Creating a Positive Classroom Culture
Here’s the thing… a culture of positivity is developed over time with consistent encouragement and positive praise. Please, do not be discouraged by that news. Remember, every positive action - words, body language, notes, and so forth, is an investment in the culture you are building. Those investments add up and pay off.
Think about it like this - if the positive culture you desire is a seed, then your consistency is what nurtures that seed and allows it to grow properly. Even though you are not the only influencer in the life of the children around you, your choices create the outcome. One of the easiest ways to create this outcome is by exercising positive reinforcement.
Want to use positive reinforcement to develop a positive culture?
Here are four tips to optimize your positive reinforcement in the classroom:
1. Your positive praise needs to be intentional and specific.
Please refer back to Part 2 for more information about this tip - in a nutshell, generic praise creates generic results.
2. Your positive praise needs to occur with extreme frequency!
For positive praise to be most effective, it cannot only happen to change a behavior, but also to encourage the developing culture. Frequency builds sincerity and alters how children perceive you.
3. Your positive praise needs to come from your body language as well as your words.
Your sincerity will set the climate for the environment you create. Do not be afraid of showing happiness and joy - it does not demean your role as the educator. When your body language matches your words, you outwardly show the behavior you say is important in your classroom.
4. Your positive praise needs to change you as much as you hope it changes them.
Exercising positive praise changes the way you view the world. You will spot the positive events happening around you with ease. The extreme effort it took to implement this form of management will not feel so extreme after long. The world will truly be a better place because of it.
Try it! I believe in your ability to be successful!
Photo by Katrina Wright on Unsplash.