PURPOSE
How do you praise a student? Seems like a silly question but how often do you give it any thought?
We all praise our kids, right? Or do we sometimes get so wrapped up in the day to day that we forget to look for those opportunities? Like anything else, praise is a skill and if we don't practice this skill we might forget how to do it effectively and with meaning. The first thing we have to do when thinking about praise is to think about why we are praising in the first place. What is our goal? What effect do we want to see the praise have on our students?
IN-SERVICE
Ben Bissell (1992, July) has described 5 things that help praise work. These are important elements in order for praise attempts to have the most positive effect possible.
Some elaboration on Ben’s ideas:
Authentic – Means that we are praising people for something genuine, recognizing them for something that is true. No one ever feels that they are praised too much for something genuine. So catch students doing things right, and grab the opportunity to give authentic praise.
Specific – The behavior we acknowledge often becomes the behavior that will be continued. Identify the specific improvement or progress made by your child and acknowledge them through praise. If we can recognize students’ positive efforts with specific recognition then we can help them see the specific areas of value
Immediate – Recognizing positive efforts and contributions in a timely manner. And the more often we do this, the more praise becomes a habit. This is especially true when we think of the more challenging students.
Clean – Clean means a couple of different things. Praise is not clean if you are issuing it to get someone to do something in the future. It is important to complement students because their efforts are authentic, not because you are hoping they will do something different tomorrow. For praise to be clean, it cannot include the word “but”. “billy did a great job on his Math homework today, but his Science homework was very poorly done.” In most case anything before the word but is usually forgotten to quote Benjen Stark “Nothing someone says before the word “but” really counts."
Private – Recognizing someone publicly may seem reinforcing, but statistics have shown that many people would rather receive private recognition.
Praise, when used correctly, can be an amazing experience for the student and for the adult giving the praise. However, praise just to praise is ineffective and almost counterproductive.
IMPLEMENTATION
How do you use praise in the classroom? What is your goal and is it having the desired affect? Are you just doing it to get the desired outcome or is it authentic and genuine? Respond in the comments section with answers to these questions and share a few examples. Explore the implications for adults as well. Do we do a good job in recognizing each other? Your response is worth an hour of PD credit as always so join the conversation.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the long weekend!
Brad
Bissell, B. (1992, July). The paradoxical leader. Paper presented at the Missouri Leadership Academy, Columbia, MO.
Whitaker, T. (2017). Dealing With Difficult Parents. S.l.: ROUTLEDGE.
Good points. Around a million years ago at some training course (and it also could have come from Harry Wong) I remember the phrase "praise the deed, encourage the child". So on quizzes/tests with high scores I try to write something like "Super job! Keep it up." I also try communicate similarly as I circulate informally and give praise during formative assessment.
ReplyDeleteI'm specific with my praise to students, both verbally and in writing. When I'm evaluating their writing, I will praise specific things they're doing right, such as: Great use of transitions in topic sentences. Keep doing this! In person, I praise when someone responds to a question with a unique or well-considered insight. I also praise by showing different students' exemplary work, crediting the student with a job worth showing others. I think the praise has its desired effect because I don't use it for what is simply expected but rather to underscore something noteworthy or exceptional.
ReplyDeleteDo we praise one another enough? Definitely not. As with all relationships, professional and personal, it's easy to take for granted when people are doing the right thing consistently. This is why many people resent global reprimands when they don't apply to everyone. A well-considered word of acknowledgement or praise goes a long way toward making people want to keep doing the right thing, whatever that may be. This is as true for our students as it is for ourselves.
Excellent points- so important also to remember that praise is not taken the same way all the time and that different student personalities react to it differently. The important thing always is that we are thinking about what we are doing and being reflective.
ReplyDeleteI am specific and immediate with my praise towards students. With my population of students, it is important to recognize the positive behaviors and do it immediately so the student knows that is the desired behavior. I also feel it is important to be as specific as possible so the student understands exactly what they are doing correctly. Many times in the resource rooms, we are working on specific skills that students struggle with as well as improving behaviors that are appropriate in the classroom. It is important to build the student’s self-esteem with praise as they already feel that are not performing like their non-disabled peers. Praise should be authentic and genuine and when it is, the students know and appreciate it. Each student reacts to praise differently and as a teacher that is something that I learn about the students at the beginning of the year in order to praise them appropriately, whether it be privately or public. -Lia Tirpack
ReplyDeleteI agree Lia- one of the things I took away from the Nurtured Heart presentation was the fact that we are so specific when telling kids what they are doing wrong but often just say "good job" when they are doing something we like. It's important to address the positive behavior as specifically as the negative behavior.
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