The Power of Positivity

I know we talked about this briefly in class, but I feel like it can never talk about it enough. The "it" I'm referring to in this case is the power of positivity! Looking back on my high school career, I was fortunate enough to have a mom who was very invested in my education (almost too much sometimes), I had a plethora of educational resources available to me, I went to a great school, and I was very self-motivated. I know right now you're probably all thinking "Well la-de-frickin-da," but hear me out. Aside from all those things, I would say the most important thing I had was an inspiring teacher who took pride in my work. I basically thrived off of their positive comments on my papers and assignments. I could feel myself glow when I read their positive (or in my high school mind, ecstatic) marginal comments on quotes I used or pieces of analysis I wrote which I had spent so much time on. It felt great that someone who I looked up to not only recognized my hard work, but praised it.

Now I know that there is also debate on the negativity of positivity: students reliance on teacher comments leads them to write for the teacher, it makes their self-worth hinge on praise, etc. I personally think that is poppycock. Maybe the critics of positivity are right, and there was some blossoming Henry James in class who the world will never know because he was forced to reshape his writer for teacher praise, maybe there was a future Emily Dickinson who never tried something new because she became stuck in the rut of writing that she knew would receive positive marginal comments. Maybe I just happened to write the way my teacher liked, but I don't think so.

Think about what a few positive comments for a struggling student. Lately I've been grading piles of what my co-op calls bookmarks for her freshman English class. Some kids do great, so kids not so great (who would've thought, variety in a classroom). Think about how disheartening it is for a kid in that class who tries hard to improve, but keeps getting back bookmarks covered in "-1"s and "5/9"s. I know if I was that kid, after a while I might get tired of trying, and that's the last thing we as future teachers want our kids to feel.

Now imagine that same kid who, although they might not be getting the grade they want, gets positive comments about their good sentences, use of new vocabulary, or hints on ways to improve their analysis. Yea getting a bad grade still stinks, but at least the student now knows that the teacher is invested in their improvement, and, more importantly, notices their strengths I saw on Chandra's blog this week, and it's also come up in other's blogs, a discussion on motivation. I think one way to keep students motivated, especially ones who we might see as withdrawn, is to keep giving them praise. And not just any praise, but explanatory praise! Not just "Good Job Sara!," but "Sara, good job on your attention to characters! I like how you explain them in such detail!" Now a student know that they've done something praiseworthy, and can put a name to that skill which you've recognized as a strength hat they possess. Sometimes kids even use rhetorical techniques that they're not aware of such as creating a metaphor or playing with syntax. Tell them they're doing that! And the weird thing about praising students, is that in the end it makes you feel pretty great about being a teacher too :-)