My 43 Favorite Classroom Affirmations

[Image Description: Paper cut-out letters that form 7 affirmations taped to a blue tile wall with white creases. Each affirmation is light pink or dark green with the colors in a pattern. "IT IS OK TO BE DIFFERENT" is in light pink letters. "LOVE YOURSELF FOR WHO YOU ARE" is in dark green letters. "CHOOSE KINDNESS" is in light pink letters. "YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS" is in dark green letters. "ALL FEELINGS ARE OK" is in light pink letters. "IT IS OK TO ASK FOR HELP" is in dark green letters. "LEARN NEW THINGS" is in light pink letters.]

DISCLAIMER: All of the following student's names mentioned in the success stories this blog post have been changed to pseudonyms to protect their identities.

As part of my professional philosophy as a teacher and my past six years of teaching, I have observed that stating affirmations to students can have a strong positive impact on their mental health. Affirmations can be a great way to boost anyone's self-esteem. To elaborate, affirmations can boost anyone's motivation and confidence along with providing inspiration. This is because these simple statements can help to view losses and challenges from a positive perspective. Instead of viewing losses and challenges as "failures" or "inadequacies," affirmations can create a growth mindset and direct these battles toward all the things that make someone awesome. Saying affirmations to students can make students feel welcomed, safe, and a sense of belonging, provide emotional support, and de-escalate difficult situations. This blog post contains a list of the affirmations that I say to my students to provide them with words of encouragement, validation, and reassurance. Success stories that have come out of stating specific affirmations to my students are included as well! 🌠

1. "Everyone is going through a rough battle that no one knows anything about. So always be kind."

[Image Description: "EVERYONE IS GOING THROUGH A ROUGH BATTLE YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. SO ALWAYS BE KIND." in center-aligned white letters on black letter board with beige wooden bordering; The letter board is also laying on a red, yellow, blue, and purple quilt as the background.]

This is one of my favorite affirmations because everyone has some type of darkness, and no one knows the full story of what everyone is going through. It is highly stressful and disrespectful when people make biased assumptions about other people and insist that their assumptions are correct without any evidence or proof. I teach my students that everyone has struggles and that anyone's darkness could be anything. I teach my students that anyone could be suicidal because mental health struggles are not always visible. I teach my students that anyone could have ADHD, be autistic/on the autism spectrum/have Autism/Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), have OCD, or other disabilities because disabilities are not always visible just by looking at someone and are not always easily noticeable by watching someone. I teach my students that anyone could be a trauma survivor and not feel comfortable opening up about it. I teach my students that while it is important to speak up, it is also unfortunate that there are people who do not speak up about their traumatic and other negative experiences even though they should. I teach my students that this can be due to a variety of factors, such as fear of judgment or not being believed or difficulty with knowing how to self-advocate.

Overall, I teach my students that not all struggles are visible. I teach my students that they should always watch the way that they talk to people and treat them because no one ever knows how much their actions will negatively or positively impact other people. I live by this affirmation when it comes to interacting with and encountering anyone as well.

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2. "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:31) ONLY in Christian schools

I would like to speak freely (with vagueness) that when I went to Catholic school from first through third grade, the school that I went to did not emphasize nor take this quote from the Bible seriously; however, during my time as a student at Bryn Athyn College, it has been so healing to observe how much so many individuals from the New Church religion community take this quote from the Bible so seriously. "Love your neighbor as yourself" is the golden rule of true Christian behavior. "Love your neighbor as yourself" means to treat everyone how you want to be treated regardless of their differences.

3. "Be kind to yourself."

When I hear any of my students stating negative self-talk, I say, "Be kind to yourself" to boost their self-esteem and encourage self-love. I tell my students to be kind to themselves when they make mistakes, when it comes to their struggles, and during rough moments as well.

4. "You make the world a better place just by being in it."

[Image Description: "YOU MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE JUST BY BEING IN IT" in white letters on a black letter board with beige wooden bordering. I am also standing in front of my bed holding the letter board.]

When I get my own classroom again, this one of the affirmations that I want to make a poster of and hang in my classroom. While all affirmations can benefit anyone, I have observed that this affirmation can especially help students with depression or suicidal thoughts, especially who say:

"I don't want to be here."
"Everyone is better off without me."
"No one cares about me."
"I wish that I didn't come to school today."
"I will not come to school tomorrow." (when said while unhappy)
Negative self-talk about their abilities

Saying this affirmation to students who exhibit these concerns can help to remind them that the world would not be the same without them in it. As for the students who express that they do not want to come to school when they are angry, I also encourage them to come by saying, "I hope that you come. School days are not the same without you here."

5. "I am glad that you are here." and "We are so lucky to have you."

I welcome all of my students with this affirmation when they first arrive to the classroom as much as possible. I also say this affirmation to my students when they express that they wish that they did not come to school, had expressed this on the previous day, or are showing other signs of having a rough mental health day. I have said this to students who have expressed suicidal thoughts or depression as well. These words tell students that I want them there.

