CHANGING STUDENT BEHAVIOR WITH POSITIVITY

8/9/2017

When I was a student in government school, I had endured discrimination and sometimes public humiliation by my own teachers.

Most were fault-finders rather than positive-thinkers who helped their students improve. So, when I saw one student in our class that was looked down by others, I kept thinking what we could do. He neither speaks nor interacts with other students much and sometimes when he says something, everyone wants to make jokes about it. He is disheartened and most teachers ignore him because they think he will not be able to learn well.

So, I decided to give him a duty to erase the board after every class and say to him “Thank You for your help.” Moreover, I praised him for what he did well in the class in front of the other students. Then, three days later, a surprising thing happened: he stopped his friend who was talking while the teacher was giving instructions. That had never happened before. Normally, we had to watch him all the time and reminded him to listen to the teacher carefully. However, his behavior changed this morning.

Now, I thought that I would compliment students when they did well in an activity. By doing this, I think we will be able to build their positive attitude and self-respect. Actually, there are some students who have improved noticeably. In response to my praise, some have smiled back in a timid way. Another student even became calmer and more focused. Also, we had two girls arrive late in the school year, and although I was concerned how they would feel about the lessons they had missed and not being able to follow the class, both normally model in the class with our teacher trainee. “We will tell the Founder of NEH not to take you back,” they always said to us.

Aung Free
NEH Local Teacher Trainee

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