“ I see where you’re going, but remember that. This has happened to me more times than I can count and illustrates how important it is to keep an open mind.Ĥ. The student may have an idea or interpretation that is every bit as good as the one you have in mind but just comes at the problem from a different angle. This is a good response when you hear something you haven’t heard of or thought of before. it’s not exactly what I was looking for, but tell me more.” Otherwise, you’ll send your entire class in the wrong direction.ģ. It also helps the rest of the class adjust and fine-tune their own thinking. It validates the student’s thinking and motivates them to go a little deeper. “ You’re on the right track, but not there yet.” It takes spending some time with one particular student, but it’s worth the effort-as well as the lesson for the rest of the class.Ģ. What’s cool about this technique is that, with your prompting and further questioning, they’ll often work their way to the answer you’re looking for. In this scenario, you’re leading the student to discover on their own where and how they went astray. What follows are five ways to tell a student they’re off the mark without embarrassing, rejecting, or discouraging them. So when a student offers an erroneous or off-the-wall response to your query, the entire class needs to know.Īt the same time, however, you never want to discourage anyone who participates. They need feedback to adjust, dig deeper, and narrow in on relevant themes, ideas, and solutions. They need feedback to learn and grow intellectually. It can discourage them from sharing again in the future.īut there are times when you’re looking for a particular answer or set of answers.Īnd if you accept every response as equally valid, you’re going to confuse your class. There are those who believe you should never tell a student who volunteers an answer that they’re wrong.

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