Last week’s article struck a nerve with some readers.
I’m not surprised.
Whenever I criticize a strategy that teachers hold dear, I brace for the reaction.
Reading some of the comments and emails, however, it occurred to me that much of the ire came from a place of confusion over what effective praise is and how it works.
So I thought I’d set the record straight.
What follows is a description of false praise, which can be harmful to students, followed by worthy praise, which can deepen their intrinsic motivation.
False Praise
False praise is praise given in order to appease, flatter, or manipulate students into doing what the teacher wants. In other words, it isn’t based on genuine accomplishment.
Also known as “caught being good” and less blatantly as “narration,” its target isn’t so much the student on the receiving end of the praise but rather those within earshot, who the teacher hopes to influence.
The beneficiary of false praise is the teacher, not the students.
Further, it’s praise given for expected behavior, which very effectively lowers the bar of what is considered good or excellent, putting the act of writing a remarkable essay, for example, on the same level as pushing in a chair or lining up for lunch.
This is incredibly confusing to students, and can even give them an inflated sense of their abilities.
In the case of narration, although you may be merely describing the positive behavior you see, students only hear praise—which is, if we’re to be honest, the entire point of doing it.
While it’s true that false praise can work in the moment, which is why so many teachers rely on it, the cost is the intrinsic desire to want to succeed. The cost is the kind of jump in performance and maturity from year to year that students in our current educational system desperately need.
So what should you say after your students complete an expectation as taught? “Thank you” will do.
Worthy Praise
Worthy praise is praise based on true accomplishment, which can be defined as new learning or effort or performance beyond what is commonly expected or what an individual student or group has done before.
The target is the student. The praise is for their work. And it’s never given in order to manipulate others into behaving. It’s honest feedback that helps define for students what excellence looks and feels like.
It also arrives after the work or task has been completed.
Worthy praise is a natural response that pours from the teacher’s heart. It’s an acknowledgement of what the student is already feeling on the inside.
It comes from a place of pride in a job well done and in a student who has taken the next step on their journey to be independent, capable, and hardworking.
The actual moment of praise may be subtle. It may be a nod from across the room or a silent fist bump. But its power to motivate and inspire students to seek taller mountains to climb has no bounds.
A Better Way
My firm stance on praise isn’t for the purpose of clickbait. I’m not trying to be controversial. (Believe me, it isn’t fun to be mocked or called names I don’t care to print.) Nor am I naive about the challenges of teaching.
After all, I’m still a teacher myself.
I simply believe, through three decades of testing SCM strategies in the most difficult schools, and through the many thousands of teachers using SCM, that there is a better way.
Our students are worth more than the undercurrent of manipulation and outright dishonesty flowing unnoticed through our schools. They’re worth more than the scores of teachers telling them hour after hour that being able to walk in line or sit quietly is somehow worthy of special recognition.
Although it can vary from student to student, praise based on true accomplishment is not only honest and will make you feel better about doing your job, it’s a powerful motivator and the primary way students know if they’re on the right track.
It provides real feedback.
It develops maturity, work habits, and a true sense of their abilities. It lets them know that they’re infinitely more valuable than the profound insult of low expectations.
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If the goal is to get them to walk in a straight line, then what better way is THAT achieved than with narration?
It doesn’t feel good to be on the receiving end of manipulation. Even when you are too young to know why it makes you feel funny, you still know it doesn’t feel right somehow. For sure it is a strategy we are taught to use as teachers, but I have to think having been on the receiving end it, it may be a strategy I want to let go of.
If you could provide some actual examples, I think this would make the topic a lot more clear. What would worthy praise sound like? What are some situations that would merit worthy praise.
I see the difference between saying “Wow! what a wonderful, quiet, straight line Ms. Smith class has” as oppose to Ms. Smith (when her class is straight and quiet) saying “Thank You”. It really is the subtle ways and choice of words that make all the difference.
You are my go-to guy for classroom management. It has been and continues to be a strength and you helped tremendously. I love every single thing you say.
Thank you enormously for providing logical advice, in EVERY article regarding classroom management. I’ve felt isolated in “method” through the years and disillusioned by the majority of instructors who have chosen to coddle and cripple our students. I get it, and maybe because my first career was Business, or maybe because of my age, or unwillingness to succumb to the pressure of some parents, and/or some administrators to let the students “run” the school.
Best to you and enormous gratitude for your articles.
