One thing that all people have in common is that we feel uncomfortable when we’re being judged negatively. The degree to which we feel it and what we do with that uncomfortable feeling varies, but we all feel it. The danger in this is allowing this uncomfortable feeling to prevent us from seeking meaningful feedback. We as teachers need to open our students up to feedback and help them learn to give each other meaningful feedback rather than judgment laced critiques.

I think that the first thing we need to admit is that this problem is exacerbated by traditional feedback. Formal feedback usually comes from the teacher to the student at the end of the learning process. As the student reads the feedback they are reading your words as they feel their dreams of a 100% melt away. Your feedback causes a negative reaction that they can’t help feeling instead of inspiring them to get better. We teach kids to have a fixed mindset because our system for growth in many cases is punitive. In this case grades are doing a good job at ranking students but not doing a good job at helping our students continue to grow their understanding of the subject matter. So… what can we do about it? I have a few ideas but I’d love to hear yours in the comments.

 

Set Clear Learning Goals – 

Help your students begin with the end in mind. If they know exactly what they need to do in order to show you that they understand the material they can help coach each other to get there. When my students are working on a project, I have them give me exit slips that explain what grade they would give themselves on a particular standard and how they plan to earn the next grade up. It helps them realize where they are and what their next steps are to move forward. While they’re filling out the slips they often whisper to each other (and me) to figure out what their next steps should be. When they come in the next week they have actionable self-reflection and can hit the ground running.

 

Stress Iteration –

Feeling judged stinks. It stinks even more when you feel like you were done. When our students feel like they’re showing their peers a work in progress the feedback they get can feel more helpful.

 

Teach How To Give Feedback – 

We as teachers know that feedback should be judgment free and tied to concrete examples in the students work. In my class today I watched two fourth grade groups seek impromptu feedback from each other and heard one say “I heard your chorus and understood it was your chorus because it came back with the same words and melody. I’m not sure what section was your verse because I never heard a second melody come back.” That is direct, actionable, concrete, and judgement free. Both groups walked away with new things to work on and more concrete understandings from listening and giving others feedback. We all know the person doing the most talking is the person doing the most learning.

 

Know That You’re Still Important – 

I still give just as much feedback as I did before I started actively helping students learn together. There is just 30(ish) times as much feedback happening in the room.

 

I always love hearing new ideas. What are ways that you help students grow together as a community of learners? How do you help enable peer scaffolding?