There are little ways to be positive, such as smiling in the morning when your students arrive. You should also be positive when difficult issues arise. For example, if a scary news story comes up in class, talk about things the students can do to help. Or discuss how it’s okay to be sad and no one should be looked down upon for expressing their emotions in a healthy way.
Important positive social skills include empathy, tolerance, patience, and effective communication. As an example of good communication and patience, if a student is disrupting the class, don’t ignore the behavior and then suddenly lash out with anger. Instead, calmly ask the student to respect the class’s time. If the student continues to be disruptive, tell them that you need to send them to the office and you’ll be down later so the two of you can discuss the problem. You can also praise students when they display good social skills and point out their behavior as a model for the rest of the class.
Bring in a policewoman or fireman from the community and have them discuss how they approach the difficult aspects of their jobs with a positive attitude. Include ordinary people. Invite a sales clerk and a waitress to talk about how they deal with difficult customers and challenges of working in the customer service field.
When a student engages in a positive behavior such as helping another student or peacefully resolving a conflict, acknowledge the behavior by either bringing it to the individual student’s attention or to the attention of the entire class. For example, if a student steps in to support a student who is being bullied, you might acknowledge the student later and say, “This is the kind of positive behavior that helps make everyone feel happier and more comfortable. ”
In order to be effective, praise should be specific, sincere, and culturally-appropriate. For example, if a student writes a good paper, praise the student’s specific use of lesson material (“Excellent job segueing from the introduction to the body of your paper”), make sure the praise is sincere, and don’t praise the student in front of the class if it will make them feel uncomfortable. It’s important to praise effort as well as outcomes. If a student is trying hard to accomplish a task, praise their efforts and encourage them to keep trying.
For instance, ask students to give feedback on another student’s presentation.
For example, if you have an unruly student, make a concerted effort to use positive reinforcement techniques when the student behaves well instead of only calling them out when they behave badly. If you do need to discipline a student, do so privately so as to avoid embarrassing them. This will let the student know you respect them as a person even though you’re upset with them at that moment.
For example, before class, stand by the door and greet each of your students by name as they arrive. On Monday mornings, ask them to share something fun they did over the weekend.
You should share details of your life but avoid oversharing. For example, if you return from a vacation with friends you might talk about the places you visited, but avoid talking about drinking or partying.
One good way to include humor in your lessons is to preface each lesson with a cartoon. If you look through comics like the Far Side or Calvin & Hobbes you can find scenarios that match almost any lesson plan! Make sure to keep your humor positive and avoid sarcasm.
Begin the meeting with a discussion question like, “Why is it important to respect other people’s cultures?” How can students include others in activities? Use your authority as a teacher to moderate discussions. Encourage positive, constructive discussion.
Make the rules easy to understand. For example, instead of having a rule that says “maintain an orderly atmosphere,” have a rule that says “stay in your seat when the teacher is talking. ” Allowing your students to help craft the rules is a good way to give them a sense of ownership and responsibility for the classroom. [13] X Expert Source Courtney CoprivizaElementary School Teacher Expert Interview. 18 June 2021.
For example, if you have a class pet, you could have one student responsible for feeding it and another student responsible for keeping the cage clean. [14] X Research source Be careful not to give a few students a lot of responsibility and other students very little responsibility. If there aren’t enough tasks to go around, rotate what students are responsible for what tasks on a weekly basis.
For example, try to incorporate art into a science lesson or geography into an English lesson.
Store supplies in easy-to-find bins with labels. For example, you might keep all of the coloring supplies in a purple bin and all of the construction toys in a yellow box. Let your students help organize the classroom. This will give them an extra sense of ownership over their environment and they’ll feel invested in keeping it in order.
