In Praise of Praise

 Edutopia Article about Praise checklists and other things: link

Heart of Article here:

The general tenets of praise are understood by most educators. We know from experts like cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham that to motivate children, praise should be:

• Perceived as sincere, earned, and truthful
• Specific
• Not directive (Here’s an example of directive praise: “Good writing! Write that legibly every day.”)
• Focused on process, not ability
• Immediate
• Unexpected

What else do decades of research on classroom praise tell us?

DIFFERENTIATING PRAISE

All kids need praise, but they don’t all need the same kind. While results differ depending on the nationality of the child, a 2001 study by Paul C. Burnett showed that young students often appreciate being complimented publicly, while adolescents “prefer private praise.” Likewise, a 2016 survey conducted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst revealed that 73 percent of students ranked “quiet verbal praise” as a “top 3” instructor response. When combined with praise, rewards like treats and prizes are a stronger reinforcer of positive behavior for some students than praise alone, according to the Amherst researchers.

BE SPECIFIC

Instead of using general compliments (“Good job!”), which underwhelm students, try some of these literature-recommended alternatives:  

• Compliment students with an “I-statement” to communicate sincere appreciation, suggest the authors of Inspiring Active Learning. Example: “I always look forward to hearing what you have to say, Shalonda.” I-statements work best when the praise eschews hyperbole.
• Use evidence-based behavior-specific praise (BSP). Describe the observed behavior and make a positive remark. Example: “You held the door open for your classmates on your own initiative, Savannah. Major props.” Vanderbilt University recommends a 4:1 ratio of BSP to reprimand and “six praise statements every 15 minutes.”
• “Effective praise” specifically describes positive behaviors and explains why they are important. Example: “Asking thoughtful questions shows us you’re listening to peers, and listening is the secret of awesome communication.”
• Reinforcing processes used by kids to achieve academic success can be achieved through “descriptive feedback and open-ended questions” that cue learners to reflect. Example: “Jamal, your classmates were really focused on you as you presented. What do you think you did to grab everyone’s attention?”

To determine kids’ praise and reward preferences, survey your classes at the beginning of the school year. Ask if they prefer receiving acknowledgements via private or public oral communication. Personal notes or notes home? Create a list of rewards and ask the class to identify their top three choices. Discovering what reinforces pro-academic dispositions with your students is worth the effort.

SINCERE PRAISE VERSUS SUPER-ASTOUNDING, ASTONISHING, SPECTACULAR, AND PHENOMENAL HYPE

While young children respond well to regular and effusive praise, a 1987 study suggests that students in late elementary school and higher grades are able to discern when compliments are overly laudatory. In fact, inflated compliments can actually degrade student effort. After receiving hyped-up praise, children with low self-esteem feel pressured to master work above their perceived abilities and subsequently withdraw from challenges, according to a 2014 study. For maximum rhetorical effect, combine good will with sincerity.

GO PRO WITH THESE PRAISE TIPS

Keep a checklist: Before class starts, plan to praise a specific number of students. Reflect on what those students have done or might do that you can comment on. Then chart who you’ve praised so you can spread the love evenly.

Target specific academic behaviors: Jim Wright, of Intervention Central, lists several academic dispositions that can be reinforced through praise, including effort, accuracy, fluency, goal-setting, and meeting an external standard. As an example, Wright describes how to encourage effort: “You wrote nonstop through the entire writing period. I appreciate your hard work.”

Encourage student-to-student praise: The 2016 Amherst study found that students appreciate praise from classmates, but strongly prefer gestures like high-fives instead of verbal compliments from fellow learners. Be careful not to substitute peer compliments for instructor praise. Students actually value teacher praise more than accolades from peers, according to the study.

Go slow: Talking slowly calms anxious children and helps them bond with adults, writes Dr. Marilyn Price-Mitchell. Slow and articulate compliments also resonate more than rushed praise. Example: “Sam, at dinner tonight, ask this question: ‘Guess who broke third grade’s multiplication record?’ Then point to yourself.”

Finally, dozens of studies support one simple truth: Replacing reactive admonishments with strategic praise, day after day, is the most effective way for words to motivate students.

 from Marshall Memo 907

A High-School Class Debates Whether Othello Should Be Taught

“How well does our literary canon serve our society, and how does it need to be changed?” asks North Carolina teacher Anne Beatty in this English Journal article. Specifically, what about Shakespeare’s Othello? Beatty was moved to reconsider teaching the play when an African-American student said, “All I see is another angry black man.” Three years ago, Beatty decided to study the play with an honors ninth-grade class with a dual focus: the quality of the play as literature, and the issue of race. Here’s how her three-week unit proceeded. 

