Running Head: HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 1

How to Use Language Effectively in Your Classroom

California Polytechnic State University

Courtney Paige McCandless

HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 2

Mrs. Smith is a first grade teacher. It is her second year teaching and this year she has 26

students in her classroom. All of her students range academically and developmentally. Some are

more independent, where as others need more assistance and direction. There are a couple of

students in particular who do not respect the classroom atmosphere and are constantly off-task.

The students who are more independent are not as bothered; however, the other half of the class

is at a disadvantage when they are disruptive. For example, one of the students, Johnny, was

talking during a lesson and was distracting students with the pens and materials in his desk.

When this happened Mrs. Smith stopped the lesson and with a stern and loud voice, told Johnny,

You are so disruptive and you must already know this information so how about you come to

the front of the class and teach the class? Johnny just got embarrassed and stopped talking for a

few minutes, so Mrs. Smith continued with the lesson but they didn't get to finish because it was

time for recess. Sometimes she threatens her students with punishments, such as no recess or

calls home, but does not always follow through with it. Their behavior does not change when she

does speak like this and so, Mrs. Smith relies on assistance outside the classroom, such as

principal and parent meetings. Not only is the classroom environment negative most of the time,

but also students are starting to fall behind because of time lost for instruction.

It is crucial that teachers understand the repercussions of the language and management

techniques they use in the classroom and how it will affect student behavior. The hypothetical

situation laid out above is possible when teachers dont know how to use language to efficiently

manage their classroom. Teachers may think having a classroom management system of rewards

and punishments is enough, but what teachers say along with it does matter. In addition to having

an effective classroom management style, a teacher must also use language that facilitates

learning and minimizes behavior problems in order to be effective. Stated in the book, "The
HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 3

Critical Role of Classroom Management", students in the classes of teachers classified as the

most effective can be expected to gain about 52 percentile points in their achievement over a

year's time. Students in the classes of teachers classified as least effective can be expected to gain

only about 14 percentile points over a year's time (Robert J. Marzano, 2003). It is important that

teachers know the common pitfalls of language use that wastes time in class and harms the

classroom environment as well as know how to use language that manages behavior and

encourages and motivates students in their classrooms.

In order for teachers to be the most efficient, it starts the very first day of school. It is

imperative that teachers get to know their students. First, teachers will want to greet them at the

door. Making that connection right from the beginning is crucial, especially for younger kids, in

order for them to feel comfortable in the classroom (Raffaelli, 2014). Next is to set the tone.

Mood is contagious. Showing up every morning ready to work while demonstrating a positive

attitude is a great way to do this. From the very beginning, teachers also need to show that they

care about their students and their success. By proving to their students that they are there to help,

teachers can gain student trust and rapport. Lastly, as a class, a list of rules should be created.

Commonly, the golden rule is implemented: treat me with the same respect and dignity that

you would like me to treat you (Raffaelli, 2014). By employing this, students feel everyone in

the class, including the teacher, is on the same level and deserve respect. If students treat the

teacher with respect, then the teacher will reciprocate. Overall, these create a community feel,

allowing the class to be a space that is comfortable and welcoming. Mounting evidence from

fields like neuroscience and cognitive psychology, as well as studies on such topics as school

turnaround implementation, shows that an academically challenging yet supportive

environment boosts both children's learning and coping abilities (Sparks, 2013). When children
HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 4

feel comfortable, their guard is down, they feel more comfortable asking questions and speaking

up, eventually leading to a more collaborative education. The last aspect of starting the year off

right is to create routine. There is a routine for everything: walking in the door first thing in the

morning, transitioning from activities, going to snack or lunch, coming back from snack or lunch,

turning in homework, and the list continues. By establishing a routine for each transition, it

allows for clear understanding, by the class and the teacher, and accountability. Although the

first day of school is only when you initially implement it, and it will take a couple of weeks to

get the routines down, by demonstrating and enforcing these expectations from day one, it will

signify exactly what is expected.

Along with these initial practices, there are everyday dos and don'ts for how teachers

should speak to their students. The goal of these techniques is to assist in maintaining these

initial practices.

First, teachers must know common mistakes used when speaking to children who are

misbehaving. In the article, "The 9 Biggest Classroom Management Mistakes Teachers Make"

Michael Linsin lists and explains 9 pitfalls teachers make. He emphasizes that in order for a

classroom to be well managed these must be avoided, otherwise it is likely the classroom will

become disorganized quickly (Linsin, 2009). From my observations at Bishops Peak

Elementary School and my experience working at the ASI Childrens Center, I can narrow down

these 9 to the top 3 most important mistakes teachers must look out for: not following through,

yelling, and lecturing.

