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.