Feedback Without Tears
My student evaluations for my fall courses were opened to me over the weekend. I was able to see my ratings and read my students' comments. In the past I've dreaded this moment. It does not matter if the ratings are high and the comments are ultimately positive. One negative comment causes me to self reflect until my teaching soul is raw. Could I have done something differently? Did I miss the mark with one student? Was I not approachable and open, why didn't they feel comfortable letting me know their concern during class when I could have potentially made a change? Now, there is nothing wrong with self reflection and owning your students' successes and failures and yearning to grow to be a better teacher. It's an important part of on-going professional development. However, I have tried to remind myself semester after semester that adult students are also responsible for their learning and I can't control everything and I can't make everyone happy and I can only do my best. In the end, I still own every comment that feels negative and somehow forget how to own the positive ones. It's the conundrum many face when they are provided feedback.
This semester was different. I had one fairly lengthy comment on one of my student evaluations. Overall, it was negative and suggested a different method for organizing group activities and balancing collaborative projects with individual work. This comment suggested a change was needed, at least for one student. It suggested I missed the mark, at least for one student. This comment, however, made me excited. I wasn't excited about the comment. I was excited about the delivery. You see, I worked all semester on one very central personal goal. I wanted to model for my students how to deliver feedback and criticism in ways that were constructive and led to improvement while acknowledging growth and effort. This negative comment on my evaluations was written beautifully. It was written in the spirit of a relationship I had built with this student. It was bold but constructive. It offered a new perspective. It suggested a change was needed without tearing me down or attacking my teaching on a personal level. It was everything I hoped I had modeled for students when I provided them with feedback on assignments. This is the first semester that I've received some type of criticism that I've smiled rather than held back tears. The student had a legitimate point and they presented it in a mature way that recognized how much I invest in my teaching methods and acknowledged my desire to continually grow as an educator. I was very proud of them.
Now, one could surmise that this was just a mature student who was a gifted writer and that may well be the case. Evaluations are anonymous and I honestly don't know which student provided it. I would hope, though, that I modeled for this student how to provide constructive feedback to others and this is the result. In either case, their students will benefit. I am excited that they will have a teacher that will respond to their writing in this manner.
My goal this semester was to model for my students how to provide feedback without tears. I wanted them to see me offering constructive criticism while valuing their strengths and their efforts. It was a student that gave that gift to me and validated my strong belief that it is indeed possible to shape a student's writing without damaging their passion for and confidence in writing.
This semester was different. I had one fairly lengthy comment on one of my student evaluations. Overall, it was negative and suggested a different method for organizing group activities and balancing collaborative projects with individual work. This comment suggested a change was needed, at least for one student. It suggested I missed the mark, at least for one student. This comment, however, made me excited. I wasn't excited about the comment. I was excited about the delivery. You see, I worked all semester on one very central personal goal. I wanted to model for my students how to deliver feedback and criticism in ways that were constructive and led to improvement while acknowledging growth and effort. This negative comment on my evaluations was written beautifully. It was written in the spirit of a relationship I had built with this student. It was bold but constructive. It offered a new perspective. It suggested a change was needed without tearing me down or attacking my teaching on a personal level. It was everything I hoped I had modeled for students when I provided them with feedback on assignments. This is the first semester that I've received some type of criticism that I've smiled rather than held back tears. The student had a legitimate point and they presented it in a mature way that recognized how much I invest in my teaching methods and acknowledged my desire to continually grow as an educator. I was very proud of them.
Now, one could surmise that this was just a mature student who was a gifted writer and that may well be the case. Evaluations are anonymous and I honestly don't know which student provided it. I would hope, though, that I modeled for this student how to provide constructive feedback to others and this is the result. In either case, their students will benefit. I am excited that they will have a teacher that will respond to their writing in this manner.
My goal this semester was to model for my students how to provide feedback without tears. I wanted them to see me offering constructive criticism while valuing their strengths and their efforts. It was a student that gave that gift to me and validated my strong belief that it is indeed possible to shape a student's writing without damaging their passion for and confidence in writing.
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