Humor can be a great antidote to the negativity bias. Educators can dole out empathy first, then help the student get unstuck by finding proactive, little steps to solve the problem. This is called catastrophization or unproductive self-talk. Do you have students who are able to arrive at the worst possible conclusion for a negative event? A student who receives a B in middle school math declares she won’t be able to go to the university of her choice. It turned out to be a memorable day and a positive learning experience.Īverting catastrophizing. I asked my students to drag their chairs outside, and we conducted the lesson underneath a big tree. As I was inwardly bemoaning this unkind fate, I looked outside. It was a beautiful day. I was so disappointed because I had prepared a great lesson that it seemed would not happen. I remember a time when I was teaching a lesson and the electricity went out. Teach students to focus primarily on thoughts and events that lead to action-oriented solutions. Any failure or unpleasant event can be reframed as a positive, or, as the famous quote says, “an opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Capitalize on this opportunity by promoting the perspective that contest participation is actually great preparation for better future performance.

A student who failed to win in the spelling bee may feel let down.

Challenge students to seek positive ways of evaluating an event. Modeling optimism is the best way to combat negativity bias, but there are several other things a teacher can do as well. At the end of a school day, if a teacher is focused on the singular instance that did not go so well compared with the many events that did go well, they are exhibiting this bias. The term negativity bias refers to a human brain’s attunement to negative, unpleasant events.

Realistic optimism