Feedback Strategies

In "Five Reasons to Stop Saying 'Good Job!'" Alfie Kohn discusses the negatives behind reinforcing good behavior or actions with a simple judgment statement. While we may think that saying good job is beneficial and makes someone happy for what they have done, it is actually just a judgement statement that people psychologically don't like because they don't want to be judged. It makes people think that what they did was done for you not for themselves. My favorite solution from the article was to talk less and ask more. This means to ask questions about what someone has done. You can ask why or how someone did something. You can also ask what someone likes about what they did. This will allow the person to think about what they have completed and evaluate it themselves which will please them more and help them improve the task in the future.

The article "How to Give Bad Feedback Without Being a Jerk" Adam Grant uses a fantastic example from one of his experiences to show the reader how to give better feedback. The first step is to stop using the compliment sandwich (good, bad, good) as it just muddies the waters and doesn't allow for the best results. Instead you should explain why you're giving the feedback so that the person receiving this knows what they should do with this information and is eager to put it to use. Next, you should take yourself off the pedestal so that you aren't viewed as speaking down on a person. You should also ask the person if they want feedback so that it is their decision to hear it and they are accepting to it. Lastly, you want to make sure that you have a transparent dialogue so that the discussion is beneficial to both parties and everyone can improve from it.

Pixel Cells Feedback

Sources:

Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!"

How to Give Bad Feedback Without Being a Jerk

Topic Research: Davy Crockett

Patched Moccasin: This is a tale about Davy Crockett investigating the raid of a building that at first glance looks like an Indian attack. Davy, always looking for justice, does not believe that it was the near by Indians because he just declared peace with their chief. He investigates the crime scene and then goes to meet with the Indians to see what information they can provide him in order to catch the real culprit.

Blood Brothers: This is a story of Davy Crockett saving an Indian from one of his traps in the forest and taking him back to his house to bandage his wounds. The Indian sneaks off in the middle of the night. A year later, Davy attempts to rescue a girl who was captured by a tribe of Indians but gets caught instead. They are both tied up but are then saved when the Indian that Davy rescued turns out to be there and helps them escape.

Indian Attack: In this story, a man comes to Davy's house in the middle of winter during a blizzard telling him that General Andrew Jackson needs his help. Davy traverses the cold terrain and terrible weather to get there and help General Jackson scout out the attacking Indians and defeat them in battle.

I used the comics found on an internet archive search to learn about these stories. I read comic 001 and 003.

Davy Crockett: Frontier Fighter

Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey Part B

Homer's Odyssey, The Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis: translated to English by Tony Kline

This story began with Homer and his crew beginning this journey past the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis. They smartly pass through the Sirens wail by blocking their ears and tying Homer up. This made me feel as if Homer was tempting fate by wanting to hear the wail instead of just using the wax to clog his ears as instructed by Circe. This leads me to believe that he did not take what she said seriously enough which ends up being true as he arms himself while looking out for Scylla which he was told not to do. Homer seems like a good leader by motivating his crew but when Scylla comes you can almost blame him for arming himself. The end of this story is very dark as a large portion of his men are grabbed and devoured in a gruesome manner by Scylla.

(Scylla, by John Flaxman)

Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey, Part A

Homer's Odyssey, The Cyclops Defeated; translated to English by Tony Kline

I read a few of the stories in Homer's Odyssey Part A and the one that stood out most to me was this one. Homer acts as somewhat of a trickster in order to incapacitate the Cyclops and then defeat him. He is acting to save himself as well as his companions who are all trapped inside of the cyclops's cave. This story has the mythical beast of the cyclops, the magic of the wine, and the topic of the gods to make it a great myth that is enjoyable and exciting to read. Telling the cyclops that his name was nobody was another trick by Homer as now when trying to explain what will happen, the cyclops will sound crazy allowing for Homer and company to escape. 

