Promoting Positive

“Not only are bloggers suckers for the remarkable, so are the (Originally Written 2/3/2013)

Many of us teachers  have heard the phrase "I'm not your friend any more" numerous times being said from one child to another. The simplest of triggers can lead a child to react quickly thinking that he or she will get the Kevin to do what they wanted them by announcing that they are not friends any more. Sometimes it escalates where they start telling others not to play with Kevin other wise there will be consequences.

As teachers we talk to both parties, sometimes have a talk with the whole class about social conduct in general. Unfortunately, these sort of things don't always happen in a setting where the teacher is aware. Some students talk to their teachers about what had happened to them or what they've heard other say, but let's face it, not every child does that. So the random arguments, long faces, crying, or fights are really not that random!

What can we do to prevent things like that from happening?

Prevent is the keyword. We have to assume that confrontations will happen in the classroom, on the playground, in the gym, cafeteria or anywhere else students meet and talk. Therefore, we have to plan for having not only discussions, but demonstrations, and activities that will touch on those topics to hopefully prevent negative encounters. 

One of the very first things I trained my students on was the different ways of communications.

I wanted them to be aware of the words they used, the intonation in their voices as well as the faces they make when talking to someone. For example, in one instance I had them practice with each other saying the word "sorry" in different tone of voice each time and how their partner felt about it each time. Another thing I had them practice was to make faces at each other while responding to a conversation. My students absolutely loved the set of activities and thought they were fun. I found them beneficial because even though we did those activities back in September they still refer to them with each other. 

Here is a list of Promoting Positive Classroom ideas that I've tried in my classroom:

Airplane Positive Notes

Students wrote positive notes to random students on colorful paper then folded them into airplanes. Then they thrust the planes to the person they wrote it to. After reading their notes, they had to choose another student and write to them and repeat. They did this for about 3 minutes. By that time, their paper planes were filled with small notes all over them. So I hung them on their lockers for display.

Notes in Lockers

They used index cards to write a positive note to someone I've assigned then slid them into their lockers. It was a really nice surprise by lunch time when students opened their lockers to find the notes.

Positive Ribbons

I use different color ribbons for each positive quality students possess. I would select a quality  or two for a day or that week (the idea is to promote all positive qualities throughout the year randomly so students can possess those or work on getting them throughout the year). The student with that positive quality will be called out and I would tie a ribbon around his/her wrist and curl it. It would really look great if more than one quality (more than one ribbon were used) were focused on.

Paper Crowns

Students found strength the each of them had and wrote it on paper crowns that they cut out. Then every once in a while I would announce that it was time for crowning (we did this in one day but a few students every hour or so to keep them excited). I had red fabric that I threw on the floor to look like a red carpet so crowed students can walk on it. The student that wrote the strength is the one crowning the receiving student after announcing the strength to the whole class. Students would kneel to receive their crown while I played music in the background and the whole class would cheer. By the end of the day I had 31 kings and queens with titles defining their strengths. For example, I had a king of multiplication, a queen of reading, and a king of dramatic voice. Everything was turned into something positive, even the loud voice, I put a spin on it and encouraged the child to use his voice during skits or performances.