Classroom management focuses on the group as a whole but at the heart of a classroom community is a series of individual relationships and rapports educators have with their students. Below are some key strategies for classroom management.

<p>The term classroom management is somewhat of a misnomer. Classroom management focuses on the group as a whole, but at the heart of a classroom community is a series of individual relationships and rapports educators have with their students. Thinking about these connections, we'd like to point your attention toward a memorable phrase that can help maintain those very same individual relationships: “<em>Praise publicly and remind privately</em>”. This quote, whose origin remains a mystery, serves as a cue for educators to consider and empathize with the people who make up their educational ecosystem.</p><h2>What does the research say on praise?</h2><ul><li>A research article funded by the United States Department of Education found,&nbsp;“the higher the teachers' PRR (praise to reprimand ratio), the higher the students' on-task behavior percentage”.¹</li><li>But what if you work with older students? Well, “researchers found that when middle school teachers praised students at least as often as they reprimanded them, class-wide on-task behavior improved by 60–70%”. ²</li><li>You may be asking yourself, do all students want to be praised publicly? Is public praise more or less effective than private praise? To be completely honest the jury is still out, but research has shown that, “both loud and quiet praises were more effective than no treatment”. ³ So praising, regardless of if it is for everyone to hear, is more effective than not praising.</li></ul><h2>How can you implement “praising publicly” in your classroom?</h2><ul><li>Praise effort and avoid praising ability. For example, say, “Thank you for working so hard on your project” instead of saying, “You’re a genius”.</li><li>Praise specific actions that meet or exceed expectations related to academics, behaviors, or social interactions. For example, “I love the way you helped your classmate when you saw they were hurt at recess”.</li><li>Consider student preferences in how they like to be praised. Some students appreciate praise that is verbally in front of the entire class. While others would rather sticky notes and hand gestures such as fist bumps. These are both examples of what is referred to as “quietly” praising publicly.</li></ul><h2>What does the research say on private reminders?</h2><ul><li>One thing is for certain: public shaming doesn’t work. “To degrade a child, to make her feel unworthy, powerless, and small, to inflict severe harm. To do so in public, thereby aligning a group of students as witnesses to a berating makes it much worse”. ⁴</li><li>“Whenever possible, the needed discipline should be private rather than public with the objective of helping a child understand the wrongdoing and take responsibility for it”. ⁴</li></ul><h2>How can you implement “reminding privately” in your classroom?</h2><ul><li>Using techniques such as asking a student to speak with you away from their desk or peers is a simple yet effective strategy.</li><li>Sticky notes as prompts, cues, and reminders can also serve as a way to communicate with an individual rather than attempting to verbally correct a behavior from across the classroom.</li><li>Lastly, when privately redirecting it’s important to remain calm, focus on the desired behavior, and be consistent.</li></ul><p>While we still haven’t found the magical management tool that erases all maladaptive student behavior, if followed with consistency these strategies will surely push your classroom in the right direction. In closing, we’d like to <em>remind</em> you to keep <em>praising</em> your students and give them privacy when correcting their behaviors. If you focus on building and maintaining individual relationships, classroom management will follow.</p><h4>References:</h4><ol><li>Effects of teachers’ praise-to-reprimand ratios 1 effects of ... - ed. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED606564.pdf</li><li>&nbsp;Allen, C. (2021, September 2). Praising middle school students improves on-task behavior by up to 70%, BYU study finds. News. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://news.byu.edu/intellect/praising-middle-school-students-improves-on-task-behavior-by-up-to-70-byu-study-finds</li><li>Blaze, J. T., Olmi, J. D., Mercer, S. H., Dufrene, B. A., &amp;amp; Tingstom, D. H. (n.d.). Loud versus quiet praise: A direct behavioral comparison in secondary classrooms. Journal of school psychology. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25107408/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25107408/</a></li><li>Goodman, J. F., &amp; Cook, B. I. (n.d.). <em>Shaming school children: A violation of fundamental rights?</em> Sage Journals. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1477878518817377</li></ol>

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Praise Publicly and Remind Privately: Two Keys to Classroom Management

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