The Power ofTeacher language influencesstudents' identities as learners.Five principles keepthat influence positive.

Paula Dentón

Think back to your child-hood and recall the voices ofyour teachers. What kindsof words did they use? Whattone of voice? Recall how

you feit around those teachers. Safe andmotivated to leam? Or self-doubting,insecure, even angry?

Teacher language—what we say tostudents and how we say it—is one ofour most powerful teaching tools. Itpermeates every aspect of teaching. Wecannot teach a lesson, welcome astudent into the room, or handle a class-room conflict without using words. Ourlanguage can lift students to theirhighest potential or tear them down. Itcan help them huild positive relation-ships or encourage discord and distrust,li shapes how students think and actand, ultimately, how they leam.

How Language Shapes LearnersFrom my 25 years of teaching and myresearch on language use, I've learnedthat language actually shapes thoughts,feelings, and experiences. (Vygotsky,L978), Our words shape students aslearners by

• Affecting students' sense of identity.

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Five-year-old Don loves to sing but isn'tgood at it—yet. His music teachersays, "Let's have you move to the backrow and try just mouthing the words."Such language can lead Don to believenot only that he is a bad singer, butalso that he will always be a badsinger. Bui suppose the teacher says,"Don, you really love to sing, don'tyou? Would you like to learn moreabout it? I have some ideas." Suchwords support Don's budding identityas one who loves to sing and islearning singing skills.

• Helping .students understand howthey work and play. For example, aneducator might comment on astudent's writing by saying, "Thesejuicy adjectives here give me awonderful sense of how your characterlooks and feels." Naming a specificattribute—the use of adjectives—alertsthe writer to an important strength inher writing and encourages her tobuild on that strength.

• influencing our relationships withstudents. To a student who—onceagain—argued with classmates airecess, we might say either "Emory, ifyou don't stop it, no more recess!" or

"Emory, I saw you arguing withDouglas and Stephen. Can you helpme understand what happened fromyour point of view?" The former wouldreinforce a teacher-student relationshipbased on teacher threats and studentdefensiveness, whereas the latterwould begin to build a teacher-studentrelationship based on trust.

Five Guiding Principlesfor Positive LanguageHow can we ensure that our languagesupports students' leaming and helpscreate a positive, respectful community?During the 20 years I've been involvedvath the Responsive Classroom, 1 havefound this approach to be a good basefor using language powerfully. TheResponsive Classroom approach, devel-oped by Northeast Foundation forChildren, offers language strategies thatenable elementary teachers to helpstudents succeed academically andsocially. Strategies range from askingopen-ended questions thai stretchstudents' thinking to redirectingstudents when behavior goes off-track.These strategies are based on thefollowing five general principles.

28 EuucATioNAi. LEADERSHIP/SEPTEMBER 2008

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I. Be DirectWhen we say what we mean and use akind, straightforward tone, studentsleam thai they can trust us. They feelrespected and safe, a necessary condi-lion lor developing self-discipline andtaking the risks required for learning.

It's easy to slip into using indirectlanguage as a way to win compliance.For example, as a new teacher, I tried toget students to do what 1 wanted bypointing out what 1 liked about otherstudents' behavior. "1 Uke the way Mayand Justine are paying attention," Iwould cheerfully announce while impa-tiently eyeing Dave and Marta foolingaround in the comer,

When this strategy worked, it wasbecause students mimicked the desiredbehavior so that they, too, would winpraise from me, not because I badhelped them develop self-control orintemal motivation. And often, when Ipointed out how I liked certain leamers'behavior, the rest of the class ignoredme. If I liked the way May and Justinewere paying attention, that was nice forthe three of us, but it had nothing to dowith the rest of the class, who had morecompelling things to do at the moment.

Moreover, comparative language candamage students' relationships. Byholding May and Justine up as exem-plars. I implied that the other classmembers were less commendable. Thiscan drive a wedge between students.

Later in my career, I leamed to speakdirectly. To call the students to ameeting, for example, 1 rang a chime togain their attention (a signal we prac-ticed regularly), then said firmly, "Cometo the meeting mg and take a seat now."To Dave and Marta in the previousexample, I'd say. "It's time to Usten now."The difference in students' response wasremarkable.

Sarcasm, another form of indirectlanguage, is also common—anddamaging—in the classroom. Some-times teachers use sarcasm because wethink it wall provide comic reUef; othertimes we're just tired, and it slips inwithout our even knowing it. If ateacher says, "John, what part of 'Putyour phone away' don't you under-stand?" students will likely laugh, andthe teacher may think she has shownthat she's hip and has a sense of humor.But John will feel embarrassed, and histrust in this teacher viill diminish. The

position of this teacher may shift in theother students' eyes as well: They nolonger see her as an authority whoprotects their emotional safety but assomeone who freely uses the currencyof insuii. Much better to simply say."John, put your phone away." If hedoesn't, try another strategy, such as alogical consequence.

2. Convey Fdiih in Students'Abilities and IntentionsWhen our words and tone convey faithin students' desire and ability to do well,students are more Ukely to live up toour expectations of them,

"When everyone is ready, I'll showyou how to plant the seeds," "You canlook at the chart to remind yourself ofour ideas for good story writing,""Show me how you will follow the miesin the hall," These teacher words,spoken in a calm voice, communicate abelief that students want to—and knowhow to—listen, cooperate, and do goodwork. This increases the chance thatstudents vñW see themselves asrespectful listeners, cooperative people,and competent workers, and behaveaccordingly.