The first half of each class was devoted to studying the play – characters, language, motifs; the second half focused on race. “Each day,” says Beatty, “when we transition from Shakespeare (back then) to racism (right now), the room’s energy shifts into a cocktail of giddiness, relief, and apprehension.” Students are eager to talk about the issue, but hesitant to share; when they do, their personal anecdotes create a tricky dynamic. Seeing the need for ground rules, Beatty adopted Glenn Singleton’s Four Agreements: Stay engaged. Speak your truth. Experience discomfort. Expect and accept non-closure. 

After asking students to share family dynamics on race (some said it was never talked about, others that it was talked about all the time), the class discussed definitions of racism and how it was evident in the play: blatantly racist descriptions of Othello; assumptions about his magical ability to trick Desdemona into marrying him; and whether students of color can learn about racism in a play written from the oppressor’s point of view. 

Beatty then had students complete brief writing prompts on their experiences and views on race and the literary canon: first encounters with racism (there were lots of stories about hair and food); reactions to books they’d been assigned in English classes, including books about people different from them; feelings about Shakespeare; and their opinions on books in the canon and who gets to decide what belongs and what doesn’t. One student wrote, “While reading books about different stories is good, when ‘valuable’ stories (usually confusing) are pushed onto you and you are told they have a ‘greater meaning’ it lessens the experience of reading the book.” This led straight back to the question of whether Othello belongs in the canon.

Next, students read a selection of articles, including one by an African-American actor on his changing view of playing the part of Othello, another about white actors playing Othello in blackface; and watched a video about a Shakespeare production. What did you notice? asked Beatty. What surprised you? Did you disagree with anything? “As students analyze the implications of dehumanization, evil, and criminality in Shakespeare’s language describing Othello,” says Beatty, “the jump from Shakespeare in the first half of class to contemporary racism in the second begins to feel not like a jump at all.” Students do more writing in response to articles and artifacts, making observations and forming judgments. 

Finally the class returns to the essential question of the unit. “Armed with an understanding of the play and (for some more than others) an appreciation of its literary merit,” says Beatty, “students understand why people choose to teach it. If I did my job well, they glimpsed the beauty and richness of Shakespeare…Across four hundred years, Shakespeare calls out the dangers inherent in spinning a reality out of lies, grudges, and envy; he reminds us of the real, violent consequences that a false reality can bring to people’s lives. Iago has something to teach us.” 

The class’s rich discussion of race in America focuses students on the troubling narrative in the denouement of the play: an angry, violent black man killing an innocent white woman. Students read arguments for and against teaching the play and make their closing arguments in a Socratic seminar, with classmates taking notes. Finally, they write an essay in which they are asked to respond to the essential question, include some analysis of the play, and provide a synthesis of at least three other sources. 

What did students say? They came down on both sides, with some arguing for teaching the play, others saying the dangers of perpetuating racist views outweigh the literary merits and historical importance. All agreed that if the play is taught, it must be accompanied by an open discussion of race. “Most satisfying,” says Beatty, “is that students see this question as central to their lives, and their voice as worthy of weighing in. Revamping this unit reminded me of a piece of wisdom from an Advanced Placement trainer: the best questions to ask are the ones you do not know the answer to. Let’s invite our students into the asking, and let’s wrestle with these difficult questions alongside them.” 

Beatty has continued to teach this unit, incorporating one student’s suggestion to teach a contemporary book alongside Othello (she’s used The Hate U Give, The Bluest Eye, and Homegoing, as well as James Baldwin’s “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew.” She believes a similar approach would work with other canonical works that have been challenged for their depiction of marginalized people, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Heart of Darkness.

“Challenging the Canon: Teaching Othello as a Questionable Text” by Anne Beatty in English Journal, September 2021 (Vol. 111, #1, pp. 32-39); Beatty can be reached at anne.p.beatty@gmail.com.

 

What Rigor Looks Like in an Equitable Classroom

In this Chronicle of Higher Education article with implications for K-12, Jordynn Jack and Viji Sathy (University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill) say they’re troubled by the way “rigor” is interpreted by some instructors:

• It’s students’ responsibility to show grit and do the deep analysis and thinking.

• Otherwise, how will students succeed in the real world?

• Providing too much structure and hand-holding sells students short.

