Positive Feedback for Students (with Examples)

Written by Emma (Teach Starter)

Updated 5 years ago | 4 min read

Fostering a love for learning is the goal at the core of every teacher’s pedagogy. Making sure your students feel they can confidently navigate the ups and downs of their learning journey is a big part of this! Because of this, it’s incredibly important to help your students feel safe challenging themselves and making mistakes. Teachers can achieve this in so many ways! One of the best ways to do this is by offering positive feedback when students make a mistake and supporting them to learn from this experience.

In this classroom, mistakes are expected, inspected and respected.

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If done carelessly, correcting students can do more bad than good. Blunt phrases such as “That’s wrong”, “No”, and “That’s a mistake” do little to help students learn from their mistakes, and can damage their self-belief and confidence to try new things.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling you that you should only give feedback when students get something right! We all know that correcting students is important for understanding, and also for helping them build resilience. Providing them with constructive critical feedback is a given, but how you deliver your feedback is what’s important?

The Importance of ‘Positive’ Constructive Feedback

Providing feedback is so important for student learning! What’s more, being strategic about how you do it can help your students in a number of different ways. We’ve created a resource featuring some common phrases that you can apply to any lesson. It is ideal to use when giving students positive feedback when they need guidance in their learning. It’s so handy, that you can easily pop into your teacher planner, or display on your wall next to your desk for quick reference throughout the day!

Each of the phrases on our Verbal Corrections for Students – Teacher Guide can be used to help teach your students lessons about resilience and working through their mistakes. Just take a look at some of the helpful ways these phrases help your students grow.

#1 Inspire Students to Embrace Their Mistakes and Try Again

Being told when they are incorrect can lead students to think that their work is too hard. They may want to just give up and stop trying.

“That’s a really great start, but perhaps you could…”

“You’re on the right track, but you’re not quite there yet.”

Positive phrases such as these help students see that learning is a journey – and there will be some speed bumps along the way!

#2 Give Students the Confidence to Make Mistakes

Some students do not even want to attempt tricky questions, as they fear that they will look stupid or ignorant for not knowing the correct answer. Help your students see their ideas are still valid, even if they aren’t the answers you’re looking for.

“Thank you for that idea! How about…?”

“That’s a tricky one isn’t it?”

If you acknowledge that some questions will be tricky for students, they will feel less pressure to get it right straight away.

#3 Make Sure Students Feel Supported in Their Learning

It’s a proven fact – students who feel supported and empowered in the classroom will be more likely to take risks with their learning.

Helping students feel supported doesn’t take much effort at all. Showing them that you value their input and that you see their effort is a great way to do this.

“Thanks for that idea! How about…?”

“Can anyone add to what __ said to help us get to the right answer?”

” I love your suggestion!”

Not only this but combining their suggestions with those from another student will help them feel a part of the team even more.

#4 Help Students Learn From Their Mistakes

Correcting students when they make mistakes is only half the job. Once they know they’ve made a mistake, help them learn why and how not to make the same mistake again.

“Can you tell me more about how you figured that out?”

“How did you arrive at your answer?”

Phrases such as the ones above encourage students to dissect their answers. Sometimes they’ll reach an understanding of where they went wrong without you having to tell them!

#5 Encourage Students to Remember Their Prior Learning

Finally, positive feedback that encourages students to access their prior understanding and knowledge is a vital part of moving learned knowledge to the long-term memory banks.

“Do you remember how we did this last time?”

“Have another think about that one.”

“Did you think about…?”

Remind students about previous lessons, encourage them to search back through their workbooks to jog their memory. Teach them to think back and before you know it, they’ll be doing it without thinking.