Karen
Many thanks for the important articles that you write. You have and still do,
help me in my everyday work as a primary teacher. Your articles inspire me to become a better teacher but also a better person.
Thanks again.
I read last week’s article, reflected, and revised my narration and praise. I am already seeing such a difference in my classroom. Students are actually listening to me the first time. I feel less exhausted and thirsty at the end of each day! Thank you for these weekly blogs. 🙂
That sounds wonderful! Could you perhaps share a few examples of what exactly you did differently?
Please advise on how to do this when you work at a PBIS school where we are required to give tickets and rewards. I agree with your philosophy but feel my hands are tied because we are required to give tickets to individuals and groups when “caught being good”. I am trying to couple it with the three rule idea you suggest for the primary grades and with the warning, time out, then parent contact idea. (I teach first) but I find it is very hard to convince students to do something because they intrinsically want to rather than for a ticket.
What about awarding tickets for students who go ‘above and beyond’? It’s still catching them being good but in a way that may raise the bar a bit beyond expected behaviours, whilst hopefully meeting your district requirements. E.g. a student who extends their learning off their own initiative, or a student who goes out of their way to help another student without being asked. You could keep it low key as well, and just quietly slip them a ticket, the same way you would give a little nod or first bump like Michael recommends. Not sure if he would agree with this suggestion. Just thought I’d mention it as we’ve tried it and it is working for our kids, although this might also be because the tickets are collected for a community reward rather than individual (much like a team savings goal).
Maybe say thank you to the student for displaying x – positive behaviour as you give the ticket? We are also PBIS and required to give tickets so I’ve been pondering this myself.
Good evening.
Please refer to class management in Lecturing currently.
More specifically how to encourage students to attend in class at varsity level.
Thank you.
I completely agree with your articles about praising students with one exception: I don’t agree that saying “thank you” is a good alternative to false praise. Saying “thank you” implies that the student did something for the teacher. Perhaps it was an oversight on your part?
Michael, thank you for continuing to serve fellow teachers with your experience and wisdom. I have read many of your books and continue to read the weekly emails! I am encouraged, given fresh perspective and convicted too at times. Have a great weekend!!
Your article on narration was hard to read, as I still use it on occasion. I’m making an effort to be more conscious…
I read each new article every week and find much food for thought. I have not found anything on this website about special needs.
In my district, there are no pull-out classes. This means every child, no matter what, is in a regular classroom, all day. Because we have astronomical rates of fetal alcohol syndrome, trauma, poverty, and poor attendance, my students “change” every day, from minute to minute.
I teach Grade 1. There are always a few children who are developmentally age-appropriate and they respond well to my simple classroom rules, being held accountable, and high expectations.
The challenge is that I must also teach children who DO respond to these same things, but at the level of an 18-month-old-child. Or they typically react to various stimuli with serious physical violence, although they can occasionally behave in age-appropriate ways when completely calm.
Essentially I teach a regular grade 1 classroom, an early years preschool, a high special needs classroom, and an intense counselling session each day. I like my work, and I usually rise to the challenge. I would like more advice on how to use your guidelines when the needs are so different.
Do any of your articles address issues like this?
I just wanted to tell you that I completely agree with you and THANK YOU for posting this week’s and last week’s article. Just saying thank you and letting kids know that you see that they are trying and thanking them for being positive role models is a much more powerful tool!!
Thanks for all you do. Your advice helps so much. I have changed for the better as a teacher. My kids are happier and learn valuable lessons. ( you don’t get a prize everyday for lining up correctly or doing your work) Unfortunately like you mentioned our schools are going more and more towards this.
Year by year I reread your articles to remind myself of these tips. It also reminds me that I can be a powerful but kind teacher who the kids love as well as respect. I even put the links on my PLC agenda!
You should not worry about the people who are putting you down. Your advice may not work for everyone in every situation. It is out there to use or not use. Those people will one day see the fault in acting like the bully in their classrooms. Everyone’s opinion matters. I am thankful we get to hear and use yours.
I want to echo Amy’s question above. My administrators insist that we use “tickets” to reward behavior. Each grade may decide how to use the tickets, but we are all to report back how we’re doing it. They claim to be following PBIS, but we don’t have anything in place for the top tier students who need behavior interventions, nor the middle tier. I use clear, simple rules and a consequence system of warning-time out-parent contact, and I do reserve most tickets for exceptional work beyond expectations. But how to respond to my bosses? Thank you!