• It amounts to lowering standards and watering down the curriculum.

• If too many students are getting high grades, the class isn’t rigorous.

• Weed out students who aren’t up to par.

“We’re not in that camp,” say Jack and Sathy. These beliefs, they assert, “privilege students who already have high academic literacy or who are already adept at managing higher education’s unofficial rules, routines, and structures – also known as the hidden curriculum.” The result is that struggling students feel blamed, that they don’t belong. 

So how can teachers maintain high standards and prepare students for future success? Jack and Sathy have three suggestions:

• Build plenty of structure into assignments. That means making sure students are clear about what’s expected – with an English assignment, for example, specifying the assignment’s genre, audience, purpose, and success criteria. “Showing students the process – the nuts and bolts of how to do the assignment – is not doing the work for them,” say Jack and Sathy. “In fact, you may well be asking students to do more, not less.” 

• Develop a fair grading structure. Grading on a curve (for example, only the top five percent of students get an A) creates competition for high grades and communicates exclusion. Who is most likely to succeed? ask Jack and Sathy. “Students who already do well on high-stakes tests, who have tutors, who’ve had test-preparation training, who have time to form a study group or who are able to complete all the practice problems because they don’t have work or caregiving responsibilities.” Competitive grading can be profoundly discouraging for some students and even derail their desire to pursue a major or a career. 

• Commit to inclusive teaching. For starters, Jack and Sathy suggest that we stop using the word rigor, which too often conveys the idea that some students don’t belong. Instructors’ mission should be to work with all students and “invite them in.” Some specific actions:

• Clearly communicate high standards and learning expectations.

• Convey the belief that all students will be successful.

• Design lessons that get all students actively engaged, including collaborative work.

• Frequently assign low-stakes tasks that allow students to put concepts and skills to work.

• Promptly give formative feedback.

• Grade students’ work on mastery of learning objectives, not on a curve. 

“It’s Time to Cancel the Word ‘Rigor’” by Jordynn Jack and Viji Sathy in The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 15, 2021 (Vol. 68, #4, pp. 46-47); the authors can be reached at jjack@email.unc.edu and viji.sathy@unc.edu.

 from Marshall Memo 907

Giving Feedback That Isn’t Consigned to the Bottom of the Backpack

In this Tang Institute article, Bowman Dickson and Andy Housiaux describe every teacher’s least-favorite scenario: after spending hours reading students’ papers, correcting errors, and writing comments, students glance briefly at the grade, compare what they got with a few classmates, and continue to make the same mistakes on the next assignment. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” say Dickson and Housiaux, and provide a synthesis of the academic research on feedback that actually works.

They start with Grant Wiggins’s definition: Feedback is information about how we are doing that guides our efforts to reach a goal. “It can come from others, oneself, or even the task itself,” say Dickson and Housiaux. “It aims to improve subsequent efforts and not just correct work that has already been done.” They give several examples of feedback containing evaluation, advice, and praise, each followed by teacher feedback that’s far more likely to improve students’ work:

• Ineffective: B+ You still need to master exponent rules.

• Better: You are confusing the two main exponent rules – when multiplying two bases you need to add the exponent, not multiply. Practice a few of these types of problems for the next homework assignment.

• Ineffective: Make sure your main idea paragraph relates to your topic.

• Better: Your first sentence is about therapy dogs, but the rest of your paragraph talks about what dogs eat and where dogs sleep. Look at the examples of effective writing on your handout and then rewrite the paragraph.

• Ineffective: Wow! Your lab report is really nicely done.

• Better: You explained your results with good scientific nuance, your methods section is appropriately detailed, and your data presentation is just as polished as the sample lab reports. 

“Feedback that is delivered effectively,” say Dickson and Housiaux, “will advance student learning in ways that even the most well-intentioned evaluation, advice, and praise simply cannot.” They boil down the research on effective feedback to four big ideas:

• Big idea #1: Students must engage with feedback in order to learn from it. “Feedback should cause thinking,” says British assessment guru Dylan Wiliam. “Feedback should be more work for the recipient than the donor.” This means reserving classroom time for students to process the teacher’s comments (often posed as questions or hints) and engage with a brief follow-up task – which might be correcting an error or writing about what they learned from the comments, what they did well, and what they will do differently next time. Students need to learn how to be “feedback seekers,” looking for it, taking it in, and following up.

