Give Transferable Compliments to Students Every Time
Giving compliments to students is something that we as educators want to get really, really good at. I don’t know about you… but I just LOVE praising and giving my students positive teacher feedback whenever I can. To see their eyes light up when I’ve noticed something AMAZING they have done; it makes my heart feel sooo good. But how do we compliment students in such a way that it becomes TRANSFERABLE to their next writing piece or that next book they are going to pick up and read.
You might be thinking… “What are transferable compliments?” They are positive statements where you name the strategy your student is almost proficient in or already proficient in. This strategy can be used every day, for every piece of writing. Now of course you should give transferable compliments during reading time too. You could say something like: “This strategy can be used every day, in every book you read.”
Especially when we’re doing methods of teaching reading and writing or whole class mini lessons. Think about the connection part of your mini lesson for a second. You might want to deliver a transferable compliment there. Or in the active engagement part of your mini lesson where you’re touching individual students as they’re practicing the strategy that you just taught. In 1-on-1 conferences and small groups, we can deliver transferable compliments to students at the start of the lesson or when you are coaching into the work they are doing independently.
Stay in the Tier 3 category of complimenting students to make your compliments MORE transferable.
Complimenting students can be embedded as a daily routine, whether it’s throughout reading or writing. It’s just a way of life in the classroom. Did you know there are 3 Tiers to complimenting students? Conferring All-Star Teachers™ want to stay in Tier 3 as much as possible because that’s when it becomes the MOST transferable. As I show you these 3 tiers, I encourage you to take a few minutes to reflect on where you’re currently at when it comes to giving transferable compliments to students.
Okay, here are those 3 Tiers:
Tier 1: Basic Compliment
- Where you state the strategy they are proficient in or almost proficient and you point that out.
- Example: “Awesome job describing the setting in your story!”
Tier 2: The Why Compliment
- Where you name the strategy and tell them the WHY or how this supports their growth as a reader or writer.
- Example: “Awesome job describing the setting in your story because smart writers help their readers imagine what the place looks like!”
Tier 3: Most Transferable Compliment
- Where you name the strategy, the WHY, and state that the strategy can be used every day.
- Example: “Awesome job describing the setting in your story because smart writers help their readers imagine what the place looks like! Remember this strategy can be used every day, in every piece of writing.”
Complimenting students reinforces what the reader or writer does.
Now let’s go ahead and talk about some examples from Jennifer Serravallo’s Teaching Writing in Small Groups. Pages 44-49 are all about teacher feedback, while page 49 has specific examples for compliments. She states that the reason why we compliment is to reinforce something the writer does. This celebrates progress towards a goal.
Here are a few compliments for students examples from her book:
- “Your first paragraph is clear, and sets your reader up to understand your opinion.”
- “By saying the words slowly, you heard each sound and it’s spelled correctly.”
- “I noticed you wrote without stopping, and it really increased how much you were able to get down today.”
- “When you read your writing aloud to yourself, you’re able to hear your natural pauses. And now your punctuation will direct your reader to pause theirs too.”
Make your compliments part of your students' identity as a reader or writer.
Here’s 3 quick tips I want to leave you.
First, it’s important to use clear and consistent language. Avoid language that is too wordy or confusing.
Second, make your compliment a part of the student’s identity as a writer. You might say, “I bet you do this all the time in your reading or writing,” OR “I’ve noticed that you’re the kind of reader/writer.” The second one can be followed by the strategy they’re proficient in.
The last tip is that you could even ask the student if they know another place where they tried the strategy you’re complimenting them on. This will really give your students the opportunity to notice their own strengths, instead of always coming from us as the teacher.
Once you know how to give the most transferable compliment, next you need a method of teaching to help you give that compliment to your students. The Compliment Conference is definitely a method you can’t live without. If you would to know the structure, timing and how to give the most powerful compliment to students; then come join us inside the Conferring All-Star Teacher™ Programs. Doors are open right now until June 15th @ 6:00 PM EST.
So by now I hope you agree that giving transferable compliments to students is sooo important. And you have several strategies or tips to move from the basic compliment to the MOST Transferable compliment. If you’re looking for even more FREE training, strategies, resources on complimenting and conferring with students; come on over to my Facebook page and Literacy Teacher Greatness Community on Facebook.
I just love this positive, supportive community of literacy teachers and instructional coaches. We are all in this together and we can fill each other’s toolbox of compliments along the way to make sure we are delivering the MOST transferable compliments as much as possible all school year long. So hop on over into the group and say hello. I would LOVE to meet you.
