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Turn Student Challenges into Opportunities with Reframing

Teachers encounter challenges, hear complaints, and experience missteps—our own or our students’—nearly every day. We might assume that these experiences come with the territory and just need to be managed. In many cases, this thinking is correct, but often, by reframing what students do and say, we can find new answers to longstanding challenges and resolution to chronic frustrations. Consider these seven common occurrences and how they might be reframed to present an insight or alternative for our response:

The student who makes what seems like a disconnected observation. Rather than immediately redirecting the student, we might explore whether the contribution reveals a fertile imagination or the ability to see connections between seemingly disconnected concepts or elements.
The student who constantly seems to be asking “why.” Rather than ignoring the question or providing a shutdown response, we might explore and discover an insatiable curiosity that we can help focus and develop.
The student who incessantly seeks our approval. Rather than dismissing them as tiresome or by offering a perfunctory response, we may find that we can provide reassurance and coaching to build their confidence.
The student who challenges us. Rather than treating the response as a disciplinary matter, we might consider whether it is an opportunity to adopt new and more effective ways to diminish power struggles and sidestep needless conflicts.
The student who refuses to work on a given day. Rather than pressing for compliance, we might seek to understand the reason for the behavior and then decide how we might redirect or otherwise engage the student.
The student with whom we have struggled to connect. Rather than abandon our struggle, we might broaden our connecting strategies to show we care in ways we have not thought about or tried before.
The student who resists our leadership but has followers among classmates. Rather than pushing back, we might engage the student as an emerging leader who needs us to help them to understand the importance of following without giving up power.

These are just a few examples of how we might reframe the experiences and challenges we face every day. Consider spending time reflecting on the distractions, frustrations, and interruptions you face and how you might reframe them to be more productive and satisfying as you navigate your day.

Finding the Sweet Spot Between Toxic Positivity and Negativity Bias

Climate and Culture

March 20, 2025

Finding the Sweet Spot Between Toxic Positivity and Negativity Bias

These are times when we might find ourselves feeling as though everything happens in the extreme. We have all been through a lot over the past few years, and the present can feel uncertain, unpredictable, and confusing. Disruption, distraction, and dystopia can overwhelm our emotions and leave us in despair. We may find ourselves expecting only bad news and negative experiences, or we may choose to ignore reality by accepting only positive news and tolerating only optimistic predictions. In short, we can find ourselves embracing the siren of toxic positivity or caught in the grasp of negative bias.

Obviously, maintaining mental balance and practicing sustained emotional health lies between these extremes. At times we may drift toward negativity and feel pessimistic, while at other times we may find ourselves feeling the need to be overly positive and ignore elements of reality that might worry or pull us down. These are natural tendencies. The danger emerges when these attitudes become habits and begin to dominate the way we see and respond to the experiences we have and circumstances we encounter.

While tendencies toward optimism or pessimism may seem to be opposites, they share several important characteristics:

Both are emotional states. Despite how they may lead us to feel dramatically different, they are mindsets that can become habits. They may reflect how we see life. They may even become part of how people describe our personality.
Both involve extremes. One is overly optimistic while the other pushes the limits of pessimism. Both can lead us to exaggerate the implications of our experiences and the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Both represent a single view of reality. They limit our thinking and drive our focus. Consequently, they can limit the options we consider and steps we might take in response.
Both grow out of presumptions and perceptions. They are attitudes we embrace that drive our interpretation of reality. Yet, neither toxic positivity nor negativity bias is an accurate assessment of reality.

Recognizing the presence and tendency toward either toxic positivity or negativity bias is an important first step in shifting our thinking and modifying our reaction to what happens to and around us. However, we also need strategies to inform our thinking and responses when we feel ourselves drifting toward extremes. Here are six actions to get started.

Focus on the moment. Allowing the past to overshadow the present can cloud our thinking and limit our options. Fearing the future can paralyze our judgment. Focusing on what is happening and what it means can give us a better understanding and interpretation of the situation or challenge we face.

Recognize emotions for what they are. Emotions are not reality. Rather, they are the result of how we interpret reality. Our biases—whether positive or negative—can get in the way of our thinking and lead us to follow preset thinking paths rather than assessing reality and deciding the best next steps.

Consider how else we might see the circumstance and interpret the experience. Sometimes just recognizing that there are multiple ways to make sense of what is happening can feel empowering and give us better choices in our perspective and response.

Recognize that there is good and bad in every situation. We must accept the full scope of reality, which includes both positive and negative factors. We can choose to view mistakes as reasons for shame or as invitations to learn, and we can decide whether challenges may be seen as problems to be avoided or as opportunities to take advantage of.

Focus on what we can control. In almost every situation or experience, there are elements we can control and those that we cannot. When we become preoccupied or obsessed with what we cannot control, we risk overlooking the tangible, productive steps available to us.

Practice gratitude. When we consider what is good, what we have, and what we can be grateful for, our attention shifts away from negativity without having to insist that everything is or will be perfect.

Emotions can be challenging to recognize, shift, and manage. However, since emotions reside in how we choose to view and interpret experiences and circumstances, we have the power to change them. These six strategies can give us places to start and practices to employ. What other strategies have you found to be useful and effective that you would add to the list?

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