Me: “Oh, let’s look back over our work. I think we need to try to spell ‘clover’ again. Let’s try it together.”Kid:”UUUHHHHGGG. I already sounded it out and I spelled it right. C-L-O-V-R. See.. Clover, that’s it.”
This little drama plays out often in my speech office. Accepting feedback can be really difficult and it is a pervasive issue throughout the student’s day. I have tried a few different conversations with kids about the reason they are at school – to learn! If they got everything right the first time, why would they even bother needing school? Those weren’t really clicking so I ordered a new book and I’m having a lot more success!
The last few weeks we’ve had a ton of success using another one of Julia Cook’s books. My favorite part is the step by step process to talk about accepting feedback. We know our students with ASD, ADHD, or cognitive deficits learn best when given structure, I just don’t know why I never thought of adding structure to learning this skill! When a student automatically argues with me I can just point to our poster and we talk through it (especially the don’t argue part :))
The book is called Thanks for the Feedback, I Think 
One of the extension activities I really liked was watching how others receive others feedback. The book recommends using reality tv! So we watched some American Idol auditions from this season.
I found one where the girl got positive feedback and one were a man got mostly negative feedback.
There are pages to print off and describe the types of feedback and what happens. It was a great activity because the feedback is so obvious. Next week we’re going to complete another activity by using feedback to decide if we should purchase something. We’ll use amazon reviews to finish this!
How do you help your students learn to accept negative and positive feedback?
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Great post Jenna! I use many of Julia Cook’s books in my sessions including this one. However, I didn’t realize there is an activity guide! Our students, especially middle and high school, have an arsenal of self-defense methods. Building our relationships and developing a level of trust is something I always focus on. We also discuss the differences between constructive criticism and accusations as well as friendly/unfriendly teasing. It’s an arduous task, but critical to the learning process!
Hi Jenna!
I serve a middle and high school population. Accepting feedback is VERY difficult for many of my students (and those in the general ed). I have been considering purchasing Julia Cook’s book, however, I am guessing that it may not be age appropriate for middle school. Do you think it can be adapted for that population or are there any other resources you recommend for that age group?
Hey Peggy! That would be too young for that group unless they had cognitive delays. I’m not sure what might work for that age!
Hi Jenna! I absolutely love your creativity and I have bought several of your items on TPT before. I was wondering if you could share the link of the specific American Idol clips from youtube you used with students. I work at a middle school- just wanting clips to be school appropriate!
I also want the clips, thanks!!!
What book is that activity from?
Hi Jenna,
I really like the poster your created to help students process feedback. Could you please elaborate on what happens in the “decide” step?
-Jessica
I am trying to find the american idol audition that you used, can you send the link or name of episode? I am going to use this lesson in my 6th grade learning strategies class. Thank you!
I am trying to find the american idol audition that you used, can you send the link or name of episode?