Teachers Walk the Talk with Positive Talk

Action and inaction are choices.  To choose how to think, however, is something that is hard to concretize – for whatever one thinks, he is the only who knows it.   Words, on the other hand, are thoughts in action.  It means that words that are spoken, by the mere meaning of the base of the verb “spoken”, which is the action word “speak”, are actually an action completed.  If action and inaction are choices, then the freewill lies within the speaker.  If this is so, the speaker can practice to choose the words he will enact or speak.  

That is the premise of the use of positive language.  To use positive language, one has to have the gift of freewill.  The good news is that everyone is gifted with it.  To exercise freewill means to be in control of our choices, to be in control of our actions, to be in control of our words.

Our words are a powerful tool.  It can build but it can also destroy.  It builds when it encourages, supports, and inspires, but it destroys when it gripes, gossips, and groans (3G’s – I heard this from Teacher Joy).   To add to these 3G’s are the 3C’s – criticize, condemn, and complain.

If walking the talk means to act the talk, let the first action be thru our speech.  Let the first action be thru our words so that we may become good influence to those who surround us and so that we can slowly open the gate that leads to growth and positive change.   To practice this, we can also keep in mind what John Maxwell calls the 3A’s – attention, appreciation, and affirmation.

Teachers are leaders.  They should walk the talk.  To walk the talk, we can start with our (positive) talk be it inside the school or outside. Nobody says that this new practice is easy but it’s worth the try.  We can only consciously put an effort to wear a positive lens to actively look at any situation positively until it becomes automatic, until it becomes a habit. J

MI Lens: On Discipline thru Positive Communication: Ripple Effect

  “You guys are so lazy.”  “You’re always dilly-dallying that’s why you’re not accomplishing anything.”  At the risk of sounding negative even though I’m writing about the power of positive paradigm in communication and discipline, I took the courage of quoting some of the teachers I’ve worked with in other schools to cite a common example of how paradigms can be negative and destructive.  However, I regret that despite I knew that we shouldn’t brand students negatively; I wasn’t able to call their attention to their actions and its repercussions.  Whenever I hear them give such a sermon, my mind just automatically flashes back to my own experience.

In elementary, I was sent out of my classroom for not being able to do my assignment in Mathematics.  My math teacher threateningly asked me, “Where is your assignment?” and I sadly replied, “I didn’t do it teacher…” He asked why and I said, “My mom’s lola died.  We were busy and…” Before I was even able to finish my sentence, I already heard him shouting at me, “Get out!  I don’t need you in my class!  Get out!”  I wasn’t able to stand up right away because I wanted to finish telling him why I wasn’t able to do my assignment with the hope that maybe he’d show some mercy.  But no, he didn’t give me a chance.  I silently walked out of the room and went to the library. 

As I’m currently pursuing a career in teaching, I am forced to reflect with my previous experiences as a student when I was a child so that I may avoid negative paradigms and practices my teachers have exhibited in the classroom.  It is in our training today that I get to reflect on my past experiences as a child student.  I was also able to appreciate the power of disciplining thru sending positive messages in a deeper perspective as we role-play in a practical positive communication skills exercises.  Two words - positive communication – that’s what mostly instilling discipline is all about.  With this new lens that I’m wearing, I’m starting to see and hear things differently.  I’m starting to study the effect of every word I say and I question whether the message I’m sending promotes positivity and is directed to eliciting an appropriate attitude.  I have then realized the power of words that we utter not only to its receiver but for its sender as well.  Looking back at my experience in math class, I wonder how, if I were my math teacher, would I have been able to handle it without humiliating, omitting, and sending a student out.  I tried wearing the non-judgmental and positive hat and this is what I’ve come up with: I would’ve asked my student politely why he didn’t have an assignment and maybe I would’ve found out that the student’s mom’s grandmother had just died and his family attended the funeral and went to the interment.  I would’ve realized that members of the student’s family could’ve been busy that time that was why they weren’t able to assist the child in his assignment.   As his teacher, I would have probably said, “I’m sorry for your loss.  How are you and your mom? It must be hard for her.  Now, I’m sure that you want to catch up with the lesson.  I promise I’ll help you out later.”   I could’ve even called his family and express my condolences and talk about how well their little boy solved some extra problems I gave.  With that, I would’ve sent the right message to the boy and build bridges with the family.  I would’ve felt better about myself for being a good teacher and choosing to respond positively.  Yes, that’s how I wished my math teacher had viewed the circumstances.  (In my to do list, I'll write him a letter about it.  Of course, it's been ages but I'm a little curious about what his response would be.)

 As teachers, we have the responsibility to stay positive at all times no matter how hard the practice may be.  Our choice of words, and choice of actions are what the students live with everyday.   They don’t just hear or see these choices we make; they also experience them; and most importantly, it stays with them.  That’s why if as teachers, we strive to see the best in our students, our students may also choose to see the best in others so that these others may eventually make small drops of  buoyancy that create such ripple effect.

Now, as I aspire to be a part of the community that celebrates making a difference as one of its pillars, I agree that it’ll only be possible to make a difference if I know that “Negativity is not an option.” – or much better put, “Positivity is the only choice.”  The glass is half-full. J