I have followed Michael for a couple of years… I can tell you that I have changed quite a bit and the results are being palpable, and very positive! Thank you!! Here is a quick summary: talk LESS, slow down, have high expectations, share with students the REASON you have a classroom management plan, use only worthy praise, OBSERVE, and give consequences if needed (no exceptions), and differentiate between rules and procedures (practice these till perfection). Student will love to be a part of your well-behave class.
Again. THANK YOU!
I believe you are right about not offering false praise. I teach an email unit to my high school kiddos at the beginning of each year (it always results in better communication for the rest of the year). One of the tips I give them is to offer a complement or positive observation when they have to include something negative, but I caution them that it must be genuine. If they cannot offer a genuine complement or positive observation, they should leave it out. A false complement is worse than no complement because people feel like they are being condescended to.
I followed your high school plan last year and saw a huge difference. One of the biggest was offering only genuine praise. What I found was that more students than ever came to me for advice about a decision regarding their futures, whether their skills were at the level of an advanced class, etc. They sought me out not only because your plan resulted in me having great relationships with them, but they trusted that I would tell them the truth, kindly, of course, but true nonetheless. They then took my advice.
When we offer false praise, our kids know we are lying. They’re excellent BS detectors and can smell it a mile off. They lose trust in us, which destroys their desire to work hard for us.
I agree 100%!
I was at my wits end several years ago teaching a PreK class that was out of control. I sought wise counsel and was lead to your website. It took a few trials and errors on my part to get fully on board, but what a huge success this program is! “Thank you” is the perfect response to excellence. I am very grateful for the articles you share. My classroom has become one of expecting excellence and the children rise to the occasion wonderfully!
So simply and purposefully said. Thank you. I am a growth mindset teacher and this praise fits perfectly in that mindset.
Agreed. Praise should not be expected for meeting expectations and doing what you are simply supposed to do. Cultural background plays a role here, e.g, in some languages/ cultures there is no word that means “thank you.” Appreciation is conveyed in other ways. I do remember however, in my own school days, albeit another land, another time, when praise was meted out very sparingly, how much I would have appreciated some praise just for meeting expectations.
Society as a whole tries to pressure us all into lavishing praise by choosing a special day – Mother’s/Father’s Day for instance and heaping it on, often to the point of ringing hollow. Most of your readers are American I think, (I am not) where a propensity for praise is standard and indeed is one of the most endearing qualities of many Americans. Not so in other parts of the world.
Much to consider Michael. Thank you for your perspicacity!
I believe in teaching students to be polite, and the narration I am forced to use says that we aren’t supposed to do this when students do what is expected. If I am saying, “Would you please sit down?” in a desperate plea, I understand that isn’t appropriate. However, if I give a direction such as, “Please log out of your Chromebooks, plug them in, and put the chairs on top of the desks,” I don’t think that’s a problem. When they are done, saying thank you is appropriate. I think the key to all of this is using a pleasant tone. Perhaps the reaction to using please and thank you was because of teachers who were pleading with students. I still don’t like narration. It’s not very effective. Students learn quickly not to say, “I’m bored.” That means extra work for everyone. When students try to argue, I also tell them, “This is not a negotiation. I asked politely, I expect you to respond politely. If you do not do what is asked, we will have to move to another level.”
I agree with you for most of my students. I teach 1st grade. I am implementing and appreciate your system for classroom management. But what I keep coming back to is this. I have students that have not yet been diagnosed with adhd, or other diagnosis. This system doesn’t work for them. What will you or have you suggested to help with dealing with these issues? Our district uses PBIS. But we have no level of support for these kids. And yes, I have tried a sticker chart.
I teach 2nd grade and we have finished our first 2 weeks of school. This week I stopped the narration and gave a simple, “Excellent, thank you.” When they as a class followed a procedure correctly. I noticed several smiles when I said tbis. On the other hand we practiced some procedures ( like walking in a line) a lot because they couldn’t do it without my narration. I think this has to do with low expectations in 1st grade and not being used to someone actually having expectations and following through.
We are a PBIS school. I am required to give out “Frog Slips” (Bullftog mascot). They don’t monitor how many you give so I give like 1 or 2 a day. School supplies a store the kids can buy things at. Sometimes I just give everyone one for the fun of it. I also have a behavior matrix that the class made up and is VERY effective since it’s in their words. Last, I was required to something more than individual reward and I don’t like whole class reward so I do table points weekly only giving out a few each day so it looks like I’m doing it.
