Turning a negative conversation into a positive one.

So you’ve kept Joe, or Leah, or Sam back after a lesson where they pushed you to the point where you had to issue a detention. You didn’t engage in discussion about it in the lesson, but now is the time. This is the point at which you have an opportunity a) to confirm that […]

How to like a class

You can decide to like a class.   We’ve all been there – that knot in the stomach when you have to face 8S again. The faces which swim into your head, those of the students who need somehow to be ‘managed’, to be cajoled into compliance or manoeuvred quickly through the sanction escalation ladder […]

Compliments for any season

Merry Christmas everybody! Isn’t it nice to be off work? I hope you’re all feeling as relaxed and refreshed as I am. I’m also feeling reflective. I’m thinking about praise; more precisely I’m thinking abut compliments. Be specific: I have talked about the importance of being specific in your praise of students rather than lavishing […]

Strictly Positive Behaviour Management – why?

Okay, so I’ve done a lot of stuff about the edges and the background and the effects of Strictly Positive Teaching, but it all starts with Strictly Positive Behaviour Management. So it’s time for a few posts from the beginning.   Strictly Positive Behaviour Management This is absolutely the heart of Strictly Positive Teaching, and […]