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I saved my favorite Robert Mazano strategy, setting goals and providing feedback, for last. His research shows that goals and feedback yields a 23% increase. My own related research shows 75% of adults agreed or strongly agreed that specific feedback positively impacts
learning.
Specific feedback is the key phrase here. Experts all agree
that feedback needs to specific. Just what does specific mean? It means phrases that include what is done
well—phrases such as, “Your use of action verbs makes this writing powerful,”
or “Holding your fingers close together while you swim makes you go faster in
the water.” Include in the feedback what
the learner can replicate to continue be good (or get even better) at the task,
whatever the task.
What is not good feedback are phrases such as, “Good job,”
or “atta boy, keep trying.” The learner needs to know what makes the job good
or what action to keep trying.
In the last post, I said that feedback is the sister to recognition. They are related, but not
the same thing. Recognition is praise such as “Well organized,” or “First
place.” Feedback is what the learner can do to continue earning the awards.
A final thought about recognition and feedback: One
powerful phrase I have discovered is, “You can be
so proud of yourself.” That small turn of words from “I am so proud of you” to
“You can be so proud of yourself” puts the recognition right where it should be,
on the achiever. As educators or parents, we don’t want learners to do anything
just because it makes us proud—we want autonomous learners that do their best
and make themselves proud of what they have done. Next time you catch someone
doing something well, watch h/his eyes light up when you say, “You can be so
proud of yourself…” Just remember to finish that phrase with the specific
action that person took.
Specific feedback is easy to talk about, but one of the struggles is developing the habit of making the feedback specific. Keep working to make your feedback specific until it becomes your default. Every time you say “good job,” add a specific phrase. One example would be, “Good job of showing your thinking when solving this equation.”
Another struggle with specific feedback is when you do not receive it. Try asking for specifics. If someone tells you “good work,” ask what makes it good. Say you want to be sure to keep doing good work.
As the traditional school year winds down, we
will change the focus in the next few posts to emphasize time management in any
arena. Next time, we’ll discuss strategies
to make that summer project more likely to be completed.
