The Skillful Teacher

Future-Oriented
Give clear suggestions about specific actions students should take
to make progress in the short and long term.
Justifiable
Do your utmost to show how attending to the evaluative comments
you make will be in the student’s best long-term interests. People
have the right to know why you’re praising or criticizing them.
More particularly, they need to be sure that your criticisms spring
from a concern for their learning, not from your own obsessions or
from personal dislike.
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Educative
Keep asking yourself “What can this person learn from my comments?”
A good evaluation is one from which students can learn. Evaluations
should not leave students just feeling good or bad about what they’ve
done; they should inform learners about the valuable parts of their
work and provide guidance for future actions. If students only feel
warmed or ashamed by your evaluation, then it isn’t educative.