Is positive thinking enough?

Let’s apply positive thinking to school. When my writing unit is done, I “love” to grade all those papers. (Yeah, you’re thinking the same thing I am…there are tons of other things I would rather do.) I really do like to see the growth my students have made. If only it wasn’t so time consuming. The reality is that I will procrastinate. Positive thinking is not enough.

My positive voice says “I will grade all the papers” and if I do “I will have less stress, and my students will have a greater benefit.” That’s when my pessimist side says “No, you will probably go home and let the couch take over.” But, this is where research can come to save the day.

Wish – What your goal is. (To get the papers graded.)

Outcome – What personal benefits you'll gain by accomplishing your goal. (Less stress and greater benefit to students.)

Obstacle – What factors may get in the way of your goal. (My couch)

Plan – How you will anticipate and overcome the obstacles, written as an “If (obstacle)/then (plan)” statement. (If the couch will stop me from working, I will sit at the kitchen table until I’m done.)

The process is based on the research of Gabriele Oettingen and her team, who have found consistent benefits in a variety of participants trained in this strategy. Oettingen and her peeps use WOOP as an acronym.

It may seem simple, but could be just what we need to get through the mundane parts of the job.

Start Wooping Up your life today!

Try it in the classroom too:

• 1    Homework Planning: before your students leave have them design a WOOP.
• 2   Classroom Management: WOOP what “success” will look like with a problem student.
• 3   Challenging Work: before students engage in challenging work, WOOP in anticipation of the challenge.