The teaching strategy, Right is Right, is a strategy in which the teacher expects his/her students to answer questions exactly correct. A partial answer, or an almost correct answer is unacceptable when using this strategy in the classroom. Often times in the classroom, teachers will “round up” a student’s response by taking the students short, non-descriptive answer, and adding onto it to make it correct for the entire class. This is not an appropriate way to allow students to answer questions because essentially the teacher is doing the thinking for the student, so the student is getting nothing out of his/her learning; the student is not being encouraged to really think about and provide the best answer.
Waiting for, or holding out for, the right answer is a major part of this teaching technique. There are four categories that directly relate to the idea of holding out for the correct answer. Those four categories are:
1. Holding out for all the way – This category expresses the idea that teachers should not praise their students for giving a partially correct answer. You should appreciate their effort, but do not stop there; keep “pushing” your student to think. Encourage them to give you the full answer, the correct answer. An effective way to hold out for the right answer would be to repeat your student's response, but put extra emphasis on the part of the response that are incorrect, and repeating it as a question.
2. Answer the questions – Answer the questions enforces the idea of giving the correct answer to the correct question. Do not accept a correct answer to a different question.
3. Right answer, right time – Right answer, right time encourages teachers not to let a student’s answer to a question move the discussion forward before he/she [the teacher] is ready to do so. This is vital to the entire class’s understanding of the material because as a teacher you don’t want move too quickly. With this category it is important to understand the timing of a right answer.
4. Use technical vocabulary – Rather than allowing your students to answer questions in their own words, encourage them to answer questions using exact vocabulary words. This encourages a higher degree of correctness, and also makes their vocabulary stronger.
Waiting for, or holding out for, the right answer is a major part of this teaching technique. There are four categories that directly relate to the idea of holding out for the correct answer. Those four categories are:
1. Holding out for all the way – This category expresses the idea that teachers should not praise their students for giving a partially correct answer. You should appreciate their effort, but do not stop there; keep “pushing” your student to think. Encourage them to give you the full answer, the correct answer. An effective way to hold out for the right answer would be to repeat your student's response, but put extra emphasis on the part of the response that are incorrect, and repeating it as a question.
2. Answer the questions – Answer the questions enforces the idea of giving the correct answer to the correct question. Do not accept a correct answer to a different question.
3. Right answer, right time – Right answer, right time encourages teachers not to let a student’s answer to a question move the discussion forward before he/she [the teacher] is ready to do so. This is vital to the entire class’s understanding of the material because as a teacher you don’t want move too quickly. With this category it is important to understand the timing of a right answer.
4. Use technical vocabulary – Rather than allowing your students to answer questions in their own words, encourage them to answer questions using exact vocabulary words. This encourages a higher degree of correctness, and also makes their vocabulary stronger.
Right is Right is a good teaching technique because it requires teachers to push kids toward the upper limit of their intelligence, which is ultimately the job of an educator. Rather than simply accepting a half-right answer, teachers Right is Right teachers push their students to give the best version of the correct answer. This strategy also encourages students to be more Mastery Goal oriented, rather than Performance Goal oriented. A mastery student is one who reflects a desire to gain knowledge and skills; a performance student reflects a desire to look competent in others’ eyes. When a student gives the weak partial answer that is not fully correct, then they expect to be praised for giving the correct answer, but by encouraging those students to go a little further to give the best correct answer then you are helping them become mastery students. Studies have shown that it is best to be an even “mix” between mastery and performance goal. This strategy is good because by encouraging the best correct answer you, the teacher, are helping to develop mastery students. Also, by encouraging students to give the correct answer in order to be praised, you are helping to develop performance students.
An example of Right is right
*In this example, the teacher is reviewing for a literary terms test.*
Teacher: In a piece of literature, what is a symbolism?
Grace (Student 1): It is something in the story that normally influences the protagonist, or good character in the story.
Teacher: It is a something, but we haven’t quite made it to reviewing the definition of a protagonist, yet. Tell me a little more about the something you mentioned, Grace.
Grace: The something is like an object that represents something else.