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KEY IDEA
POSITIVE FRAMING
Make corrections consistently and positively. Narrate theworld you want your students to see even while you arerelentlessly improving it.
Positive Framing corrects and guides behavior by following six rules:
1. Live in the now. In public—that is, in front of your class or while yourlesson is under way—avoid harping on what students can no longer fix. Talkabout what should or even must happen next. If necessary, you can do this firmlyand forcefully (see What to Do, technique 37), but you should focus correctiveinteractions on the things students should do right now to succeed from this pointforward. There’s a time and place for processing what went wrong; avoid makingthat time when your lesson hangs in the balance. Give instructions describingwhat the next move on the path to success is. Say, “Show me SLANT!” not,“You weren’t SLANTing.” Say, “Keana, I need your eyes forward,” not, “Keana,stop looking back at Tanya.”
Don’t attribute to ill intentionwhat could be the result ofdistraction, lack of practice, orgenuine misunderstanding.
.2. Assume the best. Don’t attributeto ill intention what could be the resultof distraction, lack of practice, or gen-uine misunderstanding. Until you knowan action was intentional, your publicdiscussion of it should remain positive,showing that you assume your studentshave tried (and will try) to do as you’ve asked. Saying, “Just a minute, class.Some people don’t seem to think they have to push in their chairs when weline up,” or “Just a minute, class. I asked for chairs pushed in, and some peopledecided not to do it,” assumes that the problem had to be connected to ill inten-tions and negative characteristics: selfishness; deliberate disrespect, laziness. Notonly is it more positive to say, “Just a minute, class. Some people seem to have
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forgotten to push in their chairs,” or “Whoops. The chair part seems to haveslipped our minds, so let’s go back and get it right,” to show your faith and trustin your students, but it costs you nothing since you can still deliver a consequenceand in fact can deliver exactly the same consequence. You can still assume thebest even while you are delivering a consequence. In fact, by no longer makingintentionality a prerequisite for consequence, you uncouple consequences frommuch of the emotion they carry. It is no longer a judgment (“You did this onpurpose, and here is my revenge”) and more a tool for improvement (“We dothings a certain way, and we fix it when we fail to do that, no matter why wefailed”).
Furthermore, assuming the worst makes you appear weak. If you show thatyou assume your students are always trying to comply with your wishes, youare also demonstrating the assumption that you’re in charge. “If you can’t situp, Charles, I’ll have to keep you in from recess,” reveals your suspicion thatCharles will disobey you. On the first try, say, “Show me your best SLANT,Charles,” and walk away (for the moment) as if you couldn’t imagine a worldin which he wouldn’t do it. Or say something like, “Charles, I need your eyes,”which asserts nothing about Charles’s intention, only what he needs to do.
One particularly effective way to assume the best is to thank students as yougive them a command. This again underscores your assumption that they willfollow through. “Thank you for taking your seats in 3-2-1 . . . ”
3. Allow plausible anonymity. Allow students the opportunity to strive toreach your expectations in plausible anonymity as long as they are making agood-faith effort. Begin by correcting them without using their names whenpossible. If a few students struggle to follow your directions, consider makingyour first correction something like: “Check yourself to make sure you’ve doneexactly what I’ve asked.” In most cases, this will yield results faster than callingout laggards unless the laggards are deliberately flouting you. Saying to yourclass, “Wait a minute, Morehouse (or “Tigers” or “fifth grade” or just “guys”),I hear calling out. I need to see you quiet and ready to go!” is better thanlecturing the callers-out in front of the class. And as with assuming the best,you can still administer many consequences while preserving anonymity: “Somepeople didn’t manage to follow directions the whole way, so let’s try that again.”When there is no good-faith effort by students, it may no longer be possible tomaintain anonymity, but naming names shouldn’t be your first move. Also, it’simportant to remember both that you can deliver consequences anonymously andthat doing so stresses shared responsibility among your students. Some studentsweren’t doing their job and we all own the consequence.