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6. "Health comes first." and "Mental health is just as important as physical health."

[Image Description: "MENTAL HEALTH IS HEALTH AND JUST AS IMPORTANT AS PHYSICAL HEALTH." in center-aligned white letters on a black letter board with beige wooden bordering. There is a white heart center-aligned below "PHYSICAL HEALTH." The letter board is also laying on a red, yellow, blue, and purple quilt.]

These affirmations need to be said in regard to both mental and physical health to emphasize their importance. When any of my past students return to school after being sick and express concerns about catching up on their schoolwork, I tell them that "health comes first." This reassures them that they will not be penalized for any late schoolwork under these circumstances and any necessary additional support will be provided to help them catch up. I also say this when they need a break for self-care.

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7. "Self-care is not selfish."

[Image Description: "SELF-CARE IS NOT SELFISH" in center-aligned white letters on a black letter board with beige wooden bordering. The letter board is standing on a flowered tablecloth with a bright pink wall behind it.]

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs acknowledges that everyone has some type of needs even when they are basic needs. Self-care is taking ownership of one's own mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Self-care can include eating nutritiously, exercising, bathing, adequate sleep, developing and maintaining healthy relationships, any type of therapy, using healthy strategies to handle stress, etc. Besides the basics, self-care can also be setting boundaries with friends and family, taking social media breaks, calling out of work when sick or for mental health days, or scheduling days off from work for mental health days. Self-care is NOT selfish at all because everyone has needs that NEED to met and mental and physical health are a priority.

Related Link:

Self-Care is Not Selfish At All

8. "All feelings are valid."

[Image Description: "YOUR FEELINGS ARE VALID. YOU ARE ALWAYS ENTITLED TO YOUR FEELINGS." in center-aligned white letters on a black letter board with beige wooden bordering. I am also holding the letter board while sitting on my bed.]

Whether people are happy, relaxed, excited, nervous, sad, tired, angry, etc. all feelings are valid and need to be welcomed. In the classrooms that I have taught in, I teach students about what the many different feelings can look like and that it is valid to have mixed feelings. These valid mixed feelings can include but are not limited to confident and nervous, brave and scared, or sad and happy. People can also have rough moments and still be worthy of happiness and positivity. Validating all feelings of students of all ages and differences while teaching them how to get through tough times is a very important Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Trauma-Informed Care and Education practice. Invalidating anyone's feelings can lower their confidence to open up about how they are feeling when they need to during tough times. It is important to acknowledge that sometimes it is important to talk about bad stuff. If only certain feelings are validated, this can send young children and people with mental health struggles who tend to be literal thinkers the wrong message that they should have only certain feelings and to just feel certain ways. Both positive and feelings and things need to be recognized. All of this can help to build social-emotional skills. This is especially true for young children of all differences who have vulnerable minds and do not have fully developed frontal cortexes in their brains. If a child or anyone who has not had their feelings validated before or experienced a lack of emotional validation, validating them can contribute to their healing journeys. It can also boost and maintain their confidence to speak up about how they are feeling no matter what they have been through.

During my first week of student teaching first grade, I read Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School written by Herman Parish and illustrated by Lynne Avril to my students. Before I started reading the book, I asked my students about their feelings on their first day of school along with what feelings that some other people may experience on the first day of school. I explained that some people have "good feelings" about the first day of school and other situations as well as "bad feelings" about the first day of school and other situations. I told my students that sometimes people "have both good and bad feelings at the same time" about the first day of school and other situations. I asked my students if they have ever had a mix of good and bad feelings following explaining that adults and people of all ages can have good and bad feelings at the same time or at once. I could tell that my students loved my explanation about this. I observed this according to their positive facial expressions and when a student later told me that were "excited and nervous" about an after-school extracurricular activity that day. When I was student teaching first grade, I would also ask my students how they were feeling before any spelling and reading tests. I would do this by saying, "If you feel confident about tomorrow's test, show me a quiet thumbs up. If you feel nervous about tomorrow's test, show me a quiet thumbs up. If you feel both confident and nervous about tomorrow's test, show me a quiet thumbs up." I also ask to my high school students when I am assisting them with studying for their tests.

9. "It is okay not to be okay."

[Image Description: "IT IS OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY" in center-aligned white letters on a black letter board with wooden bordering standing on a flowered tablecloth. The image also has a black and white filter.]

Besides saying, "All feelings are valid," saying, "It is okay not to be okay" specifically validates any unhappy feelings (e.g. sad, depressed, angry, scared, etc.).

