What makes praise effective

Then, provide positive feedback that students can directly match to the expectations. Well done! Students who learn and think differently may struggle to complete an assignment or task. In fact, it may take several attempts for students to finish. In fact, insincerity may damage your credibility and your relationship with them. Praising students too often or for minor reasons can also come across as insincere.

The instinct to heap on the praise is well-intentioned, but it can backfire. Research has shown that some teachers overpraise certain groups of students, including students of color. Overpraising can be harmful to students of color and students who struggle because it sends the message that teachers have low expectations for them — the exact opposite of the high expectations teachers should hold.

Instead, focus on precise, sincere, and effort-based praise at opportune moments, like when students try a new skill, make progress in a project, or show mastery of a concept. Praise should also be appropriate for the individual student.

Some students may thrive on being praised in front of the whole class. Getting to know your students and understanding culturally responsive teaching practices can help you decide the most appropriate praise for each student. Praise that is contingent on outperforming peers can lead students to doubt their abilities.

Like this…. That really makes it look realistic. Effective Praise Enhancer 2: Praise effort rather than achievement. 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. While young children respond well to regular and effusive praise, a 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 study. For maximum rhetorical effect, combine good will with sincerity. 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. When a teacher uses praise to acknowledge student effort in problem-solving or in practice, make the praise more effective.

Effective praise can be directed to an individual student or group of students when the teacher wants to connect praise with a particular behavior. That also means that praise should not be given for trivial accomplishments or weak efforts by students such as minor task completion or the student completing their responsibilities. In making praise effective, a teacher should explicitly note the behavior as the reason for praise in as timely a manner as possible. The younger the student, the more immediate the praise should be.

At the high school level, most students can accept delayed praise. When a teacher sees a student is making progress, the language of encouragement as praise can be effective.

For example,. When a teacher sees a student succeed, the language of congratulatory praise may be more appropriate, such as:. Should students succeed easily without effort, praise can address the level of the assignment or problem.

For example:. After giving praise, teachers should encourage students to take advantage of this opportunity to offer a chance for reflection. Praise must always be connected to a process, rather than student intelligence. One caution in praising, however, is to Make sure teachers are careful not to be inauthentic to inflate praise for students with low self-esteem. Critics have raised questions about the legitimacy of classroom praise, as rewarding trivial accomplishments or weak efforts.

There may be some schools that do not support the use of evidence-based practices such as teacher praise. Additionally, at the secondary level, praise may also be received by students as drawing unwanted attention to an accomplishment.