“A good teacher, like a good entertainer, first must hold his audience’s attention, then he can teach his lesson.” John Henrik Clarke For quite a long time I was reluctant to include this quotation, as I believe it can easily be misinterpreted to mean that we teachers should be all-singing, all-dancing variety stars, juggling […]
You can tell I’m a proper teacher, can’t you? Apologies, but GCSEs, A levels, year 7 camp, German exchange and myriad activities have taken me away from here. Stand by for a flurry of posts!
Focus on the positives – don’t mention the road! Treat someone as if they were the way you want them to be. “If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain as he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and what he could be, […]
Why are we not emulating this system? Are we too hung up on a 1950s style agenda and a rigid, frozen National Curriculum? http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” I was in business for a few years before I came into education, and I have a lot of these little aphorisms to hand. But this one is spot on. Many battles are won and lost in the planning phase, and I’m not just talking here about lesson […]
“Yes, we can!” Barack Obama – Yes We Can! Actually Bob the Builder got there first. But you knew that anyway, didn’t you? Bob the Builder – Yes We Can! Anyway, back to target setting. People like to be able to recognise what they have achieved. It’s why people like me write to do lists […]
So behaviour management is at the shallow end of Strictly Positive Teaching. Before we get our goggles on and jump in to experience the shallow end more thoroughly, let’s stroll on and look at some of the rest of the pool. Let’s take that question: “Why are we doing this?” Strictly Positive Teachers have to […]
Okay, I know what you’re thinking: “Strictly Positive Teaching” – there are three words that don’t belong together. Firstly, you can either be strict or positive; you are either a strict tyrannical teacher, or you are a positive Pollyanna. The Tyrant Given the choice, most teachers would probably opt for being the tyrannical teacher. Tyrants […]
Children want attention. In fact, children need attention just as grass needs rain. If they cannot get positive attention, negative attention will do. So in the Strictly Positive Teacher’s classrooms there are endless opportunities to gain positive attention, and no opportunities at all for negative attention. Why do they need attention? Lets go back a […]
