Positive Peer Pressure

So often we hear about peer pressure in a negative context. However, I have had the opportunity recently to see it played out in a positive way in my classroom. I am thoroughly enjoying being a teacher at Southside Middle School in Muncie. I enjoy the challenges and rewards each new day brings.

We have been focusing on positive reinforcement in my class. My students are able to earn dollars each day, which they can use to pay me at the end of each day for some free time. If they don't have enough money for free time, they don't get to play with my toys and have to do work instead. If all the students in the class get free time on any given day we cross off a letter from the acronym SWAGGER (students who achieve good grades earn respect). SWAGGER is a school wide initiative encouraging our students to get good grades. Once we have marked off all the letters, we get to go somewhere special. The first time, we went to McDonalds for a quick afternoon snack. The second time, we went to Fazolis for lunch and the park.

Although the entire system encouraged positive peer pressure, our time at the park allowed me to experience how helpful peer pressure can be in the right context. One of my students tends to not like changes in lighting. This presented a problem when he attempted to go down a slide that had a cover over it. He spent about 20 minutes standing on the stairs and reaching one foot up to the slide. Anytime any of the adults would encourage him he would back away and start again. If other students came up behind him, he would back down in a slight panic and let them go. Finally, he gave up and went to another part of the park. This was when one of my other students stepped up and said "let's go down the slide, come on" and took of running towards the slide. The other student followed him up the stairs, under the cover, and down the slide. All it took was an encouraging friend who showed him how to do it and made sure he knew it was okay. I was so thankful that one of my students took the time to encourage his friend to give it another try.

I'm hoping I see many more examples of positive peer pressure in my classroom this year!