Greetings,

Last month I began with a discussion of goal setting and strategies for helping the unmotivated or disengaged student.  I want to continue with a suggestion that is simple to do with any age student and is a surefire strategy for getting most people to sit up and take notice.  It is one of the “Five Simple Steps” I talk about in my book Discipline that Works.  In fact, I have thought many times that if I was writing that book over, I would make this step number one instead of number five.  This step is called Focus on the Positive.

Every student has personal strengths and talents that came with them at birth.  The lucky among us grew up in loving families that nurtured our strengths and talents.  Many students are not that fortunate and grow up and leave home without ever hearing a positive word about them.  The need to hear and have affirmed that we are talented and have something significant to offer the world is a vital human need.  If you can help your unmotivated students see this about themselves, I guarantee that you will get their attention and they will work for you.

Here are some suggestions to Focusing on the Positive:

• Our strengths are the flip side of our weaknesses.  Identify a person’s weaknesses and then ask yourself how this trait would look if it was used in a positive way.  I always give the example when I am lecturing or training of how I frequently got in trouble for talking too much in school.  Now I talk for a living.  My mother even told me one time “I sure am glad somebody is finally paying you to talk.”
• Consider the “lazy” student. These students are often considered “laid back” in another environment.  They frequently find their way into high intensity work that requires slow, deliberate calm and calculation.
• The same is true of hyperactive students.  They may have difficulty staying focused in your classroom but they often turn out to be highly creative, innovators with a gift for multi-tasking.
• Argumentative students can become professional advocates who are relentless in the pursuit of a just cause.
• Once you have give some thought to these matters, then discuss this with your students.
• You can even ask your students to identify one another’s special gifts or talents.  You may want to do this confidentially but you may be amazed at what they come up with as along as they know they won’t be embarrassed.
• Tell them that it is clear to you that they have a natural talent for…….. Then tell them that you can imagine them doing the kind of work that requires their specific talent.

One teacher told me I was right about the “lazy” being “laid back” because her husband got in trouble at school for not being lazy and disengaged but he made it through and is now an EMT who is able to walk into any terrible accident or tragic mishap and maintain calm and competence without getting emotionally overwhelmed.

There are many stories such as that.  Find ways to discover your student’s talents and gifts and talk to them about it.  Say “You know, I could see in a highly creative job because you always want to think outside the box and do your own thing.

Take the time to read a few chapters of the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book.  There are several poignant examples of teachers who found ways to turn around the entire class or help the least likely to succeed find accomplishment by focusing on the positive.

Last but definitely not least, focus on your own strengths and natural gifts.  You have them.  They were a gift. Enjoy your gifts.