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One of the most important tools for ESL classroom management is the use of praise. Children respond to praise much better than they do to criticism. Some of your students may be coming to your classroom with negativity already ingrained in them. The last thing they need is another place where they are treated in a negative light. Learning to praise even the most difficult students is a skill you must master if you wish to have effective classroom management.

Think of how some people parent a toddler. It’s a constant barrage of ‘no’ and ‘don’t’. A lot of the time, a small person’s first word (after mama and dada) will be no! Using this as an example, try to remember that what you give out, you get back. Using positive reinforcement will be better in the long run for both you and your students. If you can get across to your class that you ‘know they can do it’, whatever “it” may be, the results will more than likely be positive and they will believe in themselves in turn.

If you give out lots of positive comments to the well-behaved children who are progressing, you may end up with a classroom full of students who want to receive your praise, too! They’ll all be striving, in a positive way, to gain your good words. So be sure to praise the children who are behaving and doing their work. Make sure everyone knows that Susan is doing a good job of listening and following the rules. This will, no doubt, spark on others to behave accordingly.

When a child is misbehaving, rather than calling out their name, focus on the good behavior of another student. You can say, “I’m listening to Susan right now because she raised her hand and waited patiently.” Kids love to hear their name even if it’s in a negative way, so keep the use of names for when someone is behaving properly, instead of as a prelude to a correction.

You might consider using the following classroom management ideas to reinforce good behavior:

a. Student of the Week
b. a special seat to honor good behavior
c. their work posted on a wall in the classroom for all to see
d. special responsibilities in the classroom (such as Teacher’s Helper)
e. gold stars pasted to good work.
f. Another thing to do to reinforce good behavior is send a note home to the child’s parents.

Some things you should avoid are material prizes. As a teacher, it is not your place to spend your own money to, in effect, bribe students! It sends out a message that you probably don’t want to send. You want students to behave because it’s the right thing to do, not to gain material goods. Usually, if they learn to depend on the positive experience of being praised, and enjoy seeing your pride in their behavior and performance, they will strive to outdo their classmates to do well.

Praise and constructive criticism go hand in hand for the ESL classroom. For every negative that has to be said, make sure a positive is also introduced. If one of your students is having a hard time with a certain aspect of today’s lesson but is behaving in a positive way, make sure you give them some good feedback on their behavior. Tell them you understand how hard this is for them and you’re proud to see them behaving correctly even though they may be feeling stressed. If you always hand over a positive to go with a negative it will benefit the children greatly.

At the end of a lesson which might have been difficult for everyone, make sure you tell your class how happy and proud you are of them for trying their best. Maybe everyone had a different experience but if you let them know their efforts are noticed, they’ll be more likely to keep trying as hard as they can.

‘Never giving up’ is a life skill that each student will need just as much as they will need to learn to speak English. You can reinforce this daily with praise and encouragement of your ESL students. If they receive appropriate praise when they do well along with constructive criticism when they need to improve, they will succeed. Knowing how to balance criticism and praise takes time to learn but it well worth the effort, and can make all the difference in managing an ESL classroom.