Maintain a can-do attitude for yourself and the students. Encourage students with your attitude when they feel discouraged about their ability to understand a lesson or to do something well. Having a can-do attitude stems from a sense of trust that you and students are able to overcome obstacles, challenges and times of doubt.
Encourage responsible behavior from students. Rather than accepting student excuses for why homework wasn't done or why a student was late to class, teach the student about accountability and responsibility. This is part of being a proactive teacher because it helps students develop, mature and recognize that they can do things differently the next time around.
Focus on students' strengths. Evaluate the students through observation to determine what their strengths are. Arrange your curriculum, homework and in-class assignments as closely in line with those strengths as possible in order to maintain a positive classroom experience for the students. When students run up against challenges, think of new ways of getting them to use their strengths to apply to the curriculum.
Be prepared in the classroom with basic essentials that the students can take advantage of. Part of being proactive involves knowing ahead of time what you can do to make your students' experience better. Have personal hygiene items on hand, extra snacks, spare pairs of socks or one or two public bus passes. This type of preparation can help students who are in a bind.
Establish rules for the classroom. A proactive teacher thinks about what types of behavioral issues could occur in class and formulates classroom rules ahead of time, rather than waiting for problems to arise and reacting when it's too late. A set of classroom rules, followed by an explanation of the consequences for breaking the rules, is a proactive step teachers can take to keep classrooms under control.
Teach students how to develop socially. Besides offering an academic experience, encourage students to break out of their shell, make new friends, stand up for themselves during peer conflicts or handle emotional or behavioral issues maturely.