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4. Build momentum, and narrate the positive. In the world of sports,momentum, the force that drives some teams forward to great achievements ona tide of energy, is sometimes known as “Big Mo.” Everybody wants Big Mo,but only some people know how to get it to show up. Compare the statementstwo teachers recently made in their respective classrooms:
Teacher 1: (Stopping before giving a direction) I need three people. Make sureyou fix it if that’s you! Now I need two. We’re almost there. Ah, thankyou. Let’s get started.
Teacher 2: (Same setting) I need three people. And one more student doesn’tseem to understand the directions, so now I need four. Some peopledon’t appear to be listening. I am waiting, gentlemen. If I have to givedetentions, I will.
In the first teacher’s classroom, things appear to be moving in the right direc-tion because the teacher narrates the evidence of his own command, of studentsdoing as they’re asked, of things getting better. He calls his students’ attentionto this fact, thereby normalizing it. Students are arguably more accountable fortheir behavior in the first room, but nobody seems to notice because failure seemsso unlikely.
The second teacher is telling a story that no one wants to hear: from theoutset, students can smell the fear, the weakness, and the inevitable unhappyending. Everything is wrong and getting worse, generally without consequence.Students can hardly fear accountability when their teacher is describing theirpeers’ impunity (“Some people don’t appear to be listening”). You won’t findBig Mo in that room!
Consider the same two teachers yet again:
Teacher 1: (After giving a direction that students should begin writing intheir journals) Okay, here we go! I see the pencils moving. I see thoseideas rolling out. Roberto’s ready to roll. Keep it up, Marcus!
Teacher 2: (Same setting) Not everyone has begun yet. Do you need me tohelp you think of a topic, Roberto? Marcus, I asked you not to stop. Letme remind you, class, that this is not an optional activity.
A student in the first class seeking to do what’s normal will most likely takepart in the lesson. In the second class, her attention will be drawn to the litanyof woes her teacher anxiously describes and to her off-task peers who seem tobe gaining converts. She will likely choose that path as well.
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Narrating your weakness onlymakes your weakness seemnormal. If you say, ‘‘Somestudents didn’t do whatI asked,’’ you have made thatsituation public. Now yourchoice is consequence orcountenance.
Perception, it turns out, is reality.Great teachers conjure Big Mo by nor-malizing the positive. They draw atten-tion to the good and the getting better.Narrating your weakness makes yourweakness seem normal. If you say,“Some students didn’t do what I asked,”you have made that situation public.Now your choice is consequence orcountenance. “Check yourself to makesure you’ve done what I asked,” keepsBig Mo on your side. If you need to
follow up to address a student or give a consequence, fine. Do it as privatelyas you can, not just to protect the scofflaw’s feelings but to keep Big Mo onthe move. Similarly, “I’ve got almost everybody now,” is better than, “I don’thave everybody,” or, “I’m still waiting on some of you.” You might as well say,“I’m very weak and implore you not to hurt me.”
Big Mo loves speed. Try to use commands that multitask. Replace, “Whocan tell us what 3 times 5 is? David? Everyone please track David,” withthe much simpler and faster, “Who can tell us what 3 times 5 is? Track . . .David.”.
5. Challenge! Kids love to be challenged, to prove they can do things, tocompete, to win. So challenge them: exhort them to prove what they can do bybuilding competition into the day. Students can be challenged as individuals or,usually better, as groups, and those groups can compete in various ways:
• Against other groups within the class
• Against other groups outside the class (the other homeroom)
• Against an impersonal foe (the clock; the test, to prove they’re better than it;their age—“that was acceptable work for seventh graders but I want to seeif we can kick it up to eighth-grade quality”)
• Against an abstract standard (“I want to see whether you guys have what ittakes!”)
Here are some examples:
• “You guys have been doing a great job this week. Let’s see if you can takeit up a notch.”