• Big idea #2: Relationships matter. Establishing trust is an essential precursor; then the teacher can be a “warm demander,” setting high expectations and conveying feedback with growth-mindset language that speaks to students’ work, not their identity. Without a trusting relationship, teachers’ power position, along with their gender, race, or other characteristics, can trigger stereotype threat in students. “Don’t withhold criticism or overpraise mediocre work,” say Dickson and Housiaux. And create a classroom culture in which mistakes are seen as an important part of learning. 

• Big idea #3: Focus on specific instructional goals. “If students do not understand where they are aiming, they will not be able to make sense of the feedback they receive on their performance,” say Dickson and Housiaux. That’s why it’s vital to be transparent about learning outcomes and assessment criteria, and provide exemplars of student work at different levels of proficiency. The teacher’s goal is to build skills and habits of mind that will help students think differently and get better. “Feedback should change the way students think and engage with future material,” say the authors, “instead of just fixing mistakes on past work.” To that end, less is more; feedback should target only a few key areas.

• Big idea #4: Separate feedback from grading. Giving grades is a requirement in almost all schools, but teachers should be under no illusions that grades improve performance. The challenge is getting students less focused on grades and more on continuous improvement. “Teachers can encourage students to focus more on the feedback they receive by spending time explaining the difference between feedback and grades,” say Dickson and Housiaux, “and then showing the ways in which students can improve by attending carefully to the teacher’s feedback.” Teachers also need to nudge students toward autonomy and independence, providing opportunities for and instruction in self-assessment and peer feedback versus constant dependence on teachers. 

At the end of their paper, Dickson and Housiaux include six case studies showing how these big ideas play out in classrooms – a student demanding to know why a classmate got a better grade; students not improving despite copious written feedback on their work; a teacher’s comment taken the wrong way by a student; a student not doing homework and failing to ask for help. Each case is followed by focusing questions on what might change a frustrating situation. 

“Feedback in Practice: Research for Teachers” by Bowman Dickson and Andy Housiaux, Tang Institute at Andover, August 2021; Housiaux can be reached at ahousiaux@andover.edu.

Give Yourself Permission to Dial It Back

 

Give Yourself Permission to Dial It Back

You’ve heard it time and time again: overwork is bad for you. It hurts your productivity — and your health. So give yourself permission to dial it back, even just a little. Start by noticing the story you're telling yourself about work. For example, if you find yourself working on a weekend or responding to emails after hours, pause. Take a couple of minutes to reflect on and even write down why you’re doing this. What’s motivating you? Are you afraid of falling behind? Losing your job? Seeming uncommitted? Then ask yourself: Are these fears rooted in reality, or is it time to change the narrative? Next, share your goal to dial it back with those you respect — a mentor, friend, or colleague who can not only hold you accountable, but also give you some helpful strategies that they use to stay balanced and avoid burnout. Finally, go all-in on what matters. Take a careful look at your workload and recalibrate your schedule to spend less time on the tasks that drain you and more time on the responsibilities that are valuable and bring you the most joy.

This tip is adapted from “Burning Out? Give Yourself Permission to Dial It Back,” by Kate Northrup

Problems with Impromptu Discussions of Hot-Button Topics

 Problems with Impromptu Discussions of Hot-Button Topics

In this Educational Leadership article, Philadelphia teacher Matthew Kay says he can

relate to the desire to take advantage of a teachable moment – perhaps a dramatic development

in the news – to jump into a classroom discussion. He says this often “reflects our commitment

to equity, our care for our students, and especially nowadays, our respect for the truth. If we

move forward with our carefully planned lessons, we are, in many people’s estimation, a

fraud.” But here’s what can happen:

- Without careful preparation, things can very quickly get out of hand. “Kids who are

unprepared for difficult discussions often embarrass themselves and say things they

regret or don’t mean,” says Kay. “They are more likely to weaponize stereotypes.”

- In the heat of the moment, the teacher might step out of bounds, revealing biases and

damaging their role as a trusted pedagogue and authority figure.

- Such discussions can open teachers to attack from irate parents or community members

who learn about the discussion through a misleading social media post. “We make it

really hard for good administrators to have our back,” says Kay, “when we fly blind.”

Better to take the time to plan a discussion carefully, anticipate the reactions different students

might have, consult with colleagues, find links to the curriculum, even design a free-standing

unit. “If we want to teach about an issue,” Kay concludes, “we should actually teach about it –

11Marshall Memo 906 October 11, 2021

giving ourselves the time to be our best selves and apply our best training. And we might even

do this with a little bit of swagger, knowing that while it takes nothing for folks who don’t

know our students to rush us to discuss some issue, it takes wisdom for us to discern the best

moment to get after it.”

