Are you looking for new phrases to use in your feedback for your ESL classes online because your feedback kind of stale? After a few years of doing this, it is easy to fall into the trap of reusing the same phrasing for each feedback.
The list below will inspire you to switch up your feedback phrasing for your online ESL class to keep your students engaged and motivated.
Why Personalize Your Feedback
You don’t want the student to suspect you are cutting and pasting their feedback. If you have already internalized the tips for good feedback structure and you still find yourself regurgitating the same hackneyed lines, then here is a long list of feedback phrases to help you spice up your feedback and convert those trials or continue to impress your regulars.
List of Phrases for Great Feedback
🥇”Bao Bao was successful at _____”
🥇”Bao Bao did a great job using ________”
🥇”Bao Bao improved _______”
🥇”Bao Bao demonstrated they understand ______”
🥇”I am proud of how well Bao Bao did ________”
🥇”Bao Bao was a serious and focused student while learning _____”
🥇”Bao Bao mastered _____”
🥇”Bao Bao fluently used _________”
🥇”Bao Bao worked hard to learn ______”
🥇”Bao Bao correctly used _________”
🥇”Bao Bao’s skills in _______ have greatly improved”
Don’t forget that you can always just search for synonyms to words like “successful” in online thesauruses to easily alter your feedback.
Beware of Auto-Generated Feedback
Many platforms such as Palfish have pre-populated feedback fields to help teachers write feedback faster. Beware that you don’t lean too much on these auto inputs. First of all, some companies have spelling or English grammar mistakes in their auto-feedbacks, so you need to copyedit it. Then, students will notice that the feedback is similar in each class.
Try to personalize each feedback.
Here are some tips for writing great, personalized feedback on Palfish, for example.
Repeat the Kids Name Often
My top tip for teaching kids, too, is that parents love to see the name of their child in the feedback. I know because I am a parent, and my five-year-old takes online classes. Even though I know the feedback is mostly AI-generated, I still get a little flutter in my chest when I see “Sybil read her words so well today” rather than “She read her words so well today.” I scan the feedback for her name, hoping there are personalized messages about my daughter.
Remember, your student is a parent’s very precious, most loved person. They are their treasure, or “Bao Bao”.* Write your feedback to kids accordingly.
*If you do not know the student’s name and they are a young child from China, you can call them “Bao Bao.” Bao Bao means treasure (Chinese: 宝宝; pinyin: Bǎobǎo, meaning “treasure”; colloquially meaning “baby”.
Happy Grading and Feedback Writing!
“Be a wonderful role model because you will be the window through which many children will see their future.”
Thomas Mckinnon
