Bringing positivity to a classroom community

 Bringing positivity to a classroom community

During Covid, a lot was said about “staying positive” in the light of the worldwide calamity that we all faced. It got so cloying that the phrase “toxic positivity” was heard a lot. And when personal issues arise, we are encouraged to “look on the bright side” (Eric Idle brilliantly satirizes this idea in Life of Brian). Phrases like “it could be worse” have become so cliche as to be almost meaningless. 

But does that mean positivity is a useless concept? Far from it. In fact, it can be–if you’ll excuse the expression–a positive tool in the classroom. 

During a recent teaching assignment I had, a “train the trainer” type workshop, one of the topics I covered was the use of affirmation in learning. In the training were bus drivers who sought to become trainers themselves, many of whom lacked experience in training or education. I helped each person to create and to use a self-affirmation based on qualities they admired in someone they knew. I encouraged them to use these affirmations throughout the week to bolster their confidence as presenters and trainers.

Image by John Hain from Pixabay

Along with affirmations, I brought back something from the previous summer that I named the “Wall of Awesomazingness.” The idea is to set aside dedicated space in the training room where participants can leave sticky notes for each other expressing anything they observe that is “awesomazing” to them. They are encouraged to sign their names to their notes. There is room for each day of the five-day training on the flip chart paper for these notes, and participants can take notes addressed to them home at the end of the week.

Notice that two of the days “sprouted” many more notes. During those days, participants gave fifteen-minute presentations on assigned topics, on which they received feedback from me and from their peers using preprinted forms. But they also received feedback from the Wall. In between presentations, it was heartening to watch as sticky notes were added to the Wall–including notes from my fellow staff folks. And it was extra-special to watch everyone claim their notes on the last day of the training. In fact, I encouraged everyone to keep these notes and read them whenever they needed a boost of genuine positivity. 

I meant to develop something like this for my writing students last fall but lacked the time to do so. I’m going to do that this school year. Because I don’t have a dedicated classroom, this will probably have to be online using a Google Doc or Slide, Padlet, or Lucidspark. Whatever I use, I simply want to bring a little more positivity into our classroom. We sorely need it.

Eschewing online and returning to ABCDE

 

I’ve taught the same basic Writing 121Z class for years, changing out texts as needed but sticking to the same approach (teaching different writing patterns and rhetorical moves, grouping by theme). I tried something different this year, though. I’ve used online discussions but have long thought that they needed revamping or replacing, so I took the plunge and did it. I converted them into class-based discussions and renamed them A Big Class Discussion Event (ABCDE); I like thinking of fun names for assignments. I had been collecting different discussion protocols for several months, so I wrote them up and tried a different one for four specific discussions. 

For ABCDE 1, I used something from Derek Bruff’s podcast Intentional Teaching, “Take It or Leave It.” On the show, Bruff invites three panelists to discuss three different journal articles. They each share their opinion of the article; they either “take it” or “leave it” and explain why. I liked the format, so I set up something similar with the class. I gave them an instruction sheet that had two quotations, one each from recent texts we’d read. I directed them to choose which one they “take” or “leave” and write a short paragraph explaining why, using evidence from the text. Then I paired them to discuss what they’d chosen. After that, the pairs became squares to discuss and then debrief. Each square came up with a closing thought or question, which each person wrote on their sheets. They turned them in for credit, which I graded P/NP (10 points). If a student was absent, I gave them a way to make up the discussion.

For ABCDE 2, I used human barometer (aka value lines). This discussion focused on the Four Freedoms speech of FDR and the Farewell Address of DDE. I pulled statements directly from each speech and used those for the statements in the exercise, which I put on the students’ instruction sheet. I started by having them pick one statement to write down some thoughts about, then they shared that with a partner. Then we did human barometer as per usual. There was some robust discussion among the students in both classes. I then had students count off into groups of fours and debrief as they did for ABCDE 1. That was a good way to end the discussion. 

ABCDE 3 was a hexagonal thinking discussion. This was quite the feat to pull off. When I did it in Fall ‘24 at Linn-Benton, I had one class with three workshop teams and lots of table space. In Fall ‘25 at Chemeketa, I had two classes with five workshop teams and no table space. Thus, the logistics were more challenging. Fortunately, there was a room next door with plenty of tables that was vacant at the time of my classes, so I was able to use it. We prepped the class before with the students writing the words on the hexagons, then we conducted the discussion at the next class. Such rich, robust discussions! Students mentioned many times how much they enjoyed it. I retained their hexagons so I can use them again. Since I will have two sections of 121Z in Fall ‘26, that will help.

Below are some pictures from the classes' discussions.

Finally, for ABCDE 4, I retained the online discussion “What are you taking away from Writing 121Z?” I revised the rubric to solely focus on the requirements (first post of two or more paragraphs that discusses two questions from a list of 5 using evidence to support their answer, second post responds to a classmate using at least one paragraph). I can see potentially changing this to a discussion tables format at some point. I might try this for Fall ‘26.

 

Small discipline(s)

 

As many do, this is the time of year I like to take the time to reflect on the year just ended and project to the year just beginning. I'm not one to make resolutions, but I look for a theme or guiding idea for the year ahead. This often happens at my church's Epiphany service, where each person receives a star with a word written on it. We are invited to muse and contemplate what meaning the word might have for us. The word I got in 2024 was "gentleness," which I believe was a reminder to be more gentle with myself and with my fellow human beings. My 2025 word was "purpose," which also seemed appropriate, as I was seeking some discernable purpose in my career trajectory. Still working on that. I haven't yet received the 2026 word, but I think I have one I'd like to try: discipline. 

By discipline, I don't mean single minded focus on one thing and one thing only. I do mean focus, but I also include intentionality in that definition. I have things that I need, and want, to do with my time and energy every day, and discipline helps. So let me try to tease this out a bit. 

One of my favorite teaching books is James Lang's Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, which is full of research-based teaching practices and advice. His central idea is that teachers should pick one thing, one small thing that they could try tomorrow, next week, next month, to try in their classrooms or in their practice. If it is successful, the teacher can then try something else. If it doesn't succeed, then the teacher hasn't spent a lot of time or energy revamping their classroom or their practice and can easily move on. So my title is "Small discipline(s)": discipline is all very well and good, and it can mean many things. I want to explore small disciplines that I can engage in this year in my personal and professional lives.

• Keep an eye on the pantry: With food prices being what they are, I'd like to find small ways to not waste food. I already save vegetable parings for making soup stock with. I'd like to be more intentional about the trip to the grocery store, perhaps trying some new meals that don't necessarily require a lot of planning but that can be nutritious and tasty--and that don't require specialty items that will only be used for that recipe. I can do that. 

• Add another mile to my bike ride: I decided last fall that I wanted to try riding the Salem Bicycle Club Monster Cookie Metric Century (62.7 miles / 100K) again in 2026. I have ridden it before, but it's been at least a decade. I will need some serious training and have been trying to ride one more day a week. Maybe it can be as simple as one more mile each time I go out. That's not always possible, but when it is, I can do that. 

• Connect with colleagues: As a contingent or part-time faculty member at 5 different schools, it's often difficult to make meaningful connections. I may be at one or more campuses on the same day, plus driving time, so I don't always have the time to stop and chat with a colleague. But, then again, saying hi is something small that can lead to further connections. So I can do that. 

I could probably other "small disciplines" to this list, but I think that's a good start.