“The Problem with ‘Pop-up’ Discussions” by Matthew Kay in Educational Leadership,

October 2021 (Vol. 79, #2, pp. 80-81); Kay

Do Flipped Classrooms Work?

 from Marshall Memo

Does Flipped Teaching Work?

In this Brookings Brown Center Chalkboard article, Patricia Roehling and Carrie

Bredow report on their meta-analysis of 317 published studies of flipped learning, a classroom

strategy whose popularity surged during the pandemic, especially in colleges and secondary

schools. Here’s what is involved in a flipped class:

- Students view an online lecture or presentation to prepare for class.

- In-person time is devoted to discussions, peer teaching, presentations, projects, problem

solving, computations, and group activities.

- Thus the traditional sequence is flipped, with passive learning experiences happening at

home, conducted at students’ convenience and repeated as often as necessary, and class

time devoted to active learning experiences.

- Flipped learning is based on constructivist theory, with classroom time helping students

build on pre-existing cognitive frameworks and construct their own knowledge.

7Marshall Memo 906 October 11, 2021

- Flipping aims to lighten students’ cognitive load during class, helping them to shift

knowledge and skills to long-term memory and develop their interpersonal skills.

The meta-analysis focused on college classes, comparing flipped learning with traditional

lecture-based instruction on several dimensions. The major findings:

• Students in flipped classrooms performed better in most subject areas. Outcomes were

best with foundational knowledge, professional and academic skills, and (to a lesser degree)

higher-order thinking.

• Students in flipped classes did better in all non-cognitive areas, including

interpersonal skills, engaging with the content, and developing metacognitive abilities such as

time management and learning strategies.

• Flipped learning was most effective in skill-based courses, including technology,

health-science, and languages. This seemed to be because class time could be spent practicing

and mastering skills with peers and the instructor. Mathematics and engineering classes

showed the smallest gains with flipped learning.

• Flipped learning had the widest advantage over traditional teaching in countries in the

Middle East and Asia where teachers implementing the new practices were making the most

radical departure from the way most teaching was being conducted.

• Instructors who gave pre-class quizzes to make sure students were doing their

homework registered lower academic gains than those who didn’t. Roehling and Bredow

speculate that this was because students focused on doing well on the quizzes rather than

understanding the material. This points to the wisdom of giving in-class rather than before-

class quizzes, say the researchers.

• Instructors who combined flipped and traditional classes tended to get better results

than those who were fully flipped. This was probably because a mixed approach lightened the

workload (designing a flipped class takes extra time) and reserved traditional lecture classes for

where they were most appropriate: introducing new, complex, and foundational knowledge and

skills.

• Student satisfaction with flipped courses was slightly higher than for traditional

teaching.

“Flipped Learning: What Is It, and When Is It Effective?” by Patricia Roehling and Carrie

Bredow in Brookings Brown Center Chalkboard, September 28, 2021

Share stories of failure to connect

 

from HBR:

To Connect with Your Audience, Share Personal Stories of Failure

Any good presenter knows that they need to connect with their audience, but what’s the best way to do that? Sharing personal stories, particularly ones that show how you’ve stumbled in the past and grew as a result, will increase your realness and build trust with your listeners. So identify three different stories of failure that you can deliver in different venues. What details can you share that will help people relate and normalize setbacks? Be sure to end these stories with a lesson in resilience, so that your audience is galvanized to keep going. At the same time, convey vulnerability. Use phrases like “my feeling is,” “it feels scary to share this,” or “I hesitated to bring this forward” which peel back the curtain on your thinking and build a connection with your audience. If all of this feels awkward to you, study inspiring stories from others. Watch your favorite TED talks or listen to podcasts to collect cues and tips on how powerful and persuasive strangers share stories to inspire. When do you feel most connected to the speaker? What did they share that made you believe in their authenticity and connect with them as a human? Note your favorite techniques and then practice incorporating them into your daily speech for low-stakes practice, before bringing them to the stage.

Example parent email about good work

 We wanted to take a moment to celebrate Keaton. He's off to a great start in U.S. Lit. and Comp. He's engaged in class discussions and activities. His work is thoughtful and thorough, and his efforts have been consistent. We're very proud of him!

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> We noticed he was out today; we hope all is well. Please have him reach out if he has questions about today's work on Canvas.
>
> Have a great weekend!