It's a well known fact that people respond better to positive situations. Workers work harder and more efficiently, and students learn more effectively when the environment is a positive one. The following are just a few of the biggest things you can do to create the kind of classroom environment that will make your students almost eager to come to class, or at the very least keep them from actively dreading it as so many kids do.

Be Kind

Being kind to your students doesn't have to mean letting them get away with anything they want to do. If they act up, they should endure the necessary punishments. However, you do not need to yell at your students to get them to be good and attentive. If anything, this kind of treatment tends to put you on their level, making them lose respect for you. So be kind to your students while you're firm, and show them how to be good people by how you act.

Be Fair

When you seem to show favoritism to one or a few students over the others, it creates an atmosphere of resentment. Not only will the students tend to resent you, but they'll also resent your " pets" just as much for their favored status. This is a very bad place to be in for a student, so even they will tend to be somewhat uncomfortable in such a situation.

Be Reasonable

Sometimes a student doesn't know why something has to be a certain way, and the first instinct you might have in a moment of frustration is to explain with, "because I said so." This doesn't really work, and it also builds up resentment. If you explain the reason for something, the students may not always agree with you. But at the very least they'll know that you aren't simply putting rules, assignments and other requirements on them for arbitrary reasons.

Allow Students to be Creative

Creativity is a part of the learning process that can't be forced. However, for many students this is the best way to learn something. In order to create something regarding the lesson, a student needs to understand it very clearly. This will lead to the best possible clarifying questions and the hardest possible work. Allow groups to form up with objectives but without set processes. Allow the students to think for themselves, and they'll enjoy the freedom that they often don't get in life.