Positive Praise: How to Encourage Positive Behavior With Attention to Authentic Praise by Pepi Silverman

All children benefit from at least one person in their lives that stands out as their “champion.” As children and families embark on a new school year, it is critical to shift the conversation from weaknesses to strengths. This idea seems very straightforward, but unfortunately, most teachers give far more attention to providing corrective comments than they do to providing authentic praise. 

In order to shift the attention from corrective to encouragement it has been suggested that the ratio of correction should be 1:4; therefore, for each correction, students should receive four “authentic” positive praise statements. The key to this is the concept is “authentic” praise. Consider the following ways to provide feedback to kids: 

• Keep tone and demeanor neutral when giving corrections.
• Display higher enthusiasm when giving praise.
• Incorporate specific language that describes positive behavioral performance.
• Catch kids being good and acknowledge that with praise.

Be the champion by encouraging positive performance through the power of authentic praise.