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"I like the way you muted yourself Charlotte ." Mrs. Figueroa uses specific positive praise to encourage her students to do the right thing.

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By Amanda Morin

Praise is one of the simplest and most powerful tools to engage and motivate your students. When used effectively, praise can turn around behavior challenges and improve students' attitudes about learning. Students who learn and think differently often receive negative feedback as a result of their struggles. That makes meaningful and appropriate praise even more important.

The good news is that when praise is effective, it's really effective. Teachers who use praise regularly tend to have better relationships with their students. They lose less instructional time and see fewer behavior issues. In a study looking at practices that reduce behavior problems in elementary classrooms, the Institute of Education Sciences identified teacher praise as one of the top five most effective practices.

That doesn't mean you should start praising students for every little thing they do. And you can't expect it to be your only classroom management technique. Before you jump right in, it's important to know that some kinds of praise are more effective than others.

There are three main types of praise that teachers most often use: personal praise, effort-based praise, and behavior-specific praise. Two of these three are found to be more effective than the other.

This type of praise tends to focus on natural talents or skills that come easily to students, rather than the effort they put in or the techniques they use. For example, a teacher might say to a student, "You have such a beautiful singing voice!" Research has shown that this kind of praise may backfire. When students feel their abilities are outside of their control and just part of who they are, they may think they don't have the ability to improve.

This is especially true of struggling learners who aren't as confident in their abilities and skills. Personal praise can make students less willing to risk trying new things for fear of revealing just how little talent they think they have.

This type of praise emphasizes what students can control. Think back to the student with the beautiful singing voice. The student likely worked hard to learn the difficult key changes in a song or to memorize the lyrics. The time spent and the strategies used are within the student's control.

That's why effort-based praise, such as "I am so impressed at how hard you worked to sing that song without the music and lyrics in front of you," is more empowering than "You have such a beautiful singing voice!"

Both effort-based and behavior-specific praise genuinely acknowledge your students' efforts and achievements. When your students feel that you're honestly showing approval and telling them what they did well, they're more willing to continue to work hard and look for effective strategies to overcome obstacles.

How to deliver effective praise

Knowing what to praise your students for and when to give that praise is just as important as the praise itself. The following guidelines can help you deliver praise in the right way and at the right time.

Descriptive and precise praise takes the guesswork out of what you're praising. Students should be able to identify exactly what they did well and know the positive behavior you want them to repeat. "Great job - you were quiet in the hallway as we passed other classrooms!" is better than "You did a good job on the way to lunch."

For praise to be effective, students need to know what the standards are. Explicitly state the criteria you're using to evaluate an assignment or the behaviors you expect. Then, provide positive feedback that students can directly match to the expectations.

For example, if your expectation is for students to finish their morning routine in 15 minutes, you can say, "Wow, you unpacked your backpack in the first 15 minutes of the day. Well done!"

Students who learn and think differently may struggle to complete an assignment or task. In fact, it may take several attempts for students to finish. Students may feel discouraged when they're working hard, but it feels like their work still isn't good enough.

You can support students by giving behavior-specific praise about their process and progress as they work, letting them know they're on the right track. Use phrases like "you've put so much effort into writing your first draft" to point out small wins, which helps students recognize that their hard work is moving them forward.

Students know when you're not being sincere. In fact, insincerity may damage your credibility and your relationship with them. It can make students wonder if you're not able to recognize their strengths.

Overpraising can be harmful to students of color and students who struggle because it sends the message that teachers have low expectations for them - the exact opposite of the high expectations teachers should hold. It can also make students doubt whether they're capable of handling the big things, or whether you think they are.

Instead, focus on precise, sincere, and effort-based praise at opportune moments, like when students try a new skill, make progress in a project, or show mastery of a concept.

Praise should also be appropriate for the individual student. Some students may thrive on being praised in front of the whole class. Other students may be uncomfortable being singled out, even if it's for a good reason.

For example, consider teachers who tell Black students that they're articulate. Although the teachers' comment may have been intended as praise, it reveals that they don't expect their Black students to be well-spoken. This harmful stereotype could leave students questioning their teachers' assumptions and expectations.

Praise that is contingent on outperforming peers can lead students to doubt their abilities. Imagine a teacher praising one student in front of the class, saying "High five for coming in first in the spelling bee!"

This comment could send a message to the rest of the class that the teacher is comparing students' abilities. It's better to say something along the lines of, "High five for learning how to spell such tricky words!"

Download: 7 ways to give praise

Incorporating effort-based and behavior-specific praise into your teaching routine takes practice. To get started, use this downloadable resource with tips for giving effective praise.

7 ways to praise students PDF

You can also think about and write down specific, positive behaviors that help students thrive socially and academically. Refer to this list throughout the day to remind yourself what you can praise students for.

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The Power of Praise: A Guide for Teachers

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Praise is one of the simplest and most powerful tools to engage and motivate your students. When used effectively, praise can turn around behavior challenges and improve students' attitudes about learning. Students who learn and think differently often receive negative feedback as a result of their struggles.

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Students use sentence stem to write. Students share out and Mrs. Arana uses a random name generator to pick student's.

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Enter names, spin wheel to pick a random winner. Customize look and feel, save and share wheels.

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Mrs. Simmons uses Nearpod to have all students- virtual and onsite answer math problems. These students also interact together when answering questions.

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Students writing daily in journals addressing the different prompts presented to them. Mrs. Garza models the chosen writing prompt of the day.

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Mrs. Trojanowski uses a noise level website to monitor her students and keep them working effectively.

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All teachers are posting learning objectives. Go Sharks!

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Our S.H.A.R.K. traits are being displayed in multiple classes.