Feedback Strategies

 

 

Quality Feedback
Source: Thoughtsonfantasy

 

Preschoolers and Praise by Deborah Farmer Kris
Article here

Reading this article made me realize that empty praise, especially with developing children, helps if you show what exactly you're praising. Labeled as "Process Praise" in the article, Kris explains that simply saying "good job" or "well done" isn't as fulfilling or helpful as explaining how or why they deserve the praise. For example, it's better to explain, "You did a good job putting that Lego castle together. It's creative how you made space for candy." This makes the child more aware of where and what they'd succeeded at.

It's easy to criticize or to stop a child from doing something that's still out of their skill set. This is where what Kris calls "The Power of Yet" comes in. It explains that they can't do it "yet" and that with practice they can and will be able to do the task. This pushes practice and growth instead of shutting their attempts down.

The Trouble with Amazing by Jennifer Gonzalez
Article here

I'm guilty of throwing the word "amazing" around. Gonzalez says that the problem with that is it's "unspecific." What exactly is amazing? Like the preschoolers and process praise, narrow down the parts of what you found especially wonderful about what you're critiquing and explain why. It will show the person what they're doing well at, and coupling this with words on what they can improve on will show that there are areas of improvement but also strong areas as well.

Gonzalez also explained that simply using the word amazing praises the person, not the effort. There needs to be an attempt made to acknowledge the work as well. Saying amazing is fine, but couple it with why their effort was amazing with specific parts to show that you actually read, watched, or noticed their achievement.