The most important common mistake teachers make is to give empty threats. Linsin

states, for every time you let something go, you create more misbehavior in the future (Linsin,

2009). From my reflections working at the Childrens Center, I can support this fully. I have
HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 5

worked with children ages 2 to 6 and all children will test to see how much they can get away

with. It is most important, as a teacher, to establish that you will follow through with what you

originally told the student. For example, if a student is playing in the sandbox and is repeatedly

throwing sand, the teacher will say, keep the sand down, otherwise well find a different spot in

the yard to play. If the student keeps throwing sand and the teacher doesn't move the child to a

different spot, the child will now think the teacher isnt always going to do what he/she says.

This provides the grounds for the child to ignore the teacher in the future and push the limits to

see how far he/she can go before the teacher acts.

Another common mistake teachers can make is yelling at students. First, this

demonstrates the wrong way to behave. Children learn by observing and watching. By yelling at

a child, the child and any others who are observing think that because their teacher yelled it is

now acceptable for them to behave like this when something doesn't go their way. Yelling can be

impulsive and it creates tension and ruins rapport. Communication breaks down and groups

become less involved with each others feelings. Most importantly, students can quickly decipher

that the teacher is only serious when their voice is raised. From my observations at Bishops

Peak Elementary for the past 3 years, I have not once seen a teacher yell at a student. My

observations were primarily done in a 1st grade classroom, so it is even more crucial that teachers

demonstrate to the youngest students at the school site how to behave properly. My host teacher,

Mrs. Emily Long agreed this is a big mistake. By yelling at children it is frightening for them,

especially with the younger ages, and you lose respect as a teacher. You want your students to be

respectful, but not afraid (E. Long, personal communication, February 10, 2017). When

students are afraid or uncomfortable it is unlikely theyll be eager to learn or even in the

condition to retain information.

HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 6

The last common mistake teachers make is lecturing. The term lecturing in this case is

used as giving a speech to children about their misbehavior. Primarily, lecturing is a waste of

time. Average attention span has reached an all-time-low of 8 seconds, inferring that students are

doubtfully listening to what the teacher is saying (Hooton, 2015). Often they hear accusations of

what theyve done and have limited to no time to speak their side of it. Regularly, in these

lectures, teachers focus on students negative character or personality traits leaving the children

feeling like they cant do anything right (Linsin, 2009). Therefore, children are left unheard and

feel like they are failures. Negative thoughts about the childrens actions, are often focused upon

making the child think they cant do anything right. Emily Long expressed from her experience

that unless the conversation is interactive it is pointless to solve an issue with a student (E.

Long, personal communication, February 10, 2017). As a result, lecturing breaks down student

self-esteem, causes angry feelings and demotes good relationships between students and teachers.

After reading the common pitfalls, it is important to know why to avoid these and why

teachers should use effective language instead. The article The Power of Language sums up

the importance perfectly. A teacher's language is a powerful teaching tool. Our language can

build children up or tear them down. It can model respectful and caring social interactions or just

the opposite. Effective language encourages and supports students in their learning, rather than

criticizing them for their mistakes (Denton, 2009). Realizing the importance of language from

the beginning will allow the school year to start off on track. When language is used correctly

student behavior is more easily managed which allows for more academic engaged time. Stated

in the text Those Who Can, Teach, academic engaged time is the time a student spends being

successfully engaged with academically rewarding activities and materials (Ryan, 1988).The

less time teachers spend trying to manage their students, the more time students can dedicate
HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 7

towards learning. While at a daily basis, taking a few extra minutes here or there to regulate the

classroom may not seem to be significant, Ryan and Cooper declared efficient teachers are able

to engage their students 30 minutes a day longer than the least efficient teacher (Ryan, 1988).

3o minutes a day multiplied by 180 school days is 90 hours. 90 hours dived by a 6 hour school

day equals to be more than 15 days of school. When stated in such a way, one can realize how

important it is to use language to effectively prevent and manage misbehavior without losing

time in the process.

