ABSTRACT
According to Gordon (2008), a “No complaining rule” helps develop a positive environment in your classroom. He suggested three practical ways to lessen the amount of complaining:
Turn a negative statement into a positive one by adding the word “but” followed by a positive statement or action. Challenge student complaints with that format. For example: “I don’t like math drills, but I know they help me learn my math facts.”
Change the phrase “have to” into “get to” and attitudes change too. Encourage a positive focus: “We have to read to the first graders once a week” becomes “We get to read to the first graders once a week.”
Direct complaints to solutions. Help students find a remedy for their complaint. For example: “There’s nothing to do outside at recess!” can be a prompt to ask the physical education teacher about borrowing balls and jump ropes for recess or to request a PTA fundraiser for playground equipment.
You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining, you make progress by implementing ideas.
—Shirley Chisolm, first black U.S. congresswoman (1924–2005)