S S H Words...........
Since I started teaching over 25 years ago I have had very few rules in the classroom. My main rule is I never want to hear either S word or the H word. Baffled students take a while to figure it out. Many think I am nuts out of all the "bad" words these are the ones I focus on eliminating from my classroom. Some students think that they can call themselves stupid....no the rule applies to everyone in the classroom....basically no put downs. I mean lets face it ...If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all has been around since 1965..... and was first quoted by Alice Roosevelt Longworth according to quoteinvestigator.com/.It is amazing the attitude and motivation that start to increase once these words are eliminated. I also follow authors Faber and Mazlish book "How to Talk so Kids Will Listen..... "who strongly support describing behavior that you want to reinforce. First I will tell you that I have never lent this book to anyone who didn't love it and benefit from it. It talks about if your child runs up with a drawing and you say beautiful, where do they go from there? If you criticize it, how do they feel? They are sharing it with you. Plus those words really don't say much, do they? If you tell your child, I really like the vibrant colors you used to create the sunset. You may be thinking what if what they are showing me isn't that great? When I taught 1st grade years ago and a student would be practicing their printing, they often would bring me up what was pretty sloppy. You might think what do you tell that child? I would look at their paper and find the best letter on the page and point that one out to them. I would say I really like how straight and neat your wrote the letter m. What do you think they would do? Go back and try to make more of the straight and neat m's.
Children need to be told what they are doing correct or what is expected of them. Many don't know. Seriously. What we assume kids know without making sure can cause misunderstandings. You can ask someone to repeat what you said, describe it in their own words, or even practice. You will be surprised if you walk into a room and ask kids to do something and no one is paying attention. You raise your voice or wait quietly. Sometimes neither of these things work and raising your voice will only add to the noise. You can quietly say raise your hand if you can hear me...suddenly the one or two students still talking will look around and ask what is going on. You can also quietly thank students who have quickly and quietly done what you have asked....other children like to hear thank you too and will quickly comply. I always thank students for doing what I have asked of them. If I find a student running in the hall....I ask them to please walk and them thank them when they do. Respect them just as you would want to be respected.
So today if you hear the s, s or h word.....explain those are unacceptable words. Practice describing what you see....what bright colors....I like how you are taking your time...thank you for cleaning up without being asked....describe the behavior that you want. Remember kids hear and remember what you say.....don't run....they may just hear run.
