How can we make our verbal feedback stick?
Do you find yourself repeating the same feedback to the same pupils? Use this strategy to give, repeat and consolidate feedback and start to see results.
Bounce the feedback
- When you notice something specific you’d like your student to do let them know that you’re about to give them some very important feedback about their work and you’d like them to listen carefully because it will help to make their work better.
- Give the feedback in the simplest terms: “I want you to make better vocabulary choices, this will impact your work by making it sound more appealing to the reader. Use the thesaurus to replace the words happy and old.”
- Ask the pupil to now ‘bounce the feedback’ back to you, repeating what you have said.
- Leave the child to act on the feedback.
- When you return to the pupil, bounce the feedback back to them once more.
- Ask the pupil to bounce the feedback back to you by explaining what they did and ‘bounce’ it to a peer.
Why is it a good strategy?
Keeping feedback simple and concise will likely lead to achievable changes in a pupil’s work and bouncing the expectation back and forth between student and teacher allows for both parties to be explicit with their understanding or expectation.
Tip
Remember to refer to the impact on the pupil’s work, asking them to identify how their work has improved due to them acting upon the feedback. Ask how they might use this feedback again in the future, helping them to plan for success next time.