The Power of Positive Feedback
Why words matter in the classroom.
In my educational experience, the only two fields in which positive feedback is generally a bad thing is in certain circuit designs in electrical engineering and in the field of medicine.
Positive feedback in these two fields may lead to problems we must overcome. However, the one good thing that it signifies is that changes are needed.
In education however, the idea of positive feedback is seen as we see the positive in our world, that it makes for better outcomes.
But how does feedback become positive or negative?
Feedback brings amplification.
And how we interpret this amplificaiton can make it positive or negative.
The Amplification of Feedback
In our world, we have come to understand how feedback amplifies our lives.
Positive feedback in circuits used in electrical engineering see amplification as a means of bringing instability, where as negative feedback brings stability.
This same logic applies to test results in medicine. Positive test results is actually a sign of a problem, where as negative test results bring a sigh of relief.
In engineering, a positive feedback in circuits may sound like a good thing, but how the process works creates a form of instability because as voltage or current is looped in the circuit it is being amplified each time.
While this may serve a purpose in some devices, in other devices, such as microphones amplified by a loud speaker, may cause people to grasp their ears shut from all the noise!
The one example I can give in relation to this positive feedback loop in cicuits as unwanted is that unbearable screeching noise that can come from amplified microphones in a large hall.
Positive feedback in medicine relates to the amplification of a problem that needs immediate attention. One main example of this is in the diagnosis of cancer.
But in education, positive feedback is meant to amplify the belief in oneself and their abilities of being able to accomplish the goals they set out to complete or are asked to complete.
However, negative feedback may cut deeper into a person’s negative belief in oneself than those around them may realize.
In our personal lives, feedback amplifies our mental health for better or worse because of the words we are told as a result of what we have accomplished.
Imagine your someone (partner, coworker, friend, family member, teacher, boss) is happy with what you have accomplished towards completing a task.
Well done!
Bravo!
Amazing!
Awesome!
Hearing your someone tell you these words can keep you smiling for days to come.
Now imagine you being the someone telling these words to someone else.
And therein lies the power you have when it comes to giving feedback.
Your power comes in the words you choose to share with others.
The Power of Word Choices
Educators who have remained in the teaching field for many years can easily relate to what I am saying and have seen first hand the power of positive feedback in the classroom.
These words should not be reserved for light bulb moments in students, but for when students are looking to you as the teacher to motivate them from the day you meet them.
And yes, the power of positive word choices is a requirement for establishing effective classroom management strategies from the first moment you come in contact with your students.
And it cannot be said enough:
Words matter, so be careful how you put them together!
The words you choose to speak towards others should be to make what you feel and what you think known to others, all while considering that you speak with the intention to benefit others and not yourself.
It is always easier to knock someone down, either phyiscally or mentally, then it is to lift them up.
And so remember, any time you look to offer feedback to others, they don’t just hear words, they also hear your intonation behind such words, and they also see your body language as well.
The best positive feedback in education comes when you convince students that as we learn we actually know more than we think we do, and here is why.
We Know More Than We Think We Do
In my own personal experiences in education, I can remember how much I hated math until I met one 10th grade math teacher that changed my perception on the topic. I highlight this in my article dedicated to my personal journey in coming to love math.
I always thought it was my fault that I couldn’t understand what others around me in the classroom could, and that for the longest time, I never felt I was good at math.
I started to realize that it wasn’t my fault I wasn’t good at math. It was no one’s fault. It was because of how I saw math — complicated.
My 10th grade math teacher changed all that. He taught me that math is not complicated if you take the right approach. I continued to take math with this teacher all throughout the rest of my high school career. That included his advanced calculus class.
It was towards the end of my final school year, and we had one final calculus exam to take. I had prepared well for the test, and I was ready for the test.
As I began the final question, I started to do what my teacher always recommened we do — draw a picture. All I remember was it was a picture of some complicated graph in relation to integrals or something of that nature.
As I finished up my drawing I noticed my math teacher standing slighlty behind my desk and peering at my paper over my right shoulder.
And all he said as I could sense him looking at my paper was the word “wow” in amazement in a light soft voice.
The intonation in his voice told me that he was impressed with my answer as he thought no one would be able to solve this final question.
Just by hearing him say this one word, I knew I was on the right track, and sure enough I got the answer correct.
I carried what he taught me as I became a math teacher, always giving my students the assurance that:
You always know more than you think you do.
When I used to see my students struggling to solve problems in math, I always began my approach with this sentence, and then would proceed to show them why.
I also noticed that the light in students eyes always seemed to shine brigther when they began to believe me — that they actually did know more than they thought they did.
And so in moving foward, in any subject I teach, I always work towards having my students understand that whenever we are stuck, we need to go back to what we know to realise we actually do know more than we think we do as we move forward.
The Power Behind Intonation
Intonation is an important point to consider in speaking because it adds to what a person says. What it adds is an implicit (unspoken) meaning to the explicit meaning the person speaking is trying to give to others.
In other words, the intonation we use while speaking lets others in on the emotions we feel as we speak, so they should recognize the type of feedback you are trying to give them.
In choosing the words to give as positive feedback, teachers should also be aware of the intonation they use while saying the words.
Believe it not, students will judge their teacher’s future ability to give sincere positive feedback from the first day they meet them.
So if you are going to fake positive feedback, students will know, and they may just call you out on it.
Let’s take my favorite positive feedback word to share with students: bravo, as an example of why intonation matters.
Depending on how you say bravo to your students, they can guess your mood.
Now you have to play along to really get the effect of what I’m about to say.
Let’s say you are in class and students do the following;
Scenario 1
Student answers question in the expected manner. Teacher should give positive feedback in the following manner:
Teacher (smiles with eyes, soft but deep voice): bravo.
This bravo indicates to the student the teacher is pleased with the answer.
Scenario 2
Student answers question in an unanticipated way. Teacher should give positive feedback in the following manner:
Teacher (eyebrows raised, smiles with eyes, voice with rising intonation): bra-VO!
This bravo indicates to the student the teacher is impressed with the answer.
Intonation in how we say words is the underlying factor in the power we have to give feedback.
We can easily see that if our emotions are negative and we use the word bravo, students will know we are annoyed.
In the End…
It’s all about communication. How good are you at using your communication skills?
Using one’s voice is only one way of communicating.
Body language is a very important point to consider when communicating since a person’s actions can ‘speak volumes’.
A person’s body language can show others if they are interested or not, or a whole other range of emotions.
So in the end my friends, I leave you with one piece of advice on the idea of communicating positive feedback.
If you can’t find anything nice, you can simply restrict your words to the weather.
And until next time, keep learning and have fun.
You’re awesome.
If you enjoyed reading this article, then please consider reading my other articles on the topic of teacher and student relationships in the classroom.
