Well it has been an extremely busy two weeks. The start of the term has seen stage 3 students writing job application letters and CVs, start a new project which involves a Japanese culture study and a maths project on angry birds. It has also seen a change to the college timetable so we have had to adapt our teaching accordingly. The students have done an amazing job settling in. Our six new students are now well settled, starting to make friends, beginning to understand the 4 C’s of PBL and how we work in our classroom and college.
Just recently a few things have happened in my life to make me think about the way we say certain things. If there is one thing I have discovered in over 10 years of teaching, it’s that shouting at students, and putting them down, doesn’t seem to work. This became really apparent when I was teaching in inner city London and I realised that if I raised my voice, a very blank look came over the students, an almost autonomous reaction. But if I lowered my voice, the students almost had to lean in to hear me and thus a better listening environment was created. Now I am only human after all and I do sometimes forget this concept but I certainly try my hardest.
The other extremely simple concept, which I forget from time to time, is that saying something positive goes much further than saying something negative. If someone in authority demands something in a negative way you are less likely to do it, but if they approach you in a positive way how much better do you feel about doing it. I certainly notice in students that if I give them positive reinforcement it lasts longer than negative reinforcement.
So if I could leave you with this analogy – positive words are like the solar powered battery, they last long (longer than negative words), they are energised by the sun (positive words) and they are good for the environment (all around them).
Words are like eggs dropped from great heights; you can no more call them back than ignore the mess they leave when they fall.
Jodi Picoult, Salem Falls
Tania says
That is a great quote from Jodi Picoult. If I was ever going to get a tattoo, that would be it!!
Mark says
This article is so true. The power of positive words is something that cannot be ignored. If we fail to give especially young people positive words. They can end up becoming very insecure in later years. Thanks for sharing. I’m glad to have found your blog
Mark says
Thank you for the positivity. Words are indeed powerful we need to be careful how we use them.