Feedback Strategies.

 

Stretch yourself and reach your goal (Cheezburger)

The two articles I decided to focus on this week are Preschoolers and Praise: What Kinds of Messages Help Kids Grow and How to Give Bad Feedback Without Being a Jerk. I picked these two articles because they demonstrate how to give feedback on two different ends of the spectrum; in other words, you have a means of giving feedback to children versus adults, but nevertheless both strategies are applicable to all aspects of every day life.

I particularly enjoyed the one over messages that helps kids grow because, personally, I find it interesting to see how words have such a strong impact on how someone learns. Likewise, as someone who is thinking about temporarily teaching, it is in my best interests to learn how to give feedback to children! Not only that, I believe learning how to give back positive feedback that is actually genuine and productive is paramount to future success. Compared to adults, I would argue that children give up way easier, and therefore it's important that they're encouraged to keep knowing. After all, who knows what they'll achieve in the future and/or create!

Likewise, the same can be said about the article over giving feedback, but not sounding like a jerk; for me, again, I believe feedback is fundamental to actually learning and improving one's self, but it really is a struggle to come across as genuine and not as someone who is just being rude. The last thing I would ever want to do when giving someone feedback is come across as someone who thinks they're better, and that someone else's work isn't worth consideration. 

That said, I wouldn't consider myself an expert on giving feedback, but as I read through these articles and see the examples they give, it does make me more confident in coming up with something that's constructive, but not overbearing and rude-sounding. I know I wouldn't like it if someone came off as rude, and receiving any type of feedback is already stress-inducing as it is. So, it's very helpful to learn how to approach feedback in a more constructive, positive way that will actually benefit both parties.