IN THIS EPISODE…
- Ways to use your vision and zoning plan to make giving feedback easier and more objective.
- How building relationships with your staff will help make feedback more effective
- Why giving feedback, even when it’s really hard, is so important for team growth
- How to give clear feedback in a context that makes it easier to hear
- Tips for phrasing feedback to make it more meaningful to the listener
- Some of my personal stories about receiving feedback and how they helped me grow
Giving feedback to teaching team mates can be one of the most frustrating and intimidating things about being a teacher, especially in special education. It’s tough to put yourself out there and have the tough conversations. But without giving feedback, no one improves and issues just continue.
As Brene’ Brown says, “Clear is Kind. Unclear is Unkind.” Simply this means that giving clear feedback to others gives them the chance to grow and the team the opportunity to grow together. Avoiding feedback or beating around the bush and not talking about the elephant in the room just makes things worse.
We are the midst of a 5-part series talking about Building Teaching Teams. We have talked about getting to know your staff as people and building relationships, creating the classroom culture, developing a classroom vision of values, and using staff zoning plans.
Today’s Episode: Giving Feedback to Team Mates
If you have done steps 1-4 from the series…giving feedback may still be necessary but it doesn’t always have to be difficult. I’m not saying that these steps will solve every problem because I’d be lying. There are still going to be situations where you and the staff member don’t see eye and you may need help from administration. But let’s work to avoid those situations and think about how we give feedback to make it productive. Because I know you want a work environment where things run like clockwork, but the classroom is made up of people. And people aren’t always perfect and sometimes you have things you need to address. And I know you can do it!
And if you are looking for more ideas for how to provide training and feedback to teammates, come check out all our training and collaboration resources in the Special Educator Academy.
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Come get a free trial in the Special Educator Academy where we have workshops and study groups on them.
