Power Praise Phrase!

When using Power Praise Phrases, remember to
1. Use the student’s name,
2. Be specific in the description and
3. End with a target praise!


Hey, Jimmie… beautiful sharing, that is very kind!
Berry… outstanding behavior today, you are becoming very responsible!
Demetrius… awesome job on your spelling, you must really be studying!
Kaitlan… that was an A+ job on your math, excellent diligence!
Shawn… you are on task… you just made my day… excellent focus!
Jenny… what a trooper with your eyes and ears on the teacher, you are very attentive!
Wow Keith, you turned your homework in... now that’s responsibility!
Randi... your playground behavior was wonderful today, super citizenship!
Wow… look at you guys enter the classroom quietly...if I smile any bigger my face will split!
Andrea it makes me so happy when you follow directions immediately, thanks!
Jade, thank you for coming to school today… you are a valued person in our class!

Teacher examples:
I have spent hours in Ms. Misty Mahaffey’s Kindergarten class at Burke Basic School in Mesa, Arizona. She is a master at Power Praise-Phrases and celebrations. Every few minutes she would stop the class and say, “Wow, (student name) that was awesome! Everybody say, ‘Awesome!’” and the entire class would shout, in rhythmic unison, “Awesome!” I have counted 16 celebrations and 18 praise-phrases in 40 minutes. Those kids shouted awesome, super, great job, fantastic, fabulous and many others I can’t remember. More importantly, those students were having a bunch of fun learning. It was an exciting atmosphere of positive energy.

A few years ago I spent time in Ms. Bebe Teibo’s Kindergarten classroom at Academy of Excellence in Phoenix, Arizona. She also is a master at celebrations and praise-phrases. Ms. Teibo used cracker-jack, lookin’ good and friendly applause throughout her entire day. She also did something very unique… she would stop suddenly, look at the children and say, “Is this the first grade?” The children would shout, “No, this is Kindergarten!” She would insist, “Are your sure it’s not the first grade?” The children would giggle and shake their heads, “No, we’re in Kindergarten!” Then Ms. Teibo would power praise-phrase them, “Well, the way you guys are working, it looks like first-grade… you guys are going to be the best first graders ever!” Pure delight showed on the children’s faces as dopamine rushed throughout their brains solidifying the things they were learning.

Along with the praise-phrases and celebrations, these two authoritative teachers demonstrated absolute mastery of the other master teacher behaviors such as circulating the room frequently, moving in on misbehavior, exhibiting total self-control and using a quiet non-emotional voice to correct misbehavior. Through their celebrations they demonstrated that they were in total “positive” control of the classroom.

Give it a shot and let me know the results!