Creating a Positive Climate
Creating a Positive Climate Markers of a Positive Emotional Classroom Climate Positive classrooms are marked by responsive teachers, who manage behavior and attention challenges, as well as social and emotional needs for individual children. Key aspects of responsive teaching include using behaviorapproving language more frequently than redirecting, using specific praise, and maintaining a pleasant affect and tone in teacher-child interactions.
Importance of Positive Emotional Classroom Climate Children who feel emotionally supported in their classrooms will
Feel valued and safe Be more likely to have higher levels of engagement with tasks Interact more with teachers and peers Take academic risks
Better relationships between students and teachers result in higher achievement, social competency, and stronger self-regulation and emotional skills. According to evidence from prior PRI research, children who experienced preschool settings with a) more positive peer interactions and b) teachers who had a more positive emotional tone and c) spent more time positively reinforcing behavior had significantly greater social competence and fewer problem behaviors in first grade (Spivak & Farran, 2014). Teachers can promote these better relationships by
Being attuned and responsive to their students’ needs Being warm Modeling appropriate choices Reinforcing children for making appropriate choices
In MNPS ELC Classrooms: Children who experienced emotionally supportive classrooms showed much stronger gains in spelling and writing, vocabulary, and math knowledge. This was particularly true for children with lower entering skills! The Following Examples and Additional Resources are Available at https://my.vanderbilt.edu/mnpspartnership/
TACSEI Backpack Series Handout on Positive Language This handout provides concrete strategies for how to positive language to shape children’s behavior. These handouts are designed for parents to use with children at home, but these strategies can easily be applied in classroom environments as well.
Teaching Pyramid Solution Kit (from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning) Guided use of a problem-solving kit that emphasizes and reinforces prosocial behavior helps to create an emotionally supportive classroom in which all members feel safe and respected.
Various Research and Practitioner-Focused Articles
Magic 8 Professional Development Series
Creating a Positive Climate Maximize Behavior Approvals & Use Specific Praise Behavior approvals reinforce a particular behavior; they say to the child “I like what you’re doing and I want you to keep doing it.” Approvals can come in the form of verbal comments, facial expressions, or physical contact with the children.
Verbal Examples of Behavior Approving:
Non-verbal Examples of Behavior Approving:
“I like the way you are sitting.”
Smiling, winking, or nodding at one or more children in response to behaviors.
“Pat yourself on the back.” “You are working really carefully.” “I like the way you are thinking.”
Praise is most effective when it is meaningful and concrete. Praise should be specific to children’s actions, efforts, accomplishments. When possible, focus on effort as opposed to ability – this encourages children to focus on the process, rather than achieving the “right answer”.
Instead of… “Kiss your brain!” Try…
“Good job!” “High five!” “You’re so smart!” “Great! That’s the right answer!”
“It was so kind of you to work together to solve the problem of having too many friends in the art center!” “You must have stacked the blocks very carefully to make that tower so high!”
“That’s a really good suggestion for another ending to the story.” “I can tell you really worked hard to sort all of those dinosaurs.”
Limit Redirections & Eliminate Threats and Sarcasm ***Some redirection is necessary for running the classroom and keeping children safe. The goal here is for children to receive comparatively more positive, affirming messages about their behavior.*** With redirections, the teacher/EA’s intent is to change the child’s behavior; to say to the child, “I want you to do something different from what you are doing.” Teacher/EA uses disapproving facial expressions, verbal comments, tone of voice, and/or physical contact with children. Statements do not have to be negative in tone to be a redirection.
Non-verbal Examples of Behavior Redirection:
Verbal Examples of Behavior Redirection:
Grimacing, frowning, side-to-side head-shaking, gesturing
“I said stay in your space, Jonathan.”
Examples of Threats, Sarcasm, and Shaming*:
“Please put a bubble in your mouth, Janie.”
“You must not want to go to the playground today, Keisha!” “If you’re not bleeding or on fire, then I don’t want to hear from you.”
“Are you making a good choice?”
“We are all going to sit here and wait until Mark is ready.” “I just love repeating myself.” *Threats and sarcasm are disrespectful and potentially damaging to children. These are inappropriate forms of redirection.
Magic 8 Professional Development Series
Creating a Positive Climate Teacher Affect/Emotional Tone
NEGATIVE
POSITIVE
The teacher’s tone of voice and facial expressions convey specific messages to children about how teachers feel about them, the teacher’s interest in activities, and the teacher’s attitude toward other children in the classroom. However, sometimes it can be difficult to be aware of one’s affect. The following are indicators of teacher tone. Even the slightest awareness and effort to develop a more positive tone can make a difference!
