Positive reinforcement encompasses the idea of turning a classroom environment to focus on the positive aspects, versus the negatives. We often jump to what is wrong in a situation instead of thinking, what are we doing well. This applies to working with children in the classroom because instead of constantly repeating ourselves over and over as we say “No!”, “Don’t do that”, “Why didn’t you finish this?”
We are trying to change that around to focus on what children are doing well. Identifying children’s strengths and areas in which they excel, or even noticing small moments where they are doing something nice is the first step. The second is letting the children know what they are doing well and that we are happy with them. This helps to build their self-esteem, as well as create a more positive environment as a whole.
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Reinforce (give attention to) behaviors you want to see more of and discourage (do not give attention to) behaviors you would like to see less of. This means focusing on children who are doing the right thing and concentrating on telling children what to do, not what not to do.
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Continually give praise to all students (“Great job, Nick!” “Nice try, Emily!”)
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These types of praise can be extended into more specific compliments: “Great job on your picture, Pheobe, I love you how colored the sky.”
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You can also connect the praise to the future by saying, “You could really be a great artist when you grow up!”
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It is important to provide students with positive feedback even when they are succeeding in tasks that are simple and done every day. Consistency with this will maximize the work that students do and limit the amount of off task behavior and negative attention seeking.
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Increase positive feedback when students are on task
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Adults should focus on and point out any and all positive behavior in front of whole class, however negative behavior should be dealt with in a private setting one on one with the child. This is important because we do not want to shame the child in front of his/her peers.
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Use positive language for redirection (“You know, Kevin, I’d really like to see you do a great job with clean-up today like you did last week!”, “Hey Jenny, I know what a great helper you are, would you like to take a break and come help me set up for snack right now?”)
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Singling out students within a larger group who are following directions and giving them praise allows the positive behavior to be recognized and hopefully duplicated by the remaining classmates. Continue to pass out praise as more and more children follow directions.
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“I like how some of our friends are sitting so quietly for meeting. Great job!” “Emma, you are doing such a fantastic job sitting crisscross applesauce like we’re supposed to on the rug. Thank you!”
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Giving students jobs is a great idea. It gives them ownership and responsibility over the classroom and helps them enforce clean up, etc. This idea works especially well with fidgety kids and those that need a little extra guidance.
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When learning a new skill, offer plenty encouragement and praise. Kids feel really good when they can do things themselves, especially when they have been able to successfully complete something new.