(The Cyclops Polyphemus, by Tischbein)

Week 2 Story

There was once a tiger hunting for his next meal. While he was prowling through the tall grass, he became stuck in a trap. He violently tried to escape from the trap by biting and clawing at the bars, but it was all in vein as even a strong beast such as him couldn't break the metal.

As the tiger grew more and more helpless and hungry, a Brahman strolled through the field by the tiger.

"Oh kind Brahman, please free me from this vile trap!" begged the tiger.

"Why would I do this for you?" the Brahman questioned. "Surely you would eat me the moment you became free."

"No no no," exclaimed the tiger, "I would be so grateful to you that I would serve as your loyal protecter."

The tigers begging and promises made the kind Brahman feel sorry for the poor tiger stuck in the trap. He decided to release the trap and free the tiger. "HA!" screamed the tiger, as he sprung free from the trap and jumped on his savior, "you are such a dumb old man! A beast like me would never serve such a weak creature like you. Instead I shall eat you to quench my hunger."

Now it was the Brahman's turn to beg for his freedom. The tiger decided to allow the Brahman to ask three things their opinion on wether or not the tiger was acting fairly.

First, the Brahman asked a near by tree how it felt about the matter. The tree dryly told the poor Brahman "I provide protection from the rays of the sun to those wandering in the heat, but in repayment they just eat my fruit and break my branches for kindling. Toughen up and fight your own battles."

Next, the Brahman cried to a hawk flying overhead but the hawk simply responded "I keep to my own business and fly in the sky. I don't want to be a part of your dispute."

Lastly the Brahman begged the road to help him. The road grumpy said "Everybody who I've ever met has simply trampled on me, often with their much heavier cattle. I have no desire to help you."

Defeated, the Brahman began walking back to where the tiger was waiting. Along his way, he met a jackal who asked "Why such a long face Brahman? The weather is nice and today is a good day to travel!"

The Brahman told the jackal what had happened but this just seemed to cause the jackal further puzzlement. "This doesn't make any sense to me!" exclaimed the jackal. "Maybe you could take me to the scene of where this all took place and then I may be able to understand your predicament.

"Finally, my meal has returned! And you brought a snack back with you." the tiger said sinisterly to the Brahman.

"Before you devour me, you must let me explain what happened to this simple minded jackal."

Once again, the Brahman explained to the jackal what had happened without skipping a single piece of information in an attempt to prolong his life that was soon to come to an end.

"All of this hurts my head!" cried the jackal while rubbing his temples. "Ok so the tiger laid the trap and you, Mr. Brahman, became stuck in-"

"No!" the tiger yelled angrily, "I was the one in the trap you moron!"

"That makes more sense," the jackal responded feigning terror. "So the hawk was stuck in the trap- no wait, I was in the trap. No that doesn't seem to make sense. Mr. Brahman was riding the tiger. Ahh no that's impossible. I'll never be able to figure this out, for my brain is just not big enough."

Enraged by the jackal's ineptitude, the tiger roared "It's not that complicated! I am the tiger-"

"Ok that makes sense."

"This is the trap-"

"Alright."

"And I was stuck in the trap."

"Got it! Wait, no, how did you get in the trap?" the jackal asked with a look of confusion.

"What? How? The way that an animal normally gets into a trap!"

"Oh well I don't know how that is for I am so confused right now."

The tigers fuse was about to blow and he quickly jumped back into the trap and yelled, "That's how I got into the trap!"

With a sly smile on his face the jackal quickly slammed the trap shut, locking the tiger back inside. "Ohhhh I get it now," the jackal said, "I think it should stay this way."


Author's note: I took this story and adapted it to my own words. I was intrigued by the trickery of both the tiger and the jackal and loved the premise of this story. The anger that the tiger had was because he thought he was so much smarter than the jackal and I love how this was shown because in the end, it was the jackal who was the smartest.

Story source: Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912)

Image Information: Illustration by John Batten