I recently came across an article on Edutopia by Nicole Greene about “Feedback Friday” and the concept of unconditional positive regard. Now, I was already familiar with Feedback Friday, but I had never heard of unconditional positive regard. And as Lloyd Christmas would say in Dumb and Dumber, “I like it a lot!” I’m pretty excited about this idea.
What is Unconditional Positive Regard?
The idea is simple but powerful: it’s about creating a classroom environment where every student feels valued, no matter what they do. It’s about showing students that your belief in them isn’t conditional on their behavior, their grades, or their attitude on any given day. Instead, it’s about building trust and making it clear that you’re in their corner. Always.
If you’ve read the book Never Enough by Jennifer Wallace, which I’ve read and loved, you know how important this kind of belonging and “mattering” is for our kids.
Putting it into Practice: Feedback Friday
The Edutopia article highlights a specific practice that ties into this mindset: soliciting regular student feedback. Nicole Greene recommends doing this through a system she calls Feedback Friday, where she meets with every member of her class one-on-one each week for a quick check-in session.
- The Goal: Show students that their voice matters and then act on what they share.
- The Content: They might talk about a recent lesson, the classroom environment, or even their own personal struggles.
- The Impact: These moments can be classroom culture transformers and deeply impact your students as learners even outside of your classroom.
Making it Realistic for Your Classroom
Greene has a small class (around 11 or 12 kids) so it’s realistic for her to spend 20 minutes talking to everyone. For a teacher with a higher number of students, that’s going to be really tough! If you’ve got a larger class load, here are a few ways to scale it:
- Meet with Subsets: You don’t have to meet with everyone every Friday. Maybe you meet with three students a day, and by the end of two weeks, you’ve met with everyone.
- Go Digital: Use a tool like Google Forms to hear from everyone efficiently.
- Create a Rotation: Find a system that ensures you hear from every student regularly.
Ultimately, this process builds a deeper connection and helps you tailor your teaching to meet the needs of your learners. Most importantly, it gives students a voice and shows that we value what they have to say.
We want to hear from you! Do you use Feedback Friday or a similar strategy? How do you show unconditional positive regard in your room? Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments below!