As students spend most of their time in school, in essentially their most important time of growth: physically, mentally, socially, all areas in developing their identity, it is crucial to know the high influence the teachers and the community have on them. Thus, the school has the responsibility to foster the best environment with positive examples from the adults, from the experiences, and more importantly, from the interactions with other students so that they could have agency, the capability to make independent choices with confidence and control.
Through these relationships we need to be careful of how we speak to our students and know that their social skills are still emerging. The way we understand certain phrases or words sometimes have more or less meaning than we intend because they could be perceived differently by the students. For example, sarcasm; I had to learn the wrong way that this type of humor was offensive to some students. They would get confused or interpret it as literal. I quickly stopped. It is quite easy for my colleagues and I to forget that our students are still very young; despite how they pretend that they are mature enough to be treated as adults. I know at the elementary level, words are chosen a lot more carefully.
In high school, I'm not entirely sure how my colleagues choose their words, but I know the interactions we have between each student really depends on the history of the student, the struggles they're going through, the topic of discussion, and many other factors that you could never prepare for. However, I think there is a general rule followed by many. The "sandwich" tactic. To give a student constructive criticism, start with a positive statement, give the feedback, then end with another positive. Although, when I think back to the times that I may have tried this, I'm wondering if I had used the word "but" in the middle and then negate the whole concept of being positive. Another example of focused speech is when I give feedback to correct or teach a hands-on skill. I would limit each instruction with one feedback at a time so that they don't get flustered with all the things they are doing wrong. Instead they focus on fixing one problem per step and feel the success of each improvement.
To encourage the whole school to be accountable for their own word choices would be equivalent to asking students to be mindful of their actions. It is practiced often already in schools to start thinking about their words, to be conscious of those around them and how it may affect others. We promote diversity and ban sexual or racial slanders. If we have school staff meetings about what is appropriate and what is not, there could be better cohesion of expectations from staff and students. There could be workshops for both staff and students to practice proper communication skills; with posters around the school as ongoing reinforcements and reminders. Renewed policies with student contribution could give students an opportunity to express their experiences of what they find as positive or negative word choices.
Personally, to be more conscious and accountable to my own words, I would like to take more time to check in with my students, (when I have my own classroom). Word choices are easier when you know who you're talking to. When you know a student, you also know how you can help them. Only time and commitment will tell. Until then, as I float amongst various schools, I will try to do the following to help set an example:
1. Make positive acknowledgments about task and skill efforts.
2. Rotate through the students, ensure everyone is acknowledged, no one is missed.
3. Avoid using the word "but" after making an positive comment.
4. When giving feedback, try to use guiding questions instead of only direct instruction.
5. Give more pause time, to allow students to think and respond
Through these relationships we need to be careful of how we speak to our students and know that their social skills are still emerging. The way we understand certain phrases or words sometimes have more or less meaning than we intend because they could be perceived differently by the students. For example, sarcasm; I had to learn the wrong way that this type of humor was offensive to some students. They would get confused or interpret it as literal. I quickly stopped. It is quite easy for my colleagues and I to forget that our students are still very young; despite how they pretend that they are mature enough to be treated as adults. I know at the elementary level, words are chosen a lot more carefully.
In high school, I'm not entirely sure how my colleagues choose their words, but I know the interactions we have between each student really depends on the history of the student, the struggles they're going through, the topic of discussion, and many other factors that you could never prepare for. However, I think there is a general rule followed by many. The "sandwich" tactic. To give a student constructive criticism, start with a positive statement, give the feedback, then end with another positive. Although, when I think back to the times that I may have tried this, I'm wondering if I had used the word "but" in the middle and then negate the whole concept of being positive. Another example of focused speech is when I give feedback to correct or teach a hands-on skill. I would limit each instruction with one feedback at a time so that they don't get flustered with all the things they are doing wrong. Instead they focus on fixing one problem per step and feel the success of each improvement.
To encourage the whole school to be accountable for their own word choices would be equivalent to asking students to be mindful of their actions. It is practiced often already in schools to start thinking about their words, to be conscious of those around them and how it may affect others. We promote diversity and ban sexual or racial slanders. If we have school staff meetings about what is appropriate and what is not, there could be better cohesion of expectations from staff and students. There could be workshops for both staff and students to practice proper communication skills; with posters around the school as ongoing reinforcements and reminders. Renewed policies with student contribution could give students an opportunity to express their experiences of what they find as positive or negative word choices.
Personally, to be more conscious and accountable to my own words, I would like to take more time to check in with my students, (when I have my own classroom). Word choices are easier when you know who you're talking to. When you know a student, you also know how you can help them. Only time and commitment will tell. Until then, as I float amongst various schools, I will try to do the following to help set an example:
1. Make positive acknowledgments about task and skill efforts.
2. Rotate through the students, ensure everyone is acknowledged, no one is missed.
3. Avoid using the word "but" after making an positive comment.
4. When giving feedback, try to use guiding questions instead of only direct instruction.
5. Give more pause time, to allow students to think and respond