Feedback Fridays

This year, I created a weekly activity called Feedback Friday: a one-to-five-minute “interview” with each of my students. I teach middle school special education, so my class size and caseload is relatively small (12-to-1-to-1), which makes implementing Feedback Friday in my classroom easy. Most Fridays, it takes less than 15 minutes, but on occasion, it has taken the majority of our hourlong period.

The data I get is worth its weight in gold, though: It informs my interactions, activities, and assignments for the upcoming week, and so I believe this strategy would be useful to all secondary teachers, even if each interview is just a minute or so, or if the check-in happens through a digital form.

Universal Positive Regard

Feedback Friday was born out of a need for deeper relationships with all of the students in my class. Early last June, a handful of students in my math class staged a coup of sorts. Deciding they were all done for the year, they came into class one day and refused to work.

It only lasted a period. I connected with the students and their parents before the day was through, determined I wasn’t giving it any more attention, and offered the students a fresh start for the following day. The students with whom I had deep connections bounced back immediately, forgetting it had ever happened. The two or three students with whom I’d struggled to gain more than a surface-level relationship, though, remained closed off and disengaged for the remaining weeks of the year.

I felt heartbroken by the way it ended and vowed to make a change, so I dug deep into unconditional positive regard (UPR). UPR states that there is nothing your students can do that will cause you to not care about them. It states that they are worthy of care, respect, and support, no matter who they are or what they’ve done.

Feedback Friday

In reflecting on how I communicate my position of UPR to my students, not just through words but through actions as well, I decided to develop Feedback Friday. 

Each Friday, I meet with each of my students one-on-one and ask them a series of questions. I rotate through several questions each week: What’s your favorite song? Who did you sit with at lunch this week? Who showed you kindness this week?

These questions show my students that I care about their interests and friendships, and the answers can help me foster positive experiences in lessons and activities. 

The Big 3

There are also three questions that I ask every week, of every student. They model how to receive and utilize constructive feedback and how to have a reciprocal, unconditional relationship. The three questions that never leave the rotation are as follows:

1. What went well for you this week? I put a lot of effort into teaching my students about metacognition, and this question helps do just that. It creates an opportunity for students to practice self-reflection and look for their strengths. This is especially important in my classroom, where my students often struggle with several aspects of school. Equally important, this question also gives me important clues into my students’ wellness. A student who can’t identify one thing that went well one week might have had an off week, but if they consistently can’t identify a positive, they may be struggling with something bigger. 

2. What can I do to help with next week? Instead of following what went well with a question about what they are struggling with, I ask the students what they need help with. This reframe is intentional: First, it can be difficult to admit that you’re struggling with something, even with someone you trust. Second, asking in that way insinuates that there is always something we as humans need help with. Finally, it models self-advocacy. 

This question is super-important in the Feedback Friday setting—students often feel embarrassed to ask for help in the moment or in front of peers, so this provides a safe space for students to self-advocate. Early in our Feedback Friday journey, I told students that their answers didn’t have to be specific to my class, and I’m often surprised by what they tell me they need help with: I need help finding my planner, I need help finding a partner in science, I need help talking to a teacher.

I’ve found that this question is essential, not only for teaching my students self-advocacy but also in building unconditional positive regard. By showing them that I care about their needs in my classroom and beyond, and helping them solve their challenges, I build much-needed trust that carries to difficult topics and moments in the classroom.

3. What can I do to be a better teacher to you this year? I think this question is the most important of them all. It’s the crux of the “feedback” in Feedback Friday. We spend all day giving our students feedback, yet we very rarely solicit it ourselves. Inviting feedback models how to receive feedback comfortably… and how to implement it. Asking this question is essential for modeling reciprocal relationships for our students. It tells my students that their experience in my classroom matters—that their feelings are valid and that if something doesn’t feel right, it needs to be fixed. This is how we unlock true unconditional positive regard. 

If I had started asking my students this question last year, I believe that the whole coup could’ve been avoided. I know it’s a vulnerable question, and I can understand the hesitation teachers may have in asking it, but I firmly believe that if we really want our students to feel loved and valued, we have to be open to hearing the ways in which we could do or be better. I know the day will come when I’ll have to face down hurt, and I’ll be grateful that I created the conditions and opportunity for my students to share it.

That said, the deep relationships I have created with my students this year have kept many of those moments at bay. Thus far, my students have mostly answered this question with “Nothing,” although some say things like “Can you re-explain order of operations” or “Can we play Night at the Museum again next week?” 

Implementing Feedback Friday 

Feedback Friday has the potential to be especially meaningful to secondary students, who often shuffle from class to class and teacher to teacher, and for whom physical and neurological developmental shifts leave many struggling with their mental health and relationships. However, it could be tough to implement for teachers with hundreds of students across the day. Here are a few modifications that could work:

• Consider having students fill out a Google Form with a few questions, then either following up with a few students each week or letting students volunteer for one-on-ones.
• Ask just one or two questions per student per week.
• Consider cutting your class in half and alternating, so that you meet with each student one-on-one biweekly instead of weekly.

Ultimately, whatever you decide has to be sustainable. The key to utilizing Feedback Friday to build UPR is to have it be meaningful for you and your students. Sustainability builds consistency, and consistency builds trust. I’m not sure who looks forward to it more—my students or me.