Increasing Positve Interactions

(Retrieved from the companion website for High-Impact Instruction: A Framework for Great Teaching by Jim Knight.)

· Commit to saying hello to every student as he or she enters the classroom (put special emphasis on kids with whom you may have had a recent negative interaction).
· Seek out positive (appropriate) interactions that are not contingent on behavior.
· Find the little things that make kids tick (activity, team, interest, etc.) and talk about them with them.
· Catch the good behavior by drawing attention to it (thanking students, commenting, etc.).
· Focus praise or attention on effort rather than attributes (talk about a student’s hard work rather than a student’s intelligence).
· Pay attention to academic and behavioral opportunities for praise.
· Post reminders to praise (sticky note to yourself on the Elmo; poster in the class, on your lesson plans).
· Set specific praise goals (today every student who gets the book out will be praised).
· Set goals based on irrelevant prompts (every time a teacher enters my room, I’ll praise three kids).
· Double up on praise by naming all students who are doing something appropriate (Michelle, Lea, Susan, and Jenny, thanks for getting your book out so quickly).
· Vary methods of praise.
· Call (or email) the parents of children who are doing well.
· Send home postcards to parents to praise kids.
· Prominently display student work in the classroom.
· Ignore minor misbehavior if the behavior is attention seeking.