Academic Feedback - What are Students Doing, Academically?
Behavior-specific feedback has been a focus within our building and moving beyond general statements like “Good job!” to naming the specific behaviors we want to encourage. Our teachers frequently identify and name positive and expected behaviors throughout our building as a part of our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and the impact is noticed. This year, we are building on that same idea by making our academic feedback just as specific.
When teachers circulate and monitor student/group worktime, instead of simply saying, “nice work,” or “I like that idea,” we name the academic work we see: “I notice you went back to the text to find evidence for your answer, that is exactly the process,” or “Excellent work, you explained your thinking and used the vocabulary from our word wall!” We can also use our feedback to gently push thinking further: “Nice! You’ve identified your answer—now show me where the text supports it,” or “You solved the problem correctly; can you explain why that strategy worked?”
The goal isn’t to eliminate encouragement, but to make our encouragement meaningful and connected to the learning. This process communicates to the students that the academic habits we are teaching matter, and they are positively impacting their learning. Simply put: When students hear exactly what they are doing well, they are encouraged to continue doing it well.
