by Alan David Pritchard

Created on: October 29, 2008

Making your classroom a more positive place

We live in a society that is, by and large, unashamedly negative. News reports tend to deal with bad news, for that is what sells. The "fascination with the abomination" is something well documented by sociologists and even our weather reports embed the trend for negativity with comments like: "There will be a 70% chance of rain tomorrow," as opposed to a "30% chance of sunshine". Computer games which glorify violence are bestsellers and most things on television revolve around the need for "drama" something bad has to happen in order to keep our interest.

So how can we reverse this trend in our classrooms?
Here are a few simple techniques which you might find useful:

a) Smiley Meet n Greet: acting as a gatekeeper, smile at pupils with your eyes, and try, as they pass into the classroom to provide an uplifting comment / comment of recognition.

Whenever you see the pupils you teach, whether in the corridors or outside in the parking lot or as they enter your room, smile at them with your eyes. Yes, I know we smile with our mouths, but students are quick to spot false-smiles, smiles that are forced. Smiling with your eyes is a way of making eye contact so that you appear naturally happy to see someone.

When you smile using your eyes, your mouth automatically follows and the impression you give is one of sincerity and positivity. This requires a conscious effort not to smile with your mouth first, but rather to let your eyes "do the talking". Your mouth will follow. Your eyes should "light up" when you see your students no matter how you feel about them and no matter how poorly behaved they might have been the previous day.

This means that students, when they see you (even if you are not their favourite person in the world), know that despite their behaviour your approach to them begins anew each day ... that the slate is wiped clean.

Acting as the gatekeeper to your classroom and greeting students enthusiastically as they enter goes a long way towards creating a positive climate / atmosphere and often sets the tone for the lesson to follow. I found that by smiling at them with my eyes as soon as I saw them, and then saying something positive and uplifting as they walked past me to go to their seats, often meant that behavioural issues could be avoided. It takes some practice, this, and you need to be resourceful finding something positive to say to each pupil, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

"Ah, great to see

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