Wise Feedback of High Expectations

Beliefs and Expectations

Whether conscious of it or not, you as teacher are communicating your expectations to your students all day long. Your own thoughts guide this communication, albeit ever so subtly sometimes. Your verbal and non-verbal feedback to students it important!

Wise Feedback

In MTSS, “Wise Feedback” as a proactive classroom management strategy means communicating your high expectations in a meaningful way so the student is aware of your high expectations and believes he or she can reach them. 

5 ways to effectively incorporate wise feedback today:

1. Show you believe in them

• During quiet work time you notice a student off-task. You might want to take a moment to have a chat with him/her, saying something like, “I noticed you aren’t working on your assignment, (name). The reason I sat here to talk to you about it is because I have high expectations for my students and I know you’re just the type of student who is capable of meeting them. I believe you can do this…” and then ask if they need help getting started.
• Reward effort as well as performance so that students see the link between effort and success.

2. Show respect

• Make an effort to look for the good, not just the mistakes. This will encourage a growth-mindset-oriented classroom where kids are not afraid of making errors, but know they can learn from them.
• Try using “I Statements” when commenting on work:
  • During a first draft of a writing assignment you notice a student missing the mark on their answer. Instead of saying, “you didn’t explain the connection between __ and __.”, try saying, “I’m not understanding how ___ and ___ are tied together.”
• Use strategies like “My Favorite No“, tailoring it to suit your subject area.

3. Make your feedback timely

• Effective feedback is relatively immediate and often, especially when learning. Think back to when you learned how to ride a bike or drive a car. If mom or dad corrected you only after letting a few weeks go by in between driving lessons, how easy would it be for you to learn from your mistakes and make adjustments? Thankfully for you (and others on the road) their feedback was probably very immediate and often!
• Sometimes immediate feedback for student assignments isn’t always possible, but remember that feedback is not always written.
  • Try “waitressing.” Circulate to a few students per day and just have a 30-second chat with them at their tables. This allows you to touch base with many students informally and efficiently.
  • Make a recording: Use an extension like Screencastify to record your screen with your voice behind it, while you offer feedback on their writing. 
  • Let the students offer feedback to each other. Guided peer feedback is a skill that helps both the giver and the receiver of the feedback. It may take a little but more front loading, but offers significant benefits for students and teacher alike.

4. Use specifics

• Avoid sweeping generalizations. Instead give students a specific adjustment they can make for a future change that should be made.
• Rather than focus on every small error, ask yourself, “If this student could only change one thing for next time, which change would help make the most significant improvement?” When you can find that one thing, that’s good feedback for the student.

5. Make it actionable

• Feedback in the classroom is more than just making suggestions. After all, it takes you time to assess the task or product, then decide how you will convey your feedback to the student.
  • Emphasize what can be done for NEXT time (or tomorrow’s re-write, or next week’s final draft) over what they did wrong THIS time. This conveys there is action to be taken.
  • If it isn’t actionable, it’s just something “nice to know”.

Other resources:

Formative assessment and self‐regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice
Do students value feedback? Student perceptions of tutors’ written responses
Seven keys to effective feedback
5 Research-Based Tips for Providing Students with Meaningful Feedback