Right is Right

Mission: to set and defend a high standard of correctness in your classroom.

Sometimes as teachers we respond to almost-correct answers our students give in class by “rounding up.” That is, we will affirm the student's answer and repeat it, but add some detail of our own to make it fully correct even though the student didn't provide and may not know or did not give the RIGHT answer.

Here is an example:

When studying Romeo and Juliet, a teacher asks a student about the relationship between the Capulets and the Montagues. The student says, “They don't like each other.” The teacher, wanting more elaboration, might say: “Right, they don't like each other and have been feuding for genearations.”

The student hadn't included that detail. That is “rounding up.”

Sometimes the teacher will even give the student praise for not providing all of the desired information, as in, “Right, what Kiley said was theat they don't like each other and have been feuding for years. Great work, Kiley!”

Either way, in this scenario, the teacher has set a low standard for correctness and has basically told the class that they can be right even when they are not. She has also crowded out the student's own critical thinking, doing the cognitive work for him.

When answers are almost correct, it is important to let the students know that they are almost there, that you like what they have done, that they are getting close to the right answer, and they have made a great start.

Here is something the teacher might say,, “ Kiley, you said the Capulets and Montagues didn't get along. Does that really capture their relations? What do you think they might say about each other?”

In holding out for RIGHT, you set the expecation that the questions you ask for and the answers students give truly matter....and they do!

Hold out for all the way....praise them for their effort but don't confuse effort with mastery.