Winston Churchill once said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

As a band director, does your positive (or negative) attitude really make that much difference? MENC member Brian Webb thinks so. “It is extremely important to the success of a program to maintain a positive and supportive learning environment,” he says.

The end of the school year is just around the corner, and the challenge to maintain (or achieve) that "positive and supportive" environment is on. Many books and articles have been written to address this subject, but best-selling author John Maxwell has summed up one key suggestion in his book, Attitude 101.

Maxwell relies on the power of the positive statement, believing that when people continually hear positive statements, it helps them to believe in themselves and causes them to act on that belief. Maxwell offers the following "key word" substitutions:

Eliminate the first phrases and words completely, and make the second phrases and words part of your vocabulary.

1. I can’t  ... I can
2. If ... I will
3. Doubt ... Expect the best
4. I don’t think ... I know
5. I don’t have time ... I will make the time
6. Maybe ... Positively
7. I’m afraid of ... I am confident
8. I don’t believe ... I do believe
9. (minimize) I ... (promote) You
10. It’s impossible ... All things are possible

MENC member Susan Braden agrees, “If the students think that you care about and support them, they will strive as hard as they can to please you.”

--Becky Spray, May 8, 2008, © MENC: The National Association for Music Education (www.menc.org)