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During this past fall, I returned to my high school's Life Skills Support classroom where I participated in Buddy Club to complete my Field Experience in Special Education internship towards my degree. On my last day of Field Experience, all of my high school students gave me cards that they made for me. A student named Andy wrote in their card, "You tried to make me happy when I get bad days"🥹💚 Reading that Andy wrote this for me made me feel so proud because I showed emotional support when he needed it. In my last few days in their classroom in the fall, it seemed like I really came through to him because they were smiling more and showed an increased positive attitude while keeping in mind that "all feelings are valid, and it is okay not to be okay." I am so proud that I made a difference in my students' lives and that I am planning on becoming a Life Skills Support teacher🍎💚🩵✨

[Image Description: Opened vertical rectangular bright pink card. "Dear Miss Hoff, Thank you for helping us at school on Mondays and Wednesdays especially that you tried to make me happy when I get bad days. Have fun out there and be good. I'm gonna miss you. Sincerely" handwritten left-aligned in gray pencil. There is a faded name on the right side of "Sincerely." There are 15 scattered drawn red hearts and 12 scattered drawn purple hearts around the words.]

10. "It is okay to cry." instead of "Stop crying."

As part of my philosophy as a teacher and mental health advocate, I take validating anyone's tears seriously. It is extremely harmful to anyone's mental health to tell them to "stop crying" and rude to invalidate anyone's feelings. Crying is not "childish" nor "silly" because everyone cries, and it is unhealthy to bottle up emotions. Just like the two previous affirmations in this blog post say, "All feelings are valid" and "It is okay not to be okay." People can cry and still manage rough situations well. Instead of shaming people for crying, validate their emotions and provide them with support by educating them about tools and techniques for problem-solving. In addition, in the event that you do not know what to do to support someone who is crying, the least that you can do is listen or offer them a hug (and go through with it if they provide consent).

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11. "Move forward." instead of "Move on."

Contrary to popular belief, saying "move on" to trauma survivors can be harmful. This is because "move on" means to act like something never happened and not talk about it; however, the traumas that survivors experience are often constantly on their minds (especially if they have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder also known as PTSD, for short) and what happened will always stay with them. Trauma needs to be talked about and Trauma-Informed Care and Education practices need to be used to help survivors heal. Saying "move forward" instead of "move on" can be helpful to support trauma survivors' healing journeys because this statement means that while what happened will always stay with them, they will not let it control their lives completely.

Related Link:

What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

12. "While it will take time to heal, remind yourself that someone handled the situation to support you." instead of "Move on."

[Image Description: "HEALING IS LIKE SURGERY" is in white letters on a black letter board with beige wooden bordering laying on a red, yellow, blue, and purple quilt.]

As a trauma-informed approach, I say this to students who are ruminating about rough experiences that have been resolved as well. This is especially true when it comes to bullying and other types of traumas that were handled. I let them know that it was handled even when I cannot get into the details of the discipline for confidentiality purposes so that they know that responsibility and protocol was taken. This affirmation also provides validation and reassurance that care is shown, and the situation was taken seriously. Usually, when I say this affirmation to students, they show strong reception to this feedback followed by showing gratitude for my support in some way❤️‍🩹

A similar affirmation that I often say is, "Healing takes time." It is common for many people to not understand or know that healing takes time, which is why they may say, "Move on" to trauma survivors and people who experienced other negativities that have affected them emotionally. Like I previously said for #11, trauma survivors "move forward;" however, people need to understand that making this progress in healing journeys does not happen right away. Everyone heals at different speeds. The process cannot be rushed, and every trauma survivor needs time to heal. So, please be patient and thank you so much for your understanding💚✨

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13. "You are safe."

Saying "You are safe" can provide reassurance for trauma survivors, people whose mental health struggles that cause them to have intrusive thoughts, and anyone with any fears. Educators can also reassure their students that they will do everything in their power to protect them at all times when they are in their care.

Related Link:

There Needs to be More Discussions About Awareness, Prevention, and Healing From Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

14. "This is just a thought, not a fact."

I say, "This is just a thought, not a fact" when any of my students are expressing negative self-talk or struggling with All or Nothing Thinking. For example, I have used this affirmation when I have had students who have said, "Everyone at school hates me", "I am stupid", or "I am not good enough." Then, I will guide them to identify the people at school who show that they love them and their strengths.

15. "This is only temporary."

[Image Description: There are rain drops on a clear window with "48" in center-aligned white text with a degrees symbol on the right side of "8." There is a graphic of a clear cloud outlined in white with 7 white lines outlined in clear that represent rain drops. Below the temperature, "Today one of my students told me that she was in the blue zone (can mean sad, depressed, etc.) because it has been raining all day here today. I validated this feeling by telling her, "I don't like the rain either because it makes me sad too. I tell myself that 'It won't last forever' though." and she verbally repeated this affirmation with a huge smile" in left-aligned white text in a rectangular navy blue text box. The text box is overlapping the bottom edge of the clear window. On the right side of "smile," there is a cloud with rain emoji, green heart emoji, and light blue heart emoji. Below the text box, there is a center-aligned light pink "LOWER MORELAND VIBES" Snapchat filter overlapping a black car door.]