Second day of school I was giving a lesson on building reading stamina and I told the class the goal or requirement is to read silently for 30 minutes every day. One girl raised her hand and asked what they get when they do it. I said, “The satisfaction of meeting the goal and then doing it every day. They are so used to getting something for everything!
My classroom has been transformed by your approach, and I cannot thank you enough. I read every weekly article and apply it, and it works. I am still struggling with eliminating narration, but I cut way back on it this past week, and it was good.
I agree more examples would be very helpful. It is often difficult to understand what is being described in these articles. I am usually left feeling a bit dissatisfied after reading many of them because I am unclear on exactly what is being described.
I couldn’t agree with you more but could you please give some examples of your subtopic “A Better Way”?
So how do you do this when the school insists on using reward papers given out liberally for PBIS and you aide does the praise for manipulation? I look like a teacher who is hard-nosed.
I completely agree with you but I am also at a school where admin (and parents and students ) expect us to do just that, so that everyone gets a sticker for doing the expected behavior. From reading comments it appears many of us are in the same boat. It feels like my hands are tied but most of my peers are out buying toys and trinkets for treasure boxes so I’m the only one who looks like the mean teacher! I’m not; I love teaching and I love my job but I’ll admit it is getting more difficult each year.
I, too, work at a PBIS school where we hand out positive behavior tickets and we have been trained to say, “Thank you for being being respectful (or fill in the blank).” So (1) is “thank you” always a solution? Also, there has been positive responses by students to the tickets, however, I now have students expecting tickets, or I feel like I acknowledge and thank the whole class verbally when they are all on task (which I’ve always done), but they don’t all get tickets because we are encouraged to hand out only 1-2 tickets at a time. As many have mentioned above, (2) what is a PBIS solution? Is it the tone of voice, or your motive behind the praise that is being challenged?
Colored??
Was this EVER addressed…colored? This is 2019, right?
I’ve been experiencing similar issues. On several occasions I was even called to meet privately with the Principal and VP of my school to discuss my classroom management and how it was not lining up with school and school board policies. I explained all of my reasons, and even directed them to this very website and some Mr. Linsin’s books I’ve read, but it all fell on deaf ears. They very nearly took away my homeroom from this year, and would’ve had me just doing coverage for other teachers so I “could get a sense of other classroom management strategies used by other teachers”. I was furious.
Please Mr. Linsin, please address these concerns since I legitimately fear for my job some days.
SCM basically saved my teaching career. I needed concrete, practical strategies to turn my middle school classroom around and all I was getting from my peers was tropes like, “they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.
The “Narration” blog rubbed me the wrong way too…but I tried it anyway, and I like the results. Another issue that came up with narrating is that I have had kids get upset that “You caught X being good, but you NEVER catch me! You must hate me!” That’s another consequence of false praise. Someone in the room will stop believing everything you say, or demand false praise of their own.
I think narrating is fine as part of a “learning a procedure” activity early in the year. You’re drawing their attention to how to do something, and you probably asked for a volunteer to demonstrate–it’s not manipulating anyone. But depending on narration to maintain daily order in your classroom will result in your voice becoming “white noise” that the students ignore. Save your voice for the actual communication of content & speak as little as possible when it comes to disciplinary measures.
Hi Michael,
Love your articles every time- even when they seem to be “against the grain” of what most of us do, I find when I give it a shot you are usually spot on with your thinking. My question is similar to what others have mentioned – our administration insists on tickets for being good, to the point where they print a stack and put them in our boxes Monday morning and expect them all handed out by the end of the week. I have a major issue with this for the same reasons you do – any thoughts?
As a former educator of at risk teens who still works peripherally with students, I feel strongly PBIS is the bane of education.
I love your website (and book “The Smart Classroom Management Plan”). I have never believed in rewarding students (i.e. stickers) preferring to rely on intrinsic motivators. However, I will be receiving an aggressive student (who is “graduating”) from a behavior class who has been rewarded extrinsically. The behavior teachers from this class (which has a 1-2 student ratio) literally give this young Grade One boy a StarBurst candy for every part of every BLOCK that he does his job (i.e. many, many candies/day). I am dumbfounded and wondering how I am going to deal with this!??? I am certainly not going to be giving out candy (or stickers) to a 6 year-old who follows the classroom routines. Am I off-base (given this particular scenario).
Keep up the awesome work,
Y