When using praise in my classroom, I want to make sure that I am giving specific praise. The difference between giving general praise and specific praise is that one acknowledges the student, but the other also recognizes the action that they did in order to receive the praise. For example, instead of saying “thank you for cleaning up” one could say “thank you so much for putting away all of the library books, William! I really appreciate your hard work to keep the classroom tidy.” Not only is it meaningful because the student feels valued, but by using their name and being specific it encourages them to obtain positive behavior going forward.