Saying "This is only temporary" or "This will not last forever" to students who have valid concerns about temporary things that matter can reassure them that what they are going through will truly not last forever. When I have students who are stressed about tests, quizzes, assignments, or sounds that give them sensory overload (e.g. fire alarm during fire drills), I validate their feelings following telling them that it is only temporary or will not last forever. Usually, they show or verbally express signs of relief when I say this.

16. "You can do hard things."

When my students express that they are concerned that they will not be able to do something before trying, I tell them to try and "You can do hard things." Usually, this encourages them and boosts their motivation to try to put in effort. Sometimes there are also students who refuse to cooperate when it comes to putting in effort for academic performance and/or functional skills. They may express this refusal by saying, "I do not want to" or "I am not going to do it." To handle this situation, I assertively say, "It is not choice and sometimes everyone has to do things that they do not want to do" following "You can do hard things." I start out by saying this to reinforce classroom expectations in a positive way as an authority figure instead of jumping to disciplining them for this challenging behavior. Sometimes after saying, "You can do hard things," I will additionally say, "I know that you can do this" or "You can do it" (yes, in the Rob Schneider voice when appropriate LOL). I have observed that saying this affirmation to students who struggle with motivation, cooperation, and other behavior concerns has worked in most situations.

When I was student teaching first grade, I constantly told my students, "You can do hard things" to motivate them to try whenever they said, "I can't do it", "I don't think I can do it", "It's too hard", "That looks really hard", or expressed feeling nervous about tests, other assignments, tasks, or skills that were difficult for them when I knew that they were capable. On my last day of student teaching, all of my students gave me cards that they made for me. I noticed that 12 of MY students wrote "You can do hard things" in the cards that they made for me (scroll to see all 12 cards!!!). This still really warms my heart today and, on this Thursday, I found out that this affirmation has stayed with my students! Even after I left their classroom a little over one month ago! I saw my mentor teacher from student teaching on Thursday at the Education Department Graduation Dinner that my school hosts for their student teachers, Field Experience interns, and their mentors. My mentor teacher from student teaching came and gave me cards that my students gave me and one of the students wrote "You can do hard things" in their card! When I pointed this out to my mentor, she told me that this affirmation that I taught them has impacted them so well that they say it every day! This really warms my heart🥹❤️

[Image Description: A card made by one of my first graders. The card is open and made out of bright orange construction paper folded in portrait view with white paper glued on the left side and white lined paper glued on the right side with blue straight and dotted lines. On the white paper, "My favorite thing you taught me is compound words." is written left-aligned in gray pencil at the top with the words facing to the left. Below this sentence, there is a drawn picture of a yellow classroom with a teacher with curly brown hair wearing pink standing on the left side of a black board with sky blue writing and stick figures sitting gray chairs pushed into red desks with black legs. There is a drawn student with short brown hair wearing blue sitting in the desk on the left. On the right side of this paper, there is a black desk with another stick figure teacher with long straight hair standing behind it. On the lined paper, "Dear Miss Hoff, I like when you teach me compound words. You can do hard things." is written left-aligned in gray pencil.]

[Image Description: Another card made by one of my first graders. The card is open and made out of bright orange construction paper folded in portrait view with white lined paper glued on the right side with blue straight and dotted lines. On the white paper on the left side, there is a picture of a male student wearing a gray vest, brown pants, and gray shoes sitting at an orange desk with gray legs with a white paper laying on it with something gray written on it. On the right side of the student, there is a female teacher with brown hair wearing a green short sleeved shirt, orange pants, and gray shoes standing on front of a gray board. On the lined paper, "Dear Miss Hoff, I like when you teach me math. I liked when you came in side our class. You can do hard things." is written left-aligned in gray pencil.]

[Image Description: Another card made by one of my first graders. The card is open and made out of bright orange construction paper folded in portrait view with white paper glued on the left side and white lined paper glued on the right side with blue straight and dotted lines. On the white paper on the left side, "THANK YOU MISS HOFF!" is written center-aligned in purple marker with a violet heart drawn below it. Inside of the violet heart, there is green grass with a red flower with a green stem and leaves, a light pink and white path with two girls with thick curly black hair wearing purple triangular dresses and purple shoes with "you" written in gray pencil labeled below the left girl and "me" written in gray pencil labeled below the right girl, a red, orange, yellow, green, and blue rainbow, and a yellow sun in the top right corner of the heart. There is a drawn red heart below the bottom corner of the violet heart. On the lined paper, "Dear Miss Hoff, Thank you for everything i will miss you YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS! I love when you teach us math" is written left-aligned in gray pencil.]

