Lockers

Being able to have and use a locker allows students to experience positive interactions with others.

Choose the statement below that best describes how this student participates at the lockers.
This will help you identify a starting point for selecting strategies (e.g., 1=specialized, 2=targeted, 3=universal).

  • 1. Requires one-to-one assistance to provide physical support (e.g., taking outside clothes off and putting on, managing backpack, etc.) and/or to facilitate interaction with peers and/or maintain appropriate behaviour
  • 2. Requires frequent (e.g., more than twice a week) adult prompting to follow basic routines and expectations related to boot room and locker routines and/or to prevent altercations with peers (e.g., crowding other students, pushing, verbal exchanges, knocking down coats of others, etc.)
  • 3. May require occasional (e.g., less than twice a week) reminders but generally follows routines related to boot room and lockers
Universal

Universal Supports benefit all students

  • Work collaboratively with school staff to ensure that there are consistent school-wide expectations regarding locker behaviour.
  • Develop effective routines that will support positive behaviour in locker areas, such as:
    • limiting number of students who access locker areas at any one time
    • providing active supervision by being visible when students are in locker areas
    • scheduling and monitoring weekly or monthly locker clean-ups.
  • Communicate clear expectations for locker areas and teach, practise and review routines with students at the beginning of the school year, and several times throughout the school year, particularly at change-of-seasons.
  • Post visual reminders for behaviour expectations both in the classroom and in locker areas, and review regularly. When appropriate, collaborate with students to develop these visual reminders.
  • Use descriptive feedback to acknowledge positive locker area behaviour demonstrated by individuals, small groups and/or the class as whole.
Targeted

Targeted Supports benefit students with more specific needs

  • Pair individual students with positive peers who can serve as role models and provide support in the locker area. Rotate these peers at regular intervals throughout the year.
  • Provide proximity by positioning yourself nearby individual students who may require support in locker areas.
  • For students who require more structure and reassurance, develop and review social stories about what they need to do at their locker.
  • Work with individual students or small groups of students to organize their locker, including:
    • posting a visual checklist on the inside door
    • organizing the space (e.g., books and materials for morning classes on bottom shelf, boots and materials for afternoon classes on top shelf).
  • For students who have difficulty with a combination lock provide a one-number combination lock or a key lock with a key bracelet or necklace.
  • Develop self-monitoring strategies students can use to reflect on and keep track of their own behaviour in the locker area.
  • Set up a systematic approach to reinforcement for students who are working on improving and maintaining their locker area behaviour. Reinforcement should encourage moving toward intrinsic motivation (e.g., "How does it feel when …?").
Specialized

Specialized Supports benefit the small number of students with sensory, physical, cognitive or behavioural needs that require intensive, individualized interventions

  • For students who have chronic difficulties in locker areas (e.g., agitated with other students, physical altercations, taking others' belongings, anxiety) establish an alternate space for storing personal belongings inside the classroom, such as a cubby or container. Use this alternate space for a limited time (e.g., one week to one month) and then provide support as students transition back into the locker area.
  • For physical safety or because of a physical disability, an individual student may need 1:1 adult support with locker routines. This support should be provided as unobtrusively as possible, and, when possible, these students should take part in these routines at the same time as other students.