Goal 22: 12 Resources for Giving Constructive Feedback
Part of the 30 Goals Challenge Series
In the former school I taught at some of the students rallied together and complained to the principal
about the previous teacher. The instructor thought it was because of the low grades they received in
the class. I was receiving the same group of students the following year and I was really nervous. I was
extremely shocked when the students thanked me. They said they really appreciated that I just didn’t
give them their grades, but explained why I took points of. They stated this was the main reason they
had complained about the last teacher, because the students were never told how to receive an A or
B. They were just given a grade and expected to accept this grade with no questons asked.
This experience made me refect on my grading practces. I wondered how I had learned to grade the
way I do. See, not only do I take the tme to make notes of the grade, I also write goals to achieve for
the next assignment. Moreover, I provide checklists and rubrics with my expectatons. If the students
meet these expectatons, then they receive the grade. I learned to do this from some of my favorite
college instructors. They always provided the students with clear guidelines and commented on why
points were taken of. However, I only remember a few instructors doing this. When completng my
Masters I realized only a few instructors provided constructve feedback.
Why do only a few instructors provide constructve feedback?
I believe this is due to two main reasons. First, many instructors probably do not realize what
constructve feedback looks like. I believe constructve feedback is:
• specifc- the student knows exactly what you thought was positve and what needed
improvement.
• private- make sure the other students do not know who made the worst grades.
• immediate- provide the feedback as soon as possible when the assignment is stll in the
student’s mind.
• helpful- We want students to strive to improve and to learn. If we are consistently pointng out
the negatve, then the student may give up or not try at all. Every student has something good
about their work, even if it is the lowest performance. Perhaps, the student has never been
given a shot at excelling. I have been given work I felt the student did not try at all. However, in
my mind I try to remember that telling the student this or having a negatve attude with the
student is defnitely not going to accomplish anything. Instead, I rather encourage them to do
their best in their next assignment and reassure them that I believe they have the ability to do
some great work.
• open to discussion- I allow my students to approach me about their grades. However, I preface
this by saying they must give me specifc reasons for wantng the grade change and present a
good case. I also set aside meetng tmes for this take place.
• goal-oriented- We should aim for our students to improve. We can do this by telling them what
they should aim to improve and focus on the improvement instead of what they missed.
Focusing on goals is motvatonal, while a focus on mistakes makes the student feel bad about
themselves. This can be avoided by not marking everything in red.
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