[Image Description: Another card made by one of my first graders. The card is open and made out of bright orange construction paper folded in portrait view with white paper glued on the left side and white lined paper glued on the right side with blue straight and dotted lines. On the white paper on the left side, "Story time" is written left-aligned in gray pencil at the top with the words facing to the left. Below these words, there is a teacher stick figure with curly hair, a triangular dress, and shoes with laces drawn in gray pencil. The teacher is sitting in a chair and holding an open book facing forward both drawn in gray pencil. In front of the teacher, there is a drawn dark blue carpet with several orange, purple, bright blue, yellow, green, pink, sky blue, and black circles on it. On the lined paper, "Dear Miss Hoff, I like when you did spelling. You can do hard things." is written left-aligned in gray pencil.]

[Image Description: Another card made by one of my first graders. The card is open and made out of bright orange construction paper folded in portrait view with white paper glued on the left side and white lined paper glued on the right side with blue straight and dotted lines. On the white paper on the left side, "Thanks for Teaching us I Love you" is written left-aligned in dark gray pencil on a board shaded in light gray. There is a teacher stick figure with long curly hair with a triangular dress drawn in gray pencil in front of the board. The corners of the walls are drawn in gray pencil with a door colored in brown marker with a white window and doorknob. At the bottom of the paper on the left side, there are 6 green desks with white papers with a student sitting at each drawn in gray pencil. 2 of the students have 2 ponytails and one student has one ponytail while the other 3 students have short hair. On the right side of the students, there is a desk with 2 papers on it with another teacher stick figure sitting at it. On the lined paper, "Dear Miss Hoff, Thank you for Teaching us art. you can do hard things." is written left-aligned in gray pencil.]

[Image Description: Another card made by one of my first graders. The card is open and made out of bright orange construction paper folded in portrait view with white paper glued on the left side and white lined paper glued on the right side with blue straight and dotted lines. On the white paper, there is a drawn classroom with a blue wall, fan drawn in gray pencil, white board with "10-5=5" written in gray pencil on it hanging on the wall. In the top right corner of the paper, there is a blue desk with a white paper with blue writing on it laying on it. On the left side of the desk, there is a teacher stick figure with a yellow head wearing purple with 3 brown desks outlined in black with a drawn student sitting at each. On the lined paper, "Dear Miss Hoff, Thank you for teaching me math. You can do hard things." is written left-aligned in gray pencil.]

[Image Description: Another card made by one of my first graders. The card is open and made out of bright orange construction paper folded in portrait view with white paper glued on the left side and white lined paper glued on the right side with blue straight and dotted lines. On the white paper, "I Love you" is written center-aligned in gray pencil and red crayon on a white board outlined in gray with a stick figure drawn in gray pencil on the left side and a brown desk on the right side. There is a straight gray line drawn below all of this. Below the line, there are three desks with chairs with two student stick figures sitting at two of the desks all drawn in gray pencil. In the bottom left corner of the white paper, there is a desk with a chair with a stick figure standing on the right side all drawn in gray pencil. On the lined paper, "Dear Miss Hoff, Thank you for visiting our classroom. It made me happy! You can do hard things." is written left-aligned in gray pencil.]

[Image Description: Another card made by one of my first graders. The card is open and made out of bright orange construction paper folded in portrait view with white lined paper glued on the right side with blue straight and dotted lines. On the orange paper on the left side, there is a board on a stand outlined in gray that says "can like it run" in center-aligned gray pencil outlined in violet crayon with a stick figure with a triangular dress with curly hair drawn in gray pencil on the left. On the right side of the board, there is a desk, a pencil, and two papers (one that says "can like" and the other says "it run") laying on it all drawn in gray pencil. On the right side of the desk, there is a teacher stick figure with hair and wearing pink. On the lined paper, "Dear Miss Hoff, Thank you I like when you. Thank you for teaching us. You can do hard things." is written left-aligned in gray pencil.]

[Image Description: Another card made by one of my first graders. A closed card made out of orange construction paper and folded in portrait view. In the middle of the card's cover, "you can do hard things." is written in left-aligned bubble letters. The middle of "you" is outlined in dark purple, the middle of "can" is outlined in bright pink, the middle of "do" is outlined in bright blue, the middle of "hard" is outlined in light pink, and the middle of "things" is outlined in orange. Below this affirmation "YOU ARE THE BESt!" is written in center-aligned bubble letters. The middle of "YOU" is outlined in bright blue, the middle of "ARE" is outlined in light pink, the middle of "THE" is outlined in red, the middle of "BESt" is outlined in dark purple, and the middle of the exclamation point is outlined in yellow.]

17. "Life is tough and so are you." instead of "Life is not fair."

[Image Description: Super happy selfie of me smiling with "Telling my students that "Life is tough and so are you" has absolutely been helping them handle tough things lately" in left-aligned white text in a rectangular black text box. The mending heart emoji is on the right side of "lately" in the caption box and the caption box is overlapping my chest.]

