PROMOTING POSITIVE SELF-ESTEEM: MARKING PAPERS Many of the
things teachers do to promote, or inhibit, positive self-esteem,
comes from unintended actions. There are obvious things teachers
do, such as who is called on in the class, who’s papers are
posted on the bulletin boards…but there are less obvious things
that are done; actions which directly affect the students
positive self-esteem. The most frequent area where this is the
case is with marking student papers. The following are some
quick tips which any teacher can immediately use in improving
the positive self-esteem in the classroom: - NEVER GRADE IN RED
INK. Red is a “negative” color. Think: stop signs and lights,
warning labels, poisen, etc. Our society has conditioned us to
immediately view red as something negative. Subconsciously, (and
often conscientiously), a paper that is handed back full of red
marks tells the student that he or she is a “dummy”. A “self-
fulfilling prophesy” often results with these students! - USE
GREEN OR BLUE INK. Green, o