Know your students. Take their worries and issues seriously. Acknowledge that seemingly small worries can seem extremely important to students. Build strong relationships with your class so that every student knows he can talk to you if he has a problem or needs help and that his problems won't be brushed off or ignored. Encourage an atmosphere of respect in your classroom by talking politely and listening to your students.
Incorporate circle time into your class routine. Allocate a time each week and have students sit in a circle where everyone can see and hear everyone else. Use this time to discuss and resolve classroom issues and to encourage discussion and exploration of wider issues. Agree on rules for circle time with your class so that everyone has a turn to speak and all opinions are treated with respect.
Celebrate success. Show students that you are proud of them, however small their achievements may be. Encourage students to bring in awards and trophies that they have won outside school so that this can also be celebrated, increasing a student's confidence and developing a positive attitude to school.
Be a role model. Show students how to handle conflict and difficulty in the correct way. Do not shout at students, lose your temper, belittle or humiliate them. If students are behaving in an unacceptable way, have clear boundaries and consequences in place and use them fairly and consistently. Let a student know where she stands, so that she can feel secure, safe and confident.
Teach your class strategies for dealing with anger. If you have a student who finds it hard to stay calm, develop a system so that he can show you that he is getting angry or frustrated, then allow him some time out to calm down. Praise him if he keeps his anger under control. If students behave inappropriately, once the situation has passed, allow time for reflection.
Use group and co-operative working. Allow students to discuss ideas and solve problems in groups. In math, for example, students can work together to solve a puzzle; in science, a group of students can discuss ideas for a suitable experiment. Use group work whenever you can in all areas of the curriculum as working together helps students to build relationships, learn respect for each other and build social skills.
Have your students set goals. Do this at the beginning of the school year, the start of a new semester, or even each week or day if necessary. Help a student to make goals realistic and to work out the steps she needs to take to reach her goals. Encourage and praise her when she achieve each step and celebrate when goals are reached, reflecting on the process.