I say, "Life is tough and so are you" to help my students handle tough things. Saying this affirmation appears to be especially helpful when my students express concerns that something will be too tough for them. Recently, after returning to volunteering in high school Life Skills Support, one of my high school students named Zeke had been saying, "This is tough" when assigned tasks or assignments that they considered difficult from their perspective before trying. I would validate and motivate this student by saying, "It is tough. However, I need you to try your best. Life is tough and so are you." One of the paraprofessionals reassured this student by saying, "I really like and agree with what Miss Hoff is saying about, 'Life is tough and so are you." Last week I got so excited when I heard this student expressing pride to the lead teacher about his productivity that day by saying, "I can do tough things."

Saying, "Life is tough and so are you" is kinder than saying, "Life is not fair" because sometimes people say this to get away with being unfair and to be spiteful. All because life is not fair does not mean that someone's behavior is fair. People who are being unfair have the free will to change their behavior by being fair.

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18. "Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes are how everyone learns."

I say this affirmation to my students, whenever they answer discussion questions incorrectly during lessons or make mistakes when completing assignments or tasks. Saying this affirmation to students can make classrooms a safe and comfortable place to make mistakes. I encourage other students to help them find the correct answers as well.

When I was student teaching first grade, I also learned to tell students, "When someone makes a mistake, we should treat them with kindness" to handle when students are bullied for their mistakes. This provides words of advice for how students can handle when their peers make mistakes instead of teasing or judging them. These positive words are also kinder to say than "Stop laughing" or "That's not nice" and tell students what to do instead of only what not to do.

19. "Learning is a journey."

I first learned this affirmation when I was doing my Field Experience in a third grade classroom at the Bryn Athyn Church School in Bryn Athyn, PA during my junior year at Bryn Athyn College. My mentor would say to our students, "Learning is a journey and it is okay no matter what your journey is" when acknowledging their different areas of improvement in academic and functional skills. This helped to reduce insecurity and negative comparisons.

I also include saying this affirmation after embracing my and anyone else's mistakes. In the high school Life Skills Support classroom, the Life Skills Support staff and I often say, "We are all learning together" to our students as a positive approach to when students make mistakes in front of their peers or out in public. This can reduce or prevent insecurity.

Another affirmation that connects with this affirmation is "Learn new things." At the end of my first math lesson about place values when I was student teaching first grade, I asked my students what they learned about the lesson. One of my students named Zachary replied, "It is fun to learn new things." One of the projects that my college's Education Department program required student teachers to complete was a bulletin board. I decided to create a bulletin board of affirmations that I often state to my students (first picture in the beginning of this blog post!) and this student's words inspired me to include "Learn new things" on the bulletin board. Zachary was so excited when I told him this.

20. "Practice/Effort makes progress." instead of "Practice makes perfect."

It is pretty self-explanatory as to why it is important to say, "Practice makes progress" instead of "Practice makes perfect." This is because perfection is impossible. The result of practice is making progress in areas of improvement or skills that are worthy of being built or enhanced. It can also be effective to say, "Effort makes progress" because progress is also a result of putting in effort towards something.

21. "E for Effort."

I say, "E for Effort" to my students even when things do not work out because this affirmation shows that putting in effort was at least worth it.

One day when my high school Life Skills students were practicing for their annual Special Olympics event, one of my students did not have the motivation to practice their long jump. I said to this student, "The length of any jump is good enough. It does not have be huge and elaborate. E for Effort." This affirmation obviously worked since my student said, "Ok," and then, jumped across the line a bit! I said, "The length of that jump is good enough. I am so glad that you decided to participate."

22. "Try again."

When any of my students have rough moments when it comes to their behaviors, I tell them, "Try again" to show that I know that they are capable of improvement.

23. "Believe in yourself." and "I believe in you."

I always tell my students to "Try your best to see what you can do." I will also say this when they are completing independent assignments just so that I can see what they know. If they are concerned that they will not know some of the answers, I tell them to do what they can and if there is anything that they are unsure about or answer incorrectly, that they can always fix it.

While there are students who truly do struggle, I have also had students who are concerned that they will not be able to do something before putting in any effort. So, I tell them to "Just try your best" as well. Then, many of them succeed with these tasks or assignments. This is when I say to them, "Look how successful you were with/at/in (name of task/assignment)! Believe in yourself!". Recently, one of my high school Life Skills students who really struggles with spelling took some time to identify which letters that they needed to type to spell a word. Visuals of the correct spellings of words often help this student while they are also capable of spelling certain words without visuals. So, I wanted to observe which words that they could spell on their own during this assignment just to see what they know and acknowledge their improvement. I encouraged this student to try their best, let me know whenever they became unsure about any spelling, and reassured them that I could always assist them with fixing the spelling if they wrote anything incorrectly. As I was supervising this student, they chose ALL of the correct letters of many words without my assistance! I used the same above words to praise this student and after telling her to "Believe in yourself," she has become even better with spelling while needing valid assistance at times. I am so proud to see how far this student has come with independently spelling words!

24. "Everyone has different strengths, abilities, challenges, and preferences, and it is okay to be different." and "All differences matter."

