"Teachers, being nice people, have a lot of praise for kids who struggle. The problem with praise is that it has zero-to-negative impact on improving the task or the work. That isn't to say you shouldn't praise kids, because that's the essence of a lot of relationships. But you should separate it, so when you are talking about the work, you should be talking about the work, not the person.

If I tell you, 'Here are things you should change to improve,' and then I tell you how good you were, the next day, what do you remember? You'd remember the praise; that dominates.

Praise does make a difference to relationships, and obviously building relationships is critical. But I remind people that the reason to build a relationship is so that you can talk about the errors."

• Must be targeted on a specific goal to close the gap in learning (This way, it doesn't overwhelm the student or the teacher.)
• Used by students to understand the next steps in their learning
• Isn't focused on tasks
• Focused on the self, the personal evaluation of the learner
• Done during the learning process and not at the end

• Do you give clear, concise feedback related to the learning goals?
• Do you identify what was done well and what needs improvement?
• Does your feedback include how they can improve?
• Are your students expected to act on your feedback?
• Do you provide the necessary time for them to act on the feedback?
• Do you follow up on the feedback?