Daniel is an experienced lead paraeducator who is mentoring Jane, a new team member. Jane has been working in the school for a few weeks; she is eager to learn and improve but feels uncertain about her performance and is hoping that feedback from Daniel will help her grow in her role. Daniel wants to support Jane, but, while a skilled classroom para, is not accustomed to giving feedback to adult learners.
It’s a typical Tuesday morning, and Jane has just completed a small-group activity in an inclusion classroom. The lesson involved a reading comprehension exercise where students had to read a short passage and answer a few guided questions. Some students participated well, while others were distracted or disengaged. Jane felt the lesson didn’t go as planned, but she tried her best to employ various strategies—such as breaking tasks into smaller chunks and providing visual aids—to keep students engaged.
 Daniel is observing the lesson from the back of the room. After the class wraps up, Jane anxiously awaits Daniel’s feedback.
Daniel: “So Jane, I watched your lesson today. It was… alright. I think you need to work a bit more on your strategies and your rapport with the students. It just didn’t feel like they were really engaged, you know? You should try different strategies next time, maybe some more hands-on stuff.”
Jane: “Okay… um, could you maybe help me understand what you mean by that? I tried using a couple of strategies to keep them engaged—like breaking the questions into smaller chunks and using visuals to help them focus. I thought it might help, but it didn’t seem to work as well as I hoped.”
Daniel: (Shrugs) “Yeah, I get that, but the students just didn’t seem to connect with you. It was kind of flat. I think you need to try more interactive stuff. Maybe add some hands-on activities next time. You need to build better rapport with them so they listen more and stay on task. It’s just something you need to work on.”
Jane: “Yes, I agree that the students were a bit distracted, and I know I could have done a better job keeping their attention. But… Well, can you give me some insight into what I could have done differently? Like, were there any specific strategies that you think I should have used in that moment? Or maybe just ways to implement those strategies more effectively? I really want to improve, and I’m open to any advice you have.”
Daniel: “Well, like I said, try more hands-on activities or something interactive. You know, get them moving, get them more engaged. It’ll make a difference. Just work on it. You’ll get there.”
Jane leaves the conversation feeling unsure and somewhat frustrated. She’s grateful that Daniel took the time to observe her lesson, but she feels that the feedback was vague and didn’t address the specific areas where she was struggling. She had hoped to receive more targeted advice, especially around the strategies she had implemented. Jane is also left wondering whether Daniel understood her reasoning behind the strategies she used. She had chosen those strategies deliberately —knowing that some students in the group had difficulty with attention span or needed more time to process information—but the feedback didn’t acknowledge those considerations. Jane is now uncertain about her next steps. She feels a little stuck, unsure of how to apply the general feedback or improve without concrete, actionable suggestions.
Daniel, on the other hand, thinks he’s given constructive feedback. In his mind, he’s done his job as a mentor by pointing out areas of improvement like building rapport and being more interactive. Daniel doesn’t realize that his feedback isn’t landing the way he intends. He’s uncomfortable diving into specifics because he’s not entirely sure himself why some strategies didn’t work as expected. Instead, he reverts to general advice, believing that the new paraeducator will figure it out on her own over time.
Keep Daniel and Jane in mind as we explore ideas around the importance of effective feedback throughout Unit 5.