Prayerful Teaching to Increase Student Morale

Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
    an outsider, and not your own lips.

                                    Proverbs 27:2 (NIV)

Prayer and Meditation

Just as a teacher who feels worthless or unappreciated cannot teach to potential, a student who feels worthless or unappreciated cannot learn.  Because nothing builds morale as fast as well-earned praise, I will concentrate on giving praise, not the empty, convenient, jargon-filled words of praise that rattle out of one’s mouth like an obligation to be checked off a list, but the sincere, heartfelt praise of appreciation and gratitude.  Especially during this Lenten season, Lord, guide me in my effort to build student morale. Give me the words to offer my students sincere and meaningful praise as you steer me away from trite and tired words.

The Actions of Prayerful Teaching

• Be creative and original with your praise.  What does the phrase, “Good job” really mean?  Keep praise fresh and animated.  Clearly state what the student is doing or has done to earn the praise.  Some ideas:  “I am really impressed by the way you…..”  “Your statement that…is really a good point.”  “You quickly hung your coat up and quietly sat in your desk ready to learn.”

• Honor children by honoring their names.  Include the child’s name with the praise.  “Mary, your choice of verbs in this paragraph really makes your story pop.”  “Ben, Matthew, and Lucy, you are the first to turn to the correct page in the math book.  Now I see that (list names) are joining us too.”

• Compose a “cheat sheet” of one word synonyms to replace the generic good, great, or very good.  A Thesaurus will yield a limitless supply of ideas. Short on time?  Photocopy the Thesaurus entries for words like good and great.  This is also an easy way to add to students’ vocabulary.  Students all recognize praise even if they do not recognize the word assigned to the praise.   Soon students will be echoing words like stupendous, magnificent, and impressive. 

• Encouraging words and actions build morale.  Words have the power to build up or the power to destroy student morale.  Words can nurture or dissolve student-teacher relationships. When giving negative feedback, the student needs explicit instruction on how to achieve goals and meet success.  “Word harder,” “try again,” or “you have three out of five wrong” are examples that crush morale because they do not present any opportunity for improvement or continued learning.  “It will help if you….”  “Why don’t you try to….”  “How can I help you understand….”

• Build team spirit and increase morale by praising the entire class.  “I really love being a teacher at times like this when I can see so much learning in action.”  “I like coming into this room every morning because you all help to put it in order at the end of the day.” 

Challenge of the Week:

Students know if praise is unearned.  Praising mediocre work will not encourage a student to work harder.  Instead it destroys morale by sending the message that the teacher thinks mediocre work is all the student can achieve.  Avoid the temptation to hand out false praise this week. 

Blessings and Prayerful Teaching,

Elizabeth A. Wink

prayerfulteaching@gmail.com