When you are doing supply work in a new school it can be difficult to know their praise and sanction policy well enough to give out the correct level of praise when a child’s behaviour is good. Often as a supply teacher good behaviour can be over looked as you don’t know the children well enough to know what to expect from them and you main focus tends to be on keeping control of a new class and watching out for disruptive behaviour. And this is the reason for the praise cards, these work like awarding a child a sticker, however they are more suitable for older children (a little bit cooler than a sticker at age 13!). The cards are the size of a business card and have phrases on them such as ‘Hey I caught you being kind, well done!’ on them or ‘What great work’.
The tone of the cards is very conversational and so most students find them fun and a positive influence for working well. In all they are a great tool to carry around with you to get over the hurdle of acknowledging good behaviour in an unfamiliar school.