[Image Description: "EVERY DISABILITY, MENTAL HEALTH, AND HEALING JOURNEY IS DIFFERENT AND MATTERS" in white letters on a black letter board with beige wooden bordering. There is a white heart on the right side of "MATTERS" and the letter board is laying on a red, yellow, blue, and purple quilt.]

This affirmation acknowledges and validates all differences and embraces diversity pride.

Related Links:

25. "It is okay for people to have strengths and still not have all the answers in their areas of strengths."

No one is perfect. All because a person is gifted in all areas, has linear giftedness, or is a savant in certain areas does not mean that they will never be wrong. To reiterate, everyone makes mistakes, and it is okay to not have all the right answers as long as accountability is taken afterwards. No one needs to always be right. In fact, it is impossible to always be right and uncertainty and mistakes contribute to everyone's growth. People can also have struggles and be imperfect and still be capable of success.

26. "People can be independent and still need help." and "People can need help and still be independent."

It is okay to ask for help. The first time that I read this affirmation was in Alexandra Elle's Today I Affirm: A Journal That Nurtures Self-Care. This affirmation has been very healing for me since as a child and even adult, there have been toxic people that have pressured independence upon me in certain areas to avoid providing help or attempting to shut down any help that I have received. I have not only used this affirmation to stand up for myself; I have used this affirmation and my own journey that it resonates with to reassure my students that they it is possible to be capable of independence while needing help sometimes.

27. "You are an independent, strong, intelligent person."

I encourage my students to build their independence skills as much as possible. One day this school year, a student named Sienna from another class and the paraprofessional who was supervising them joined my high school Life Skills students, the Life Skills Support staff, and I outside for Special Olympics practice. On our way back inside of the school, Sienna walked ahead of us without the paraprofessional who was supervising them and into the building after someone opened the door. One of my students named Patricia said, "Wow! Sienna walked into our school without you!". I said, "Sienna is an independent woman" and the paraprofessional turned to me and said, "She sure is!". Then, I said, "Let's change that to, 'Sienna is an independent, strong, intelligent woman."

Another time when my high school students and I were playing Uno, it was David's turn to draw one card from the pile and Zeke attempted to hand David the card. I reassured Zeke that David could get the card himself and Zeke was concerned that he was "in trouble." I reassured Zeke by saying, "You tell me if you are in trouble. Have you ever been in trouble with me?". This was followed by Zeke saying "no" and me telling him, "It is just that David is an independent man, and I appreciate that what you were trying to do was so kind" followed by David sharing that he was grateful for Zeke's kindness as well. This positive approach brought a smile to Zeke's face. During this moment of the game, my turn had been occurring after David's turn; however, the next time that it was David's turn, David laid down a reverse card and I playfully teased with a smile by saying, "Hey! Was that revenge for what I did to Zeke?!". David smiled, laughed, and said, "Yes" followed by Zeke's laughter and all three of us high fiving each other. As the game continued, I noticed that Zeke attempted to hand cards from the pile to his other peers including David during their turns as well and all of Zeke's peers were receptive to this. Since I am so open-minded, I took accountability for my innocent mistake by letting this go on.

28. "It is often said that the craziest people are the most intelligent people."

This is an affirmation that I have recently started saying to my high school students and each time it has brought nothing but many smiles. Whenever my high school students call their peers and/or teachers "crazy" (usually for playful humor or when dark humor is appropriate), I say to them, "It is often said that the craziest people are the most intelligent people. So, I guess you are also calling yourself crazy since you are another person who is so intelligent."

29. "Great minds think alike."

Whenever my students think of the same ideas as me or each other, I embrace this experience by saying, "Great minds think alike!". This acknowledges how positive the ideas are and students' similar strengths.

30. "You are worthy of success."

This affirmation motivates students to thrive and work towards success. It also lets them know that there are different ways to succeed.

31. "Teamwork makes the dream work."

When my students are supposed to be working as a team during group projects or group classwork and struggling with putting in effort towards teamwork, I say this affirmation to motivate them. This affirmation explains the importance of teamwork. It explains the end result of teamwork. The dream is the goal and teamwork can make that goal happen.

32. "Patience is a virtue." and "Great things come to those who wait."

I say, "Patience is a virtue" and "Great things come to those who wait" to my students as a friendly reminder to be patient for even the small things and when providing behavior-specific praise for their patience. I also say this affirmation as a positive behavior management approach to handling when my students are struggling with needing to wait for their turns for stuff.

One day when my high school students in Life Skills Support were having a picnic in our school's courtyard at our school, one of my co-teachers brought in one inflatable lounge chair that was able to fit 1-2 people at a time. While some students were patiently waiting their turns to sit in the chair, one student was expressing impatience about waiting for their turn. This student kept asking when it was going to be their turn to sit in the chair and I kept redirecting them by saying, "The chair is for everyone to take turns sitting in and you need to wait your turn to sit in the lounge chair if you want to sit in it. Patience is a virtue and great things come to those who wait." This was followed by him patiently waiting for his turn. When he got his turn to sit in the chair, he was smiling super big and I said, "I am so happy that you are happy that you got your turn after waiting patiently. Now you got to see that great things come to those who wait."

