How to Encourage Children
Positive Thoughts
Have you ever met a teacher that never gets frustrated? ....me neither. But there are steps we can take to make our jobs easier. While I have never seen a teacher that has been totally free from frustration, I have witnessed the difference between a teacher who walks in peace and a teacher who walks in constant tension. Those who walk in peace usually have good things to say about the students in their class. I even met a college classmate who confessed that she had never met a child that she couldn't find something good about.
Becoming more involved in the act of positive thinking does mean that discipline should be ignored. However, many situations that s as a source of contention could be avoided if we had better thoughts about ourselves and the children that we teach. The Bible says that we are to lovel others as we love ourselves. Well I've heard a lot of people say that they can love others better than they love themselves. According to the Bible, this is not true. Our own love tends to be very selfish and based on our feelings instead of being unconditional. We cannot know true love until we know how much we are loved by our Heavenly Father. It's not that we can't love if we don't know God, but it will not be expelled with as great of a depth as it otherwise could be with His help.
Teachers that always point out the positive create a vision for the children, whether they realize it or not. They are giving children an expectation to live up to. It's not lying, but it's being able to see a positive reality and bringing it into existence. This is especially important for those challenging children. Challenging children usually recieve messages that confirm their belief that they are too difficult to deal with. You have the power to change the direction of their thinking. When you explain to them what you truly enjoy about them, this gives them a purpose that they can start to live out. Also, when we practice having positive expectations for our own selves, it becomes more natural for us to do the same for others. It will overflow out of the abundance of our hearts.
