Encouragement
We are all in this together! It is important to notice helpful acts, and encourage those behaviors to continue by making the students consciously aware of how it was helpful. This is a skill we must use often, but we also must teach our students to notice and encourage their classmates. When Bobby tells Suzie that she dropped her homework, you would say "You let Suzie know she dropped her homework so she wouldn't lose it and get a zero for it. That was helpful." Or when Sally picks up all the blocks and places them in the right cubby, you say "Sally, you picked up all the blocks so our classroom would be clean and safe, and so your friends could find them tomorrow. That was helpful! You did it!"
We typically say thank you when we ask a child to return to his seat for the math lesson. What's wrong with that? That makes it about us. When we give a directive, we do not need to say thank you. For example, when we ask a child to write their homework in their planner, we do not say thank you, that would signify that writing the assignment down was for us, when in fact it was for their own organization. If we felt we should encourage that child we could say, you wrote your homework in your planner just like I asked you to so you'll remember what to do tonight, that was helpful. You did it! We also should avoid :"good job" as hard as that will be. "Good job" signifies that we are judging them, as if it could have been a bad job or there was a good way to write in their planner and a bad way.
When we request something, or ask a favor in essence, then we should say thank you. For example, if I say, "George would you please take this note to Mrs. Taranto for me?" I would then say "Thank you! You took that note to Mrs. Taranto so I could get that information to her right away. That was helpful!" We should always say thank you when we request they do something FOR US, not when it is something for themselves and a direction.
We typically say thank you when we ask a child to return to his seat for the math lesson. What's wrong with that? That makes it about us. When we give a directive, we do not need to say thank you. For example, when we ask a child to write their homework in their planner, we do not say thank you, that would signify that writing the assignment down was for us, when in fact it was for their own organization. If we felt we should encourage that child we could say, you wrote your homework in your planner just like I asked you to so you'll remember what to do tonight, that was helpful. You did it! We also should avoid :"good job" as hard as that will be. "Good job" signifies that we are judging them, as if it could have been a bad job or there was a good way to write in their planner and a bad way.
When we request something, or ask a favor in essence, then we should say thank you. For example, if I say, "George would you please take this note to Mrs. Taranto for me?" I would then say "Thank you! You took that note to Mrs. Taranto so I could get that information to her right away. That was helpful!" We should always say thank you when we request they do something FOR US, not when it is something for themselves and a direction.