1. Simply greet students by name when they enter an area. Adding a sincere, positive
statement about the student only increases the effectiveness of the greeting.
A ntece dent I
Consider frequently greeting students as they arrive to an area and you
may find they initiate their tasks sooner, keep working longer, and have
a more positive attitude.
 Anytime! Greetings can be delivered anytime you interact
with a student, especially when they are entering an area with an
expectation to complete a task.
 Anywhere! Greetings can be delivered anywhere a student
goes: classrooms, residential areas, advising meetings, SO practices,
as they get into a vehicle for an activity, etc.
 Anyone! Greetings can be delivered by anyone and should be
delivered by the staff member in control of the current environment.
When the staff member in control of the area delivers the greeting,
it pairs them with the positive interactions.
 Greetings build rapport with students, establish a reinforcing
environment that the student wants to be in, and supports on-task
behavior.
 When students are expected to enter your area, wait at the
door, greet each one by name, welcome them to the area, and
deliver a sincere, positive statement about them.
The initial tone that is set, or the
personal attention that is
provided, helps to establish a
positively reinforcing
environment.
 Allday & Pakurar (2007) –
Merely greeting a student at
the door with their name and
a brief genuine pleasantry
increased the student’s
on-task behavior from a
mean of 45% to 72%.
 Brown & Sulzer-Azaroff (1994) –
Greetings paired with smiles
by bank tellers were positively
correlated with customer
satisfaction.
“Hello Tori, I am glad you are here today, great job being on time!”