Giving and Receiving Feedback

Suggestions for New Teachers Receiving Feedback

• Focus on what is being said rather than how it is said.

• Focus on feedback as information rather than as criticism.

• Concentrate on receiving th enew information rather than focusin on defending the old.

• Probe for specifics rather than accept generalities.

• Focus on clarifying what has been said by summarizing the main points to the satisfaction of all parties.

--Hal Portner. (1998). Mentoring new teachers. Thousand oaks, CA: Corwin Press, p. 54.

 

Suggestions for Providing Feedback to Interns and New Teachers

• Ask open-ended questions:

  • How do you think the lesson went?

  • Why do you think it went the way it did?

  • How do you know that was the reason?

  • When you did this. . .the student reacted by. . .Why do you think that happened?

  • What did you expect would happen when. . .”

  • Were there any surprises?

  • Help me understand what you took into account when planning thi particular activity.

  • I noticed that you altered your prepared lesson plan during this activity.

  • If you could teach this lesson again, what, if anything, would you do differently?

  • Why?

  • What conclusions can you draw from the way the lesson went?

  • What conclusions can you draw from our conversation today?  (p. 46)

• Avoid embedded negatives. Think about how you would rephrase the following questions to remove any negative overtones.

  • “Can’t you come up with a better way to do that?”

  • “Why didn’t you see that you miscalculated when you planned to have students exchange seats?”

  • ‘That probably won’t work. Do you have any idea of what you might do instead?”  (p. 47)

--Hal Portner. (1998). Mentoring new teachers. Thousand oaks, CA: Corwin Press, p. 8.