Helping Students Feel Capable:
Make mistakes okay.
Teachers need to talk about mistakes, they need to equate mistakes with effort, and minimize mistakes effort. If the students see mistakes are okay then they will not be afraid to make one.
Build Confidence.
Teachers need to focus on improvement and notice contributions. They need to build on strengths and show faith in students. Acknowledge a task difficulty and set time limits on tasks. All these things build confidence in students.
Focus On Past Successes.
As teachers we need to analyze past success of our students and repeat past success.
Make Learning Tangible.
"I Can" cans, accomplishment albums and portfolios, checklist of skills, flow chart of concepts, and talks about yesterday, today, and tomorrow all make learning tangible.
Recognize Achievement.
Applause, clapping and standing ovations, stars and stickers, awards and assemblies, exhibits, positive timeout, and self approval are all ways of recognizing achievement.
Helping Students Connect:
Give students the five A's as much and as often as possible:
Acceptance.
Accept students' cultural differences, accept students with disabilities, accept students' personal style, and accept the doer, not the deed.
Attention.
- Greet your students as they come into the classroom.
- Listen to your students and spend time chatting with them.
- Teach your students if the need attention to ask for it, not misbehave to get it.
- Eat with your students or invite them to be in the room with you.
- Ask your students about their life outside of school and schedule individual conferences.
- Attend school events and chaperone school events.
- Mention what you talked about before with your students.
- Get involved in projects with your students and show interest in students work or hobbies.
- Join students on the playground.
- Recognize birthdays and make baby picture bulletin boards.
- Send cards, messages, homework to absent students.
Appreciation.
- Appreciate the deed not the student who did it.
- Use three-part appreciation statements.
- Give written words of appreciation and teach students to ask for appreciation.
Affirmation.
- The specific: affirm the student who did it, not the deed they done.
- Be enthusiastic and acknowledge positive traits verbally or in writing.
- Be a talent scout; look for the talent of each individual student.
Affection.
- Give affection with no strings attached and show affection when things go badly.
- Show kindness, and it will multiply and be returned: affection breeds affection.
- Show friendship and use affectionate touch when appropriate.
Helping Students Contribute:
Encourage students' contributions to the class.
- Involve students in building the learning environment and invite students' help with daily tasks.
- Request students' curriculum choices and designate class liaisons.
- Point reporters and delegate responsibility for specific functions.
Encourage students' contributions to the school.
- Appoint area monitors and create a Three C's committee.
- Schedule work service periods and establish a crime watch patrol.
Encourage students' contributions to the community.
- Adopt a health care center and promote volunteerism.
- Contribute to community drives and acknowledge random acts of kindness.
Encourage students to work to protect the environment.
Join and support a cause and take part in school and community recycling, clean-up and antilitter campaigns.
Encourage students to help other students.
Helping by peer tutoring, peer counseling, peer meditation, peer recognition, or circle of friends.
