Post 8: How To Always Remain Positive in your Online Classroom

How to Always Remain Positive in Your Online Classroom

How to remain positive in your classroom and at work

It is always important to maintain a positive attitude and a positive tone in all your student correspondence, forums, student feedback in papers,  and communication with your bosses. Remember positivity improves productivity, and it improves student morale  as well as creating a non-toxic classroom and a non-toxic workplace.

Even if you receive a really bad faculty evaluation, do not give into the temptation of wanting to defend yourself. Instead it pays to always be positive and just tell the boss that you will get the task done and that you will correct any mistakes you have made. This shows the boss that you can handle negative stress, that you are part of the team, and that you are willing to receive evaluating feedback gracefully and positively.

After a long day of grading, and or being evaluated by your boss, you may be really tired and become too tired to be positive. What I do to stay positive is that I take 10 minute breaks for every 50 minutes I work. I also look away from the computer every 10 minutes to avoid eyestrain.

It is always good to take care of yourself and maintain your well-being so that you can remain positive for your students. When I take a break, I may take an afternoon nap, take a walk for an hour outside to enjoy the sunshine, or grab a snack.

Other teachers I know do yoga, stretching exercises while working, or have those mini stationary bikes that go under your desk so that you can pedal the minibikes while you are grading papers. Another trend is to have a standing desk where are you work standing up. The more you exercise and stay fit the easier it is for you to remain positive.

If you work in an office, then the minibike and a standing desk may be for you. I have also heard about the large yoga balls that you can sit on while you're working and when you sit on the large yoga ball, you are exercising your lower abdominal muscles as if you were doing a lot of sit ups. I myself have never tried the yoga ball but my friends swear by it. I however do have a standing desk that I use from time to time when I have heavy grading to do.

If you have any other tips that you use to be positive comment them under this thread. What do you do to stay positive? How do you inject positivity into your online classroom?