ABSTRACT
Great teachers create a positive atmosphere each day in their classrooms despite inevitable negatives such as irate parents, troubled students, and limited resources. Effective teachers treat everyone with dignity and respect ten days out of ten. They may not like all their students, but they act as if they do. Effective teachers understand the power of praise and look for opportunities to find people doing things right. Focusing on all the positive things in their classrooms and schools gives teachers the drive and energy to get through the less positive times. Effective teachers know that one of a teacher’s most important tasks is to model appropriate behavior. Great teachers, therefore, model the behavior of treating all people with dignity and respect all the time. Bissell’s five traits that make praise work, noting that, to be effective, praise must be authentic, specific, immediate, clean, and private.
