The more polite students are, the fewer class rules are broken.
Therefore, if we improve politeness, then we can save a lot of time and trouble holding students accountable. The problem, however, is that teaching politeness doesn’t work.
Not in this day and age.
The reason is because for students being polite feels lame and old-fashioned. Sad but true. The culture they’re used to is generally rude and dismissive, which they associate with being cool.
As any teacher who has tried can attest, attacking the problem directly via lessons, stories, and examples inevitably results in frustration. Luckily, there is another way.
It’s a method that works on a subconscious level to cause students to become more polite without you ever mentioning it. It also doesn’t require you to waste any valuable class time.
So what is it?
It’s to be polite yourself. Boldly, consistently, and unapologetically. For clarity, and to better transfer the habit to your students, it’s best to focus on three core areas.
- Please and thank you.
- Hello and goodbye.
- Excuse me and after you.
You can then lightly encourage it in your students in the same way you probably learned from your parents.
- “What do you say?”
- “How should you ask?”
- “What should you do?”
If you stick to these two strategies, the culture of your classroom will begin to look and sound very different in just a couple of weeks.
It’s important to mention that you shouldn’t hold students accountable if they don’t say please, goodbye, or excuse me, for example. Forgetting common courtesies doesn’t constitute breaking SCM class rules.
Furthermore, you shouldn’t praise or reward polite behavior.
For it to become part of the culture of your classroom, as well as who your students are as people, it must be something they recognize as having value in and of itself.
And they will. Because politeness feels good, both giving and receiving. Your only job is to introduce it into the environment and nurture its growth.
PS – This week’s video is The Secret Known Only to 1% of Teachers. (This is a cheat code to effective classroom management.)
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