In the observation notebook of a visiting superior during class observations, one of the usual comment is that ,the teacher must accord praises or positive comments or remarks to students who gave correct responses to the question thrown by the teacher about the lesson at hand. However, the question is: Is it always right to dole out praises whenever a student responded correctly? How about a student who gives an incorrect or irrelevant answer? Can we, or should we hide our dismay ? Which comment or what kind of comments from teachers will motivate a student to bring these motives towards positive performance which will increase the level of their achievement.
There are students who seem contented upon receiving plain responses from teachers when they elicit correct answers . For instance: “Correct,” “ Right,” “ Yes,” “ That’s Right ,” “Ok.” They prefer these straight response rather than the praises: “ You’re intelligent!” “ Wonderful!”, “ Great answer!” “ That’s a brilliant idea! “ Authorities reveal that plain responses from teachers are just giving a judgment to the answer; however, extravagant and excessive praises distract students’ process of learning and distracts emotions of learners. On the other hand, when informing a student that he has given an incorrect answer, the teacher should not add distracting comments. It should be brief and unemotional. The teacher gives the correct answer and moves on. Giving hint does not help either. For example ,the teacher says:” The correct answer begins with a letter S.” or she says further: “Do you want to guess?” “ Do you want another clue?” This procedure often puts the student on the spot and they might get embarrassed . In addition, this is time -consuming. You will be dealing on a single student while the rests of the class are just observing. They will not be able to get involved. It’s better to give the correct answer and move on. ‘ Can anyone else tell the answer?” This question might make the first student inferior for not having given the correct answer. However, on times like these, a teacher can inform a student that although his or her answer is not correct, the effort was commendable and it is appreciated.
In offering even simple praises or even a reward, we noticed that students enjoy this. They feel worthy and it makes them to work and to behave harder. But there are some undesirable effects of this strategy according to Harmin and Toth . One is addiction, like other addictions, this will lead to endless desires for more rewards, making them dependent on others for their feelings of worth. Second, many students notice that while some classmates receive a lot of rewards and praise, others rarely receive. They feel that they are not appreciated in a particular class, the message these students absorb, which will result later to a sense of ‘ I m not appreciated.’ This is what we call devaluation. Third is manipulation, ‘ Look how behave Group 1 is” says the teacher.In deep analysis, the teacher is just saying that to get what she herself wants.” She doesn’t really care about us.” The bottom line is, teachers must be cautious in giving comments after a student has given an answer or response to the questions asked by the teacher. Avoid giving comments if these will offend the dignity of those who are not capable.
By: RONALDO A. PUNLA | Teacher I | Magsaysay National High School | Dinalupihan, Bataan
