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Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Reinforcing Language: Giving Middle Schoolers Supportive Feedback

An adapted excerpt from The Power of Our Words for Middle School: Teacher Language That Helps Students Learn. This compact guide offers middle school teachers many practical, easily do-able ideas for using reinforcing language and four other types of positive teacher language: envisioning, reminding, redirecting, and open-ended questions. Learn more…

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Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Taking Positive Language Schoolwide

Positive language is a powerful tool for building a calm, safe school climate. The words we use when we talk to students, the intention behind these words, and how we deliver them shape the way students see themselves and their school. When all school adults—not just classroom teachers—use positive language,…

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Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

How’s Your Reinforcing Language?

Once June arrives, it’s tempting to focus on the more leisurely days ahead. That’s important to do—we all need rest and rejuvenation. But before you begin that well-earned downtime, pause for a moment to bring closure to your year of teaching—to consider what went well in your teaching and how…

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Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Teaching Without Using Rewards

Children build on their strengths, and to do that building—to grow academically and socially—they need us to recognize and encourage their positive efforts. But what’s the best way to offer that recognition and encouragement? For some time, I used rewards—tickets that I gave out when students met expectations. But something…

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Reinforcing, Reminding, and Redirecting

Adapted from the new 2nd edition of The Power of Our Words Language—our words, tone of voice, and pacing— is one of the most powerful tools available to teachers. It permeates every aspect of teaching and learning. We cannot engage children in learning, welcome a student into the room, or…

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Asking Strategic Questions

Adapted from the new book The Language of Learning: Teaching Students Core Thinking, Listening, & Speaking Skills Curiosity is at the heart of learning—and a healthy curiosity depends on questioning. Learning to ask questions moves children beyond themselves; they become able not only to consider what they know or think…

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Photograph by Jeff Woodward

Sometimes Less Is More

The other day Ben returned to our classroom after a session with the occupational therapist, yelling "I'm here, guys!," which interrupted the lesson and caused a few students to giggle. I looked at Ben and said "Stop. Take a break," in a firm but neutral tone. Ben went to the…

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Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Naming What Children Can Do

Mr. Park's fourth grade class was the most impulsive and squirmy group of children he'd ever taught. Children speaking out of turn, talking to neighbors, playing with small objects, or making odd noises continually interrupted class discussions. Despite much time spent devising and discussing rules for group meeting behavior, the…

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Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

When Children Are Defiant

I once taught a second grader who sometimes subtly refused to go along with what we were doing. For instance, if we had to leave the classroom and John didn't want to go, he'd get in line—but then walk as slowly as possible. The more his classmates and I urged…

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What Students Hear

We all have funny stories about things children say as they try to make sense of what they're learning in school, such as this one a teacher shared with me recently: The teacher and one of her students were looking at a book about animals. The child pointed to a…

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The Power of Teacher Language

As the children come back from lunch, they are slow to quiet down. Calmly, the teacher rings a chime, a well-rehearsed signal for attention. She waits a moment until the last child is settled, quiet, and looking at her, then says in a conversational voice, “I see that everyone is…

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Gremlins

Miguel hunched over a blank page in his notebook, scowling and biting his lip. I approached him and whispered, "I see you're having a hard time getting started. Is your writing gremlin acting up?" He nodded slightly, so I continued. "Could you calmly tell your gremlin that even though writing…

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The Power of Language

A teacher's language is a powerful teaching tool. Our language can build children up or tear them down. It can model respectful and caring social interactions or just the opposite. Effective language encourages and supports students in their learning, rather than criticizing them for their mistakes. As child psychologist Rudolf…

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