Understanding how to use language effectively is another aspect of being able to manage

student misbehavior. Effective language includes not only what you say, but also how you say it

(McCandless, 2016-17). Especially when speaking to students under 7 years, the logic and

thought processes differ greatly compared to a teachers ( (McCandless, 2016-17). Younger

children do not receive sarcasm and can often get confused when directions may include

different contexts; therefore, the words one uses must be chosen carefully.

The first tip for language usage would be to use direct and positive language. An example

of this would be if a student is working on an assignment but is getting distracted by the

materials in their desk or is trying to talk to other students around them, the teacher would say,

keep your hands above your desk and focus your attention on the writing assignment in front of

you. The teacher used a positive command, which is telling the child what they should be doing

rather than what they should not be doing. The other aspect of this example was that the teacher

used direct language. They told the student exactly what they should be doing and left it at that.

This gets the student to focus on the command rather than what theyre doing thats unproductive.

There was no further lecturing, reasoning, or explanation based on the incorrect action. If the

teacher were to say, don't play with the stuff in your desk and dont talk to others, it leaves the
HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 8

child sitting there not exactly sure what to do. By giving the student an action to do instead, it

saves time by getting the student back on task. Another reason to give direct commands is

because often times student wont hear dont; therefore, the words they are hearing are play

with the stuff in your desk and talk to others. This is counter-productive and confuses the

child more when the teacher proceeds to change the students behavior with a different technique.

The next tip is to reinforce expectations. Especially at the beginning of the year, the most

important thing to make the year run as smoothly as possible is to make sure the students

understand the routine of the classroom. Emily Long stated that in the beginning of the year,

when training students to transition quietly between activities, she had to spend the first couple

of weeks practicing and re-doing procedures until the students understood that this method was

how things were going to get done (E. Long, personal communication, February 10, 2017).

Good management is preventative rather than reactive (Ryan, 1988). By reminding students

and conditioning them from the beginning, it minimizes confusion, prevents loss of instruction

time, and sets clear expectations for each student to fulfill. For example, at the Childrens Center,

there are many periods throughout the day when the children get free play. The rule is that when

students are done playing in one area, they first clean up and then they can go to the new area.

With this in mind, if a student has pulled out many blocks from the shelves, the small people, the

2 different baskets of animals and has combined them all together with the toy cars, I will often

remind the student before they dump them all together that all the toys must get sorted and put

back on the shelves once you are done and want to move on to a different part of the classroom

(McCandless, 2016-17). This way the student is aware of my expectations and might reconsider

mixing all the toys if they don't want to spend a significant amount of time in this area. Just one
HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 9

small sentence has saved about 10 minutes of time later on getting the student to realize my

expectations after the fact and then trying to get he/she to clean the area.

The third tip is to give the student information and when its applicable, give the student

a choice. When a student is being aggressive or be disrespectful to others, many times teachers

assume the students know what theyre doing is wrong. By briefly explaining the reasoning as to

why their action is not acceptable, both the student and teacher will be on common grounds and

can then further discuss. For example, at the Childrens Center it is common for children to get

upset over the use of toys and then shout or even hit other students. This is obviously not

acceptable so then a teacher would intrude and ask the students to explain the situation. After

that, the teacher would then describe their concerns for why hitting is unsafe or how shouting is

not a respectable way to give a student a message. Then, in this certain scenario, the teacher

could give the students a choice to either work in the same area, while both using the toys, for

one child to wait until the other one is finished, or the teacher could help the children to find

different playing areas in the room. By explaining their reasoning, the student can understand

why the teacher reasoned the way he/she did and in the future can remember why shouting and

hitting is not allowed based off of this scenario.

The last tip is to take action. Taking action goes along with following through. Either the

children can problem solve together or the teacher will step in. Once the teacher has spoken

directly, explained the situation, and reminded the student multiple times, the last thing to do is

take action. This includes either showing the student how to make amends or allowing them to

experience the consequence of their actions (Mazlish, 2004). To continue with the scenario

before, the two children were fighting over a toy, the teacher explained the scenario, and then

gave them a choice; however, now the students still are not cooperating. The teacher would then
HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 10

tell the students that he/she gave them a choice, but now that they have still not chosen one of

them effectively, so he/she will help choose. Ultimately, the teacher would most likely move

both of them to a new spot in the classroom until they decide to work together or decide a way to

play with the toy that both children can agree with.

