How to Leave Students Positive Notes as a Substitute Teacher

Last updated on February 24th, 2024 at 09:05 pm

While I’m a firm believer in giving students consequences for misbehavior, it’s much more fun to reward the positive behaviors.

Positive behavior can be reinforced in a number of ways as a substitute teacher. In the past, I’ve gone from awarding students with a class game to giving out candy Willy Wonka-style to a simple “thank you” and acknowledgement of the action.

One of the hardest parts of subbing is deciding on which rewards or consequences to give (I’ve written about how to decide on incentives in this blog post). But let’s say you’ve made up your mind. You ready your sub bag with all of the essentials, including a ready-made student incentive: the positive note.

Your options for positive student notes as a substitute teacher

If you don’t have anything prepared, don’t worry.

Leaving a short-and-sweet motivational statement for a student on the fly can still reinforce positive behavior. You could write an encouragement on a scrap piece of paper, or with the student’s permission, on their work page. Try writing specific praise, such as: “Great use of detail in your writing!” and “Thanks for showing your math work in such a clear way” or simply “Thanks for all of your help today!”

Though on-the-fly is always an option for giving students positive feedback, I prefer to supply myself with prepared notes.

I designed some simple notes using decorative fonts and compatible color schemes. The notes come in two simple messages: 1. Thank you for being you! and 2. You Rock! Sincerely, Your Substitute.

If you’d like to print and cut out my design, it’s available on Google Slides here as a free download.

Alternatively, you could design your own notes and either print and cut them yourself or send them off to a print shop. You could also make them as business cards and get a whole set!

My story of giving positive notes to students while substitute teaching:

I fanned out my selection of about ten different colored notes to a student who had been particularly helpful and asked him to take one.

“What’s this?”

“They’re my prize for outstanding students,” I replied, unsure how he’d respond. They were just little pieces of colorful paper, after all.

After deliberating for a few moments, the student drew out a card.

“You don’t know how much this means to me,” he whispered, barely audibly.

I smiled and resumed circulating the classroom as we were dismissing for the day. Inwardly, I was doing nerdy dances in celebration. I couldn’t believe this simple token of appreciation had been meaningful.

As the students were heading out, I asked one of them if she could pick up some stray pencils on the floor. She jumped to the task happily, even though it wasn’t her mess.

I thanked her and offered her one of my positive cards. She took one with a smile.

A few other students were helping out, so I gave them notes as well.

When the last student trickled out, I began to straighten up the room, erasing what I’d written on the board and picking up scraps that had lodged into the carpet. Then I heard a small knock on the door.

I opened it to find three students.

“The others said they got cards…” one girl hesitantly explained/requested.

I smiled but inwardly was performing various gymnastics moves. Students were coming back to the room when it was time to go home to seek out my unfancy notes? There are still surprises in this life!

I handed each one a note and sent them on their way, newly noteless but filled with warm feelings.

It was a good day, and I hope I made it brighter for some deserving students.

How to give out notes as a positive reinforcer

If you’d like to try to hand out notes as a positive reinforcement strategy, or simply as a small way to thank a student, know that the process is pretty simple.

You’ll need to prepare your notes ahead of time and bring them to your assigned job.

Then when a student is demonstrating behavior you’d like to reward or thank, slip them a note or fan the selections out so they can choose.

Try to do this discreetly– but if other students see, that’s alright, too. Just be prepared to explain how students can earn a note. I recommend giving them out to students who model consistent excellent behavior, or help out in a meaningful way.

Whatever parameters you choose, be sure to pass out multiple notes to students to truly earn them, according to your standards. That way, it doesn’t look like you’re just choosing favorites.

Cultivating a healthy mindset for positive student notes

Like any tactic you try in the classroom, I suggest holding onto it lightly.

There are some methods– heck, some jokes– I’ve tried with classes that fell flat. Like, super pancake flat (acutally, crepe– think crepe). All you can do is hold it lightly, accepting that the responses won’t always be your favorite. Aside from blatant disrespect or misbehavior, it can be a learning opportunity for you, and you can move on.

When I handed these positive student notes out to the fourth graders, I didn’t expect much. I assumed they’d likely be too “old” or too complacent to the admirations of adults that they wouldn’t be impressed.

Apathy is pretty much the standard response I get from most of my attempts at pleasantness.

“Good morning!” “Have a great weekend!” “Hello, there! Welcome” I constantly say to the abyss.

But unlike my cheerful greetings, for some reason these notes garnered a response.

And not just any response– enthusiasm, thankfulness, and genuine wonder.

I honestly couldn’t believe it. But I think it went so well because I held onto this method lightly, not expecting too much. And that’s how I’ll continue to view it, though I’m always open to being pleasantly surprised.

Encouraging positive behavior in students

Teaching– especially substitute teaching— can be a downright doggedly difficult job.

The students can be less than receptive to the teacher’s various strategies and attempts.

But every once in a while, my hope for teaching is renewed. Bursts of light slip through the cracks. A smile slowly creeps up among a miserable sea of frowns.

I figure if I can thank or reward students for honestly great behavior, I will. None of that phony stuff, or the embarassingly low standards educators often project. “I like how Marty is sitting on the carpet not inflicting violence on anyone right this second.”

But genuine, hard-earned rewards? I’ll dole them out. Sometimes it can brighten a student’s day like they’ve brightened up mine.

For further reading on classroom and behavior management for substitute teachers, I wrote up a whole section on it here on the blog! To read more about positive behavior reinforcement strategies for substitutes, check out:

Why I Use Both Whole Class and Individual Rewards

The #1 Thing I Always Do When Substitute Teaching

Should Substitutes Bring Candy as a Reward?

A Free Behavior Management Printable for Substitute Teachers

A Fun Trick for Substitutes to Boost Student Behavior

Free Student Rewards for Substitute Teachers

The Best Behavior Management Tips for Substitute Teachers