3603. On Correcting Our Students in a More Clever Way

 I can see you are so concerned about being a good teacher. Let’s see if I can help you out. 

And you wish to really assist your students. 

What about trying to improve your correcting your students? 

Now I’m reading about correction and giving feedback to our dear students from great British expert Jeremy Harmer – he’s an expert on teaching languages. 

The first premise is that our dear students do need feedback about how they have performed in the class, okay? And we want those people would learn and improve their work, okay? 

The second premise is that positive motivation is a tremendous learning booster. 

Yet also we have to correct what they did wrongly. Well I particularly give both positive points and negative ones when correcting their written essays, and also sometimes when the students have given an oral presentation about some topic. And they appreciate both positive and negative feedback. 

As well there is a big difference when correcting accuracy interventions or fluency interventions. When the students are immersed in an accuracy practice like for example one of grammar, at the end and tactfully and with discretion we should correct some wrong points. Also some positive reinforcement can be given here.

And when they are involved in a fluency task like for example giving an oral presentation, afterward we can give both positive feedback plus some correction of negative aspects. 

I teach adults. Along I’m composing this post I deem what better might help you, readers. 

When grading and correcting written tests, I guess we teachers should write a brief note for each learner about positive points they have achieved plus something which could really help that learner or student. Like for example ways or places where that student could search for in order to improve his language competences, like dictionaries, grammar books or on the Internet. 

And as well please let us remember we teachers do all these things so as to serve our students, for teaching is some wonderful service. 

Like I said, some ideas were taken from Jeremy Harmer’s The Practice of English Language Teaching. I used its third edition. Have a nice day.