Teachers tend not to share enough of what they are doing in their classrooms and are afraid of the criticism. This weekend I learned that you should accept feedback without the attempt to justify or argue why you did what you did. You should simply say thank you and use it to either validate what you’re doing or make adjustments.
Oftentimes, as teachers, we tend to lean more towards the defensive because we feel like no one else knows our students or our content area the way that we do. That approach to teaching is limiting and mediocre at best. We should learn to simply say thank you. That exercise was powerful in itself. Another great practice that we learned in our sessions was the “Yes, and” method. It is great to alleviate the “but” syndrome that we all tend to use when we are giving feedback. Everyone knows that using a but in your sentence simply says that what you really wanted to say is after the but. When you use “yes, and” you are showing agreement and you’re adding to the discussion without judgement. It forces you to choose your words and consider the person’s feelings. We also worked on “I wonder if” while we gave feedback. It’s a less combative way to start recipients on a pathway of considering what you’re actually saying and it’s gives you a format for creativity. Let's face it. Feedback can be uncomfortable for most and many don't want anyone else to see the chink in their perfect armor, but we aren't all perfect huh? We're actually better together so let's just say thank you, reflect and implement suggestions.
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AuthorBianca Woodard is a social studies teacher at Midland Valley High School. She's an Apple Distinguished Educator (2017) and a Microsoft Certified Trainer. Archives
April 2019
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