The Power of Our Words How Language Shapes Learners http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept08/vol66/num01/The-Power-of-Our-Words.aspx:Teacher language influences students' identities as learners. Five principles keep that influence positive.
Think back to your childhood and recall the voices of your teachers. What kinds of words did they use? What tone of voice? Recall how you felt around those teachers. Safe and motivated to learn? Or self-doubting, insecure, even angry?
Teacher language—what we say to students and how we say it—is one of our most powerful teaching tools. It permeates every aspect of teaching. We cannot teach a lesson, welcome a student into the room, or handle a classroom conflict without using words. Our language can lift students to their highest potential or tear them down. It can help them build positive relationships or encourage discord and distrust. It shapes how students think and act and, ultimately, how they learn.
How Language Shapes Learners
Affecting students' sense of identity
Helping students understand how they work and play
Influencing our relationships with students
Five Guiding Principles for Positive Language
1. Be Direct
2. Convey Faith in Students' Abilities and Intentions
3. Focus on Actions, Not Abstractions
4. Keep It Brief
5. Know When to Be Silent
