TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING STUDENT COMMUNICATION

Be Enthusiastic. When you are excited about something, your students will be, too. Let the kid

inside you show and children will respond tenfold. For many children, the enthusiasm shown for

them and for their school is the only positive reinforcement they receive—and enthusiasm is

definitely contagious.

Be Visible. Every child on campus should be able to identify you as the principal, no matter how

big your school. Join in student activities. Jump rope. Shoot a few baskets. Participate in an art

class. Eat lunch in the cafeteria. Attend athletic events, music concerts, and drama productions.

Let students know that you are more than just the person who enforces the rules and metes out

the punishment. Demonstrate your interest in students’ activities with your presence.

Personalize Contact With Students. Work at learning the names of the students who aren’t in

your office all the time for discipline or who aren’t on the student council or the honor roll.

Another way to contact students and parents is to have an automated phone call-out system like they have at

Meadowbrook Middle School in Poway, California. Even though you may not speak with

students or parents personally, at least you know your message reached someone at the home.

Use Positive Body Language. Students are very sensitive to your body language and have an

innate sense of your response to them. Learn to smile, wink, and nod in nonverbal

acknowledgment of a child’s presence. Remember that your most difficult student may be from

an abusive home, and you may be the most caring presence in his or her life.

Student Recognition. Create as many ways as possible to reward and recognize students. You

and your staff can design awards and certificates that meet specific needs. You are limited only

by your imagination in what can be recognized. Let students create peer recognition awards as

well. Recognition helps students build pride in themselves, their work, and their school.