Praising Children

Brent Vasicek wrote on the Scholastic blog this week about using Authentic Praise with students.  He talks about how our culture is developing in such a way that it seems like "every child needs a trophy."  Kids are growing up expecting to be praised for everything that they do, whether it is good or bad.  I have one young student who is always at my desk saying, "How did I do?  Was that good Ms. Karol?"  I hate to see that children are coming to me for continuous praise instead of finding it within themselves.  There is so much wrong with that picture that I don't even know how to continue!

However, Brent Vasicek gives a helpful acronym for teachers to remember each and every day.  He uses the acronym FIGS, which stands for Frequent, Immediate, Genuine and Specific.  He goes on to explain how every time we praise our children we need to keep these terms in mind.  For his full explanation, read this article.  Just remember that each child needs to hear some kind of genuine praise each and every day at school and at home!