33. "Quality over quantity"

[Image Description: "QUALITY" is in center-aligned violet text above a center-aligned straight black line. There are several people hugging emojis scattered above "QUALITY." "QUANITY" is in center-aligned violet text below the line. There are several melon and white Instagram like notification symbols with a white heart on the left and "1" in right-aligned white text, people of different races and genders holding hands emojis, and people silhouette emojis scattered below "QUANTITY." My First Former Buddy Club President logo is in the bottom left corner of the image with "FIRST FORMER BUDDY CLUB PRESIDENT" in center-aligned italicized black font overlapping an enlarged light blue heart with several small red hearts and a light blue background in the background of the enlarged heart.]

I use this affirmation to teach my students about the importance of acknowledging their qualities of their friends instead of the quantity of their friends. To elaborate, how friends treat each other is more important than people's number of friends.

Related Links:

Quality of Influential Content and Friends Over Quantity of Followers and Friends

34. "Enjoy the little things. For one day, you may look back and realize that they were the big things."

It is extremely important for teachers to teach their students that small victories are worthy of celebration. This is especially important for students in the disability community who have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). IEPs are documentation that contain goals, accommodations, modifications, supports, and services that individual students in the disability community receive to help them thrive in educational settings. Each student's IEP is different because every individual has different strengths and areas of improvement. IEP goals can be created to improve the academic and/or functional skills of individual students in the disability community. What may be easy for one student may be harder for another student and what may be harder for one student may be easier for another student. This is why I teach my students that small things can make a big difference by stating this affirmation.

35. "You are..." affirmations to individual students and whole groups for behavior-specific praise:

Artistic
Brave
Calm
Capable
Caring
Confident
Creative
Enthusiastic
Extroverted
Flexible
Funny
Hard worker
Helpful
Honest
Independent
Industrious
Insightful
Intelligent
Kind
Knowledgeable
Mature
Open-minded
Outgoing
Passionate
Patient
Productive
Professional
Reliable
Responsible
Strong
Successful
Understanding

36. "You are worthy of new beginnings."

For new students, high school graduates, students who are healing, and students with any new beginnings

37. "Surround yourself with positive people who treat you with kindness."

While I encourage my students to build and maintain friendships, I also handle bullying by not only reprimanding the bullies; another thing that I do to handle bullying is having a tough love conversation with students who are being bullied about avoiding interacting with the wrong people. I ask them how the way that the peers who are bullying them makes them feel following validating their unhappy feelings and encouraging them to "Surround yourself with positive people who treat you with kindness." Then, I assist them with identifying specific positive people in their social circle WHO DO treat them with kindness.

38. "Trust the process."

39. "Fake it until you make it."

40. "Respecting everyone at all times even when they disrespect you is mature character."

[Image Description: "SHOW RESPECT EVEN TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T DESERVE IT; NOT AS A REFLECTION OF THEIR CHARACTER BUT AS A REFLECTION OF YOURS. -DAVE WILLIS" in center-aligned white letters on a black letter board with beige wooden bordering. The letter board is also laying on a red, yellow, blue, and purple quilt.]

While I know that this is controversial, I tell my students this because I am for what is right. I teach my students to not stoop to the level of negative people. Even if I do not like someone so much that they cannot stand them and I see them being treated wrongfully, I still view that treating them wrong is out of line. I teach my students to have this same mindset about this moral. I also teach my students that, "How other people treat you does not define your character. It defines THEIR character."

FYI this is not me saying that students nor anyone should let others treat them wrongfully and to not stand up for oneself even though we cannot control other people's actions. My whole point of this is that no one should be disrespected.

Related Links:

41. "You are not alone."

[Image Description: There is a bright blue poster with 6 hands of different skin colors put together in a circle. Each arm has a long sleeve on it. One of the sleeves is white, another sleeve is mint green with a cuff outlined in white with a white button on it, another sleeve is bright pink with white dots, another sleeve is yellow with white dots with a light blue and white cuff, another sleeve is red with a white button on it, and the sixth sleeve is yellow with white dots. The top of the poster says, "You Are Not Alone" in left-aligned white text. Below the middle hand on the right side of the circle, "American Foundation for Suicide Prevention" is in left-aligned white text with the AFSP white and bright blue lifesaver floater logo on the left side. The poster is attached to the top of a beige door with a silver metal push bar.]

42. "There is hope."

43. "Be yourself."

I tell my students that they should be themselves and love themselves for who you are.

What is an affirmation that you speak to your students, their families, your own children, other individuals, or yourself every day?

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My 43 Favorite Classroom Affirmations

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