Here is a very simple yet very powerful immediate response to any negative comment you may hear in your classroom, before, during or after class. It is from PLC member Ryann Campbell, who reports:
…I teach high school and I do something cheesy but it works well…my rule is “siempre positivo” (always positive). I tell them in the beginning of the year that attitudes are contagious, both negative and positive and we only have room for positivity in our class. If they complain or whine or say something negative, they have to say 3 nice things to counteract it. We stop class and get creative and help the whiner get positive. It gets to be almost a game…the kids call each other out and force them to say nice things about the class or each other. I get some boys that think they are way too cool, they may roll their eyes at times, but they are very careful after the first week of class or so to be positive, even if they have to fake it….