the badges to students as well as see how many badges have been earned, spent and the students’ available balances. There is also a History tab that provides details on who awarded the badge, the badge type, when it was awarded and the value associated with the badge. If Comments were entered when the badge was awarded, these will display as well.
1. In the Discipline menu, click Positive Behavior Awards.
All the students at the school selected at the top-right of the screen are listed.
2. To refine the list of students, click Advanced Search at the top of the screen.
3. In the Search Screen, enter search criteria to locate the student or group of students and click Search.
The screen now only displays the students returned in the search.
The New and Remove buttons at the top of the screen are used to conduct a new search or remove the search criteria and return to the full list of students.
The Year option at the top-left of the screen is automatically selected, displaying the badge data from the start of the school year to date.
4. To view badge data from the beginning of the semester to date, click Semester. To view badge data from the beginning of the quarter to date, click Quarter.
5. To view a custom date range, click Date Range.
6. In the pop-up window, enter the date range by selecting the month, day, and year from each pull-down or click the calendar icons to select the dates from the calendar.
7. Click Confirm.
The Total Earned, Spent, Available Balance, and individual badge columns are updated to reflect the selected time period.
In each badge column, the student's total number of awarded badges for that badge/badge-type is displayed. This includes teacher-created badges that are linked to the badge-type that were awarded to the student.
The History column displays the dates awarded, who awarded the badge, the badge title, badge value and any associated comments. Badges can be deleted from the student’s History.
The Total Earned column displays the total number of badges the student has earned, including both teacher and administrator awarded badges.
The Spent column displays the total number of badges the student has spent, including both administrator and teacher spent badges.
The Available Balance displays the balance that is available for the student to spend.
The Badge Columns displays the total number of badges awarded to the student for each specific badge displayed.
Badges can be awarded for an individual student or for all students in the displayed list.
1. At the top of the screen, deselect the Comment Before Save check box if you do not want to be prompted to enter a comment when adding or spending a badge.
2. Next to the student, click the green + icon in the column of the badge you want to award.
The badge count increases by 1. The red minus icon is enabled, which can be clicked if the badge was awarded by mistake.
3. Click Save.
4. If the Comment Before Save option is enabled, enter an optional comment in the pop-up window and click Confirm.
1. Ensure the Mass Award option at the top of the screen is enabled (displays ON).
2. Click the green All + icon at the top of the badge column.
The badge count increases by 1 for each student in the list. The red minus icon is enabled next to each student, which can be clicked if the badge was awarded to the student by mistake. The - All icon is also enabled, which can be clicked to remove the badge from all students in the list.
3. Click Save.
4. If the Comment Before Save option is enabled, enter an optional comment in the pop-up window and click Confirm.
Badges can be spent on a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards such as a school-wide or grade-level pizza party, dance, etc.
Badges can be spent from the student's available balance.
1. Next to the student, enter the amount to spend in the Spend column.
If an amount is entered that is greater than the student's available balance, the amount will auto-correct to equal the student's available balance.
2. Click Save.
3. If the Comment Before Save option is enabled, enter an optional comment in the pop-up window and click Confirm.
Badges can be spent from each student's available balance.
1. Ensure the Mass Award option at the top of the screen is enabled (displays ON).
2. Enter the amount to spend in the All field at the top of the Spend column.
If an amount is entered that is greater than a student's available balance, the field will auto-correct to an amount equal to the lowest available balance. For example, if a student in the list has an Available Balance of 1, and you enter 2 in the All field, the amount will auto-correct to 1.
3. Click Save.
4. If the Comment Before Save option is enabled, enter an optional comment in the pop-up window and click Confirm.
The History window displays the student's badge history, including the dates awarded, user who awarded the badge, badge title, value, and comments. Badges can be deleted from a student in the History.
1. Click the icon in the History column next to the student.
The History includes a row for each time badges were awarded to the student or spent. The date, user, badge title, value, and comment are displayed.
2. Edit the Value or Comment for a row as needed, and click Save.
3. To delete badges awarded or spent, click the red minus sign to the left of the row.
Deleting a "spend" line will add the spent badges back into the student's available balance.
4. If the Comment Before Save option is enabled, enter an optional comment in the pop-up window and click Confirm.
The row is highlighted in red to indicate it was deleted.
5. Click the X to close the pop-up window.
- Setup 3 Badge Types.
- Assign 4 badges to individual students with comments.
- Assign a badge to All students.
- Spend badges for 3 students.