Praise and feedback are areas in which I struggle- man I seem to have a lot of struggles! Good thing I am reading this book-turn my struggles into areas of growth! Anyways, back to it. I am usually one who gives a lot of person praise or vague praise. Since beginning my journey with the Growth Mindset, I have been really working on this. I find it a lot easier to give process praise and specific praise when dealing with my students, but I am conscious of it as well when I am with my boys. I have noticed a big difference in my older son’s willingness to read with me at night. When I am calm and give him process praise like “I really like hearing you use your strategies while you are reading! Which strategy are you going to try for this tricky word?” I can see him relax and enjoy trying to figure out the tricky word. When I have even a hint of frustration in my voice, I notice him tense up and give up a lot faster on those tricky words. It is insane how much he feeds off of my own emotions.

Feedback given to students is huge as intermediate teachers, primary teachers as well, but I do not have any experience with this as a classroom teacher. I have only taught Grade 5 🙂 When I was in the classroom, I worked very hard to give students appropriate, helpful feedback. The bigger struggle came when the students had to use that feedback for improvement, or when they were giving each other feedback. Looking back, I can see that I really needed to work on them giving each other feedback. It was also very plain to see, based on the responses to the feedback, which of my students had a growth mindset and which had a fixed mindset. One student in particular has such a fixed mindset that when he got any constructive feedback, he took it as a personal attack on him and he would shut down to the point of not attending school and not handing in his homework. It is a very delicate process and we as teachers have to be very careful of our students’ self-esteem-especially those with a fixed mindset.

Here are some examples of praise and feedback better suited to a growth mindset:

(from: http://discoveryschoolelementary.blogspot.ca/2014_03_01_archive.html)

(from: http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/inclusion-corner-encouraging-our-students-to-have-a-growth-mindset/education)

What are some of your experiences with praise or feedback?

Do you have any hints that might make giving process praise or effective feedback easier for someone just beginning with these concepts?