ASSOCIATION FOR SUPERVISION AND CURRICULUM D E V E L O P M E N I 29

Take the time to notice and commenton positive beha\ior, being quitespecific: "You're trying lots of differentideas for solving that problem. Thatlakes persistence." Such observationsL̂ ive students hard evidence for whythey should believe in themselves.

3. Focus on Actions, Not AbstractionsBecause elementary-age children tendto be concrete thinkers, teachers cancommunicate most successfully withthem by detailing specific actions thatwill lead to a positive environment. Forexample, rather than saying, "Berespectful," it's more helpful to state,"When someone is speaking during adiscussion, the rest of us vnll listencarefully and wait until the speaker isfinished before raising our hands loadd a comment."

Sometimes it's effective to promptstudents to name concrete positive

behaviors themselves. To a studentwho has trouble focusing duringwriting time, a teacher might saymatter-of-factly, "What will help youthink of good ideas for your story andconcentrate on writing ihem down?"The student might then respond, "1 canfind a quiet place to write, away frommy friends."

There is a place, of course, for suchabstract terms as respectful and respon-sible, but we must give students plentyof opportunities to associate thosewords with concrete actions. Class-room expectations such as "treat oneanother with kindness" will be moremeaningful to students if we help thempicture and practice what those expec-tations look like in different situations.

Focusing on action also meanspointing to the desired behavior ratherthan labeling the learner's character orattitude. 1 had a student who chroni-

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cally did poor work when he could dobetter. In a moment of frustration, Isaid to him, "1 don't think you evencare!" This allowed me to vent, but ildid nothing to help the studentchange. His energy went towarddefending himself against my negativejudgment, not toward examining andchanging his behavior. Worse, suchlanguage can lead students to acceptour judgment and believe that theyindeed don't care.

It's more helpful in such situations toissue a positive challenge that namesthe behavior we want: "Your job todayis to record five observations of ourcrickets. Think about what you'll needto do before you start." Tbis moves thefocus to what the student can do.

4. Keep It BriefIt's hard for many young children to

foflow long strings of words like this:

When you go out to recess today, be sure10 remember what we said aboutincluding everyone in games, becauseyesterday some kids had an issue withnot being included in kiekball and foursquare, and we've talked about this. Youwere doing really well for a while there.

30 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/SEPTEMBER 2008

iÜlIHÍíüi)mm.huí lately it seems like you'regetting kind of careless, andthai's got Io change or . . .

By the end of this spiel, manystudents would be thinkingabout other things. Few couldfollow the entire explanation.Students understand more ' - ' " 'when we speak less. Simplyasking, "Who can tell us one way toinclude everyone at recess?" gives theman opportunity to remind themselves ofpositive behaviors. If you have taughtand led students in practicing the class'sexpectations for recess, students willmake good use of such a reminder.

5. Know When to Be SilentThe skilliul use of silence can be just aspowerful as ihe skillful use of words.When teachers use silence, we open aspace for students to think, rehearsewhat to say, and sometimes gather thecourage to speak at all.

We can see the benefit of silence if,after asking a question, we pause beforetaking responses from students.Researchers have found that whenteachers wait three to five seconds, morestudents respond, and those responsesshow higher-level thinking (Swift &Gooding, 1983; Tobin, 1980).

Three to five seconds can feel uncom-fortably long at first. But if we stick toIt—and model thoughtful pausing bywaiting a few seconds ourselves torespond to students' comments—we'llset a pace for the entire classroom thatwill soon feel natural. Our reward willbe classroom conversations of higherquality.

Remaining silent allows us to listen tostudents and requires us to resist theimpulse to jump in and correctstudents' words or finish their thoughts.A true listener tries to understand aspeaker's message before formulating aresponse. When we allow students to

speak uninterrupted andunhurried, we help them leambecause speaking is an impor-tant means of consolidatingknowledge.

In my current role teachingeducators Responsive Class-room strategies, I watchteachers incorporate these fiveprinciples of language into their

daily communications with students,and 1 see them build classrooms wherestudents feel safe, respected, andengaged. By paying attention to ourlanguage, we can use it to open thedoors of possibility for students. 13

ReferencesSwift, J. N., & Gooding, T (1983). Interac-

tion of wait time feedback and ques-tioning instruction on middle schoolscience teaching. Journal of Research inScience Teaching, 20(8), 721-730.

Tobin, K. G. (1980). The effect of anextended teacher wait-time on scienceachievement. Journü/ o/Research in ScienceTeaching, 17. 469-475.

vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Author's note: A 2006 study by SaraRimm-Kaufman and colleagues at theuniversity of Virginia showed that Respon-sive Classroom practices were associatedwith students having higher reading andmath test scores, better social skills, andmore positive feelings about school. TheU.S. Department of Education's Institute ofEducation Sciences has awarded Rimm-Kaufman a $2.9 million grant to furtherinvestigate how Responsive Classroom prac-tices contribute to gains in students' mathachievement.

Paula Dentón is Director of ProgramDevelopment and Delivery for NortheastFoundation for Children, developer of theResponsive Classroom approach;www.responsiveclassroom.org; paula©responsiveclassroom.org. She is theauthor of The Power of Our Words:Teacher Language that Helps ChildrenLeam (Northeast Foundation for Chil-dren, 2007).

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