Vibrant
Strong positive interaction – genuine excitement for teaching
Pleasant
Shows positive interest – smiling, eye contact, eyebrows raised, leaning forward
Neutral
Shows no facial expression – neutral affect, “resting face”
Negative
Negative affect — frowning, headshaking, negative gestures, eye rolling, sighing; may use mild threats
Extreme Negative
Strongly negative affect – sarcasm, yelling, insults; physically dragging/pulling child
Five Ways to Improve Teacher Tone
Magic 8 Professional Development Series
Importance of Positive Emotional Classroom Climate Children who feel emotionally supported in their classrooms will
Feel valued and safe Be more likely to have higher levels of engagement with tasks Interact more with teachers and peers Take academic risks
Better relationships between students and teachers result in higher achievement, social competency, and stronger self-regulation and emotional skills. According to evidence from prior PRI research, children who experienced preschool settings with a) more positive peer interactions and b) teachers who had a more positive emotional tone and c) spent more time positively reinforcing behavior had significantly greater social competence and fewer problem behaviors in first grade (Spivak & Farran, 2014). Teachers can promote these better relationships by
Being attuned and responsive to their students’ needs Being warm Modeling appropriate choices Reinforcing children for making appropriate choices
In MNPS ELC Classrooms: Children who experienced emotionally supportive classrooms showed much stronger gains in spelling and writing, vocabulary, and math knowledge. This was particularly true for children with lower entering skills! The Following Examples and Additional Resources are Available at https://my.vanderbilt.edu/mnpspartnership/
TACSEI Backpack Series Handout on Positive Language This handout provides concrete strategies for how to positive language to shape children’s behavior. These handouts are designed for parents to use with children at home, but these strategies can easily be applied in classroom environments as well.
Teaching Pyramid Solution Kit (from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning) Guided use of a problem-solving kit that emphasizes and reinforces prosocial behavior helps to create an emotionally supportive classroom in which all members feel safe and respected.
Various Research and Practitioner-Focused Articles
Magic 8 Professional Development Series
Creating a Positive Climate Maximize Behavior Approvals & Use Specific Praise Behavior approvals reinforce a particular behavior; they say to the child “I like what you’re doing and I want you to keep doing it.” Approvals can come in the form of verbal comments, facial expressions, or physical contact with the children.
Verbal Examples of Behavior Approving:
Non-verbal Examples of Behavior Approving:
“I like the way you are sitting.”
Smiling, winking, or nodding at one or more children in response to behaviors.
“Pat yourself on the back.” “You are working really carefully.” “I like the way you are thinking.”
Praise is most effective when it is meaningful and concrete. Praise should be specific to children’s actions, efforts, accomplishments. When possible, focus on effort as opposed to ability – this encourages children to focus on the process, rather than achieving the “right answer”.
Instead of… “Kiss your brain!” Try…
“Good job!” “High five!” “You’re so smart!” “Great! That’s the right answer!”
“It was so kind of you to work together to solve the problem of having too many friends in the art center!” “You must have stacked the blocks very carefully to make that tower so high!”
“That’s a really good suggestion for another ending to the story.” “I can tell you really worked hard to sort all of those dinosaurs.”
Limit Redirections & Eliminate Threats and Sarcasm ***Some redirection is necessary for running the classroom and keeping children safe. The goal here is for children to receive comparatively more positive, affirming messages about their behavior.*** With redirections, the teacher/EA’s intent is to change the child’s behavior; to say to the child, “I want you to do something different from what you are doing.” Teacher/EA uses disapproving facial expressions, verbal comments, tone of voice, and/or physical contact with children. Statements do not have to be negative in tone to be a redirection.
Non-verbal Examples of Behavior Redirection:
Verbal Examples of Behavior Redirection:
Grimacing, frowning, side-to-side head-shaking, gesturing
“I said stay in your space, Jonathan.”
Examples of Threats, Sarcasm, and Shaming*:
“Please put a bubble in your mouth, Janie.”
“You must not want to go to the playground today, Keisha!” “If you’re not bleeding or on fire, then I don’t want to hear from you.”
“Are you making a good choice?”
“We are all going to sit here and wait until Mark is ready.” “I just love repeating myself.” *Threats and sarcasm are disrespectful and potentially damaging to children. These are inappropriate forms of redirection.
Magic 8 Professional Development Series
Creating a Positive Climate Teacher Affect/Emotional Tone
NEGATIVE
POSITIVE
The teacher’s tone of voice and facial expressions convey specific messages to children about how teachers feel about them, the teacher’s interest in activities, and the teacher’s attitude toward other children in the classroom. However, sometimes it can be difficult to be aware of one’s affect. The following are indicators of teacher tone. Even the slightest awareness and effort to develop a more positive tone can make a difference!
Vibrant
Strong positive interaction – genuine excitement for teaching
Pleasant
Shows positive interest – smiling, eye contact, eyebrows raised, leaning forward
Neutral
Shows no facial expression – neutral affect, “resting face”
Negative
Negative affect — frowning, headshaking, negative gestures, eye rolling, sighing; may use mild threats
Extreme Negative
Strongly negative affect – sarcasm, yelling, insults; physically dragging/pulling child
Five Ways to Improve Teacher Tone
Magic 8 Professional Development Series
