Feedback Strategies

The first article that I read is Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset by Gravity Goldberg. Early in the article, Gravity talks about how children can sometimes develop a fixed mindset where they believe some of their abilities (reading was the focus of this article) are static and unable to improve. Later in the article, she brings up five qualities to help promote a growth mindset over a fixed mindset. The third quality she mentions is to focus on the process of learning and the work that the student is putting in throughout that process. I completely agree with the idea of giving positive feedback for effort and progress, especially with younger children. I think I have said this before, but I believe there are many things that can be overcome by simply working hard. If a student believes that nothing will change no matter how hard they work, then they will probably be less likely to work hard. Showing and praising the progress that they have made can prove to them that the work they are putting in makes a difference.

Another quality that Gravity talks about is making sure the feedback can transfer. “'When you thought about why Jonas lied to his dad, it helped you understand why he left,” I might say, “When you thought about the character’s choices, it helped you understand his motivation.'” This is extremely valuable advice in my opinion. Making the feedback too specific can lead to a student understanding that exact situation, but they may have trouble transferring it to other situations. Making the feedback more general can help a student learn an overall lesson instead of situation-specific lesson.

The second article that I read was The Difference Between Praise and Feedback by Mindshift. This article explains some of the issues associated with the language we use when dealing with children. It highlights the idea of "process praise," which I hit on in the previous article, but it also hits on asking questions as a way to give feedback instead of just giving compliments, which I agree with. This not only shows the child that you care about how they feel, but it also makes them think and analyze.

When it comes to feedback, I think it is important to not only tell someone what they need to work on, as well as giving them ideas on how to do that, but also to tell them what they are doing right. People need to know what they are doing right so that they can build on their strengths and apply those strengths when appropriate. I don't think every single thing should be praised, as some things are expected to be done and done well, but I don't see it as a bad thing to tell someone when they've done something exceptional.

Definition of Feedback

Image Author: Nick Youngson

Image Source: The Blue Diamond Gallery