The last feature of effective communication is speaking to students that inspire

engagement and motivation in learning. This is the idea of instilling a growth mindset versus a

fixed mindset. Carol Dweck is a professor at Stanford and the author of Mindset, which

published her findings in the field of motivation and how to foster success (Dweck, 2014). In

Dwecks TED talk: The Power of Believing That You Can Improve, filmed in November of

2014, she discussed the two types of mindsets and ways we can facilitate the growth mindset in

students. A major term she brings up is YET. Are you not smart enough to solve itor have

you just not solved it yet? (Dweck, 2014). This statement references the thoughts of fixed

mindset students versus growth mindset students. Students with the growth mindset believe in

growth, progress, and the ability to move beyond the current level a person resides, where as

fixed mindset students believe that success is fixed. Some examples of establishing this idea of a

growth mindset is to praise effort and the process versus the product. No matter how well a

student does on an assignment, if they completed the assignment with the best of their ability,

they should be commended. An example of this is stating, I love how hard you worked.how

much effort you put inhow you persevered throughout that entire assignment! By

encouraging the process versus the product, students are not afraid to get the wrong answer.

Instead, efforts are encouraged versus the outcome of the assignment itself. Ultimately, students

will be more willing to attempt new activities, learn new concepts, and preserve throughout their

learning.
HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 11

Now, if Mrs. Smith had used this language her situation may look something like this:

Before the lesson even began she reminded all the students that she expects them to listen and

remain quiet so they can get through the last bit of information until recess. About halfway

through, Johnny was talking and was distracting students with the pens and materials in his desk.

When this happened Mrs. Smith stopped the lesson and with a stern but normal voice, told

Johnny, Johnny, I expect you to keep your hands on top of your desk and your eyes on the

board. I would hate for you not understand the homework tonight and to miss recess. Her rule in

the class is that if students are off-task during a lesson they stay in for a few extra minutes at

break, which she always follows through with. Johnny lifted his hands out of his desk and shifted

in his seat so his eyes were on the front of the room. Mrs. Smith rarely needs assistance outside

the classroom from the principal or seldom schedules parent meetings.

Just from restating her expectations in the beginning, reminding Johnny once more,

giving information and always taking action, the whole class can get back on track quicker and

spend more time academically engaged. Her expectations and reminder were spoken in a normal

tone, keeping the tensions low and rapport in tact. She briefly explained why Johnny should

benefit from paying attention and demonstrated that she will have him stay in at recess if he

doesn't get back on-task. By using this process consistently her students will understand what is

expected and become acclimated with the routine. The most important implication is that the

classroom environment facilitates learning, respect is mutual between students and the teacher,

and more time is spent engaged in learning.

The use of effective management techniques along with positive language has more

significance than one may realize. If teachers knew how much these strategies influenced the

facilitation of learning and a classrooms esteem, then no teacher would be without these
HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 12

techniques and would be aware of common mistakes when speaking to children. Student

misbehavior would be well managed, students would be motivated, and ultimately, more time

would be spent academically engaged.

HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 13

References

Denton, P. (2009, November 1). The Power of Teacher Language. Retrieved March 3, 2017,

from Responsive Classroom: https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/the-power-of-

teacher-language/

Dweck, C. (2014, November ). The Power of Believing that you can Improve. Retrieved March

10, 2017, from TED :

https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve

Hooton, C. (2015, May 15). Our Attention Span is Now Less than that of a Goldfish, Microsoft

Study Finds. Independent Digital News and Media .

Linsin, M. (2009, August 21). The 9 Biggest Classroom Management Mistakes Teachers Make.

Retrieved March 2, 2017, from Smart Classroom Management:

https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2009/08/21/classroom-management-

mistakes-article/

Mazlish, A. F. (2004). How to Talk So Kids Will Listen. New York City: HarperCollins

Publishers.

McCandless, C. (2016-17). Observations at Children's Center and Elementary School. San Luis

Obispo.

Raffaelli, L. (2014, August 8). The Dos and Don'ts of Classroom Management: Your 25 Best

Tips. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from Edutopia:

(https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/dos-and-donts-classroom-management-your-25-

best-tips).
HOW TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR CLASSROOM 14

Robert J. Marzano, J. S. (2003). Classroom Management That Works. Retrieved March 2, 2017,

from ASCD: http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/103027/chapters/The-Critical-Role-

of-Classroom-Management.aspx

Ryan, K. a. (1988). Those Who Can, Teach. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Sparks, S. D. (2013, January 4). Social-Emotional Needs Entwined with Students' Learning,

Security. Retrieved March 5, 2017, from Education Week:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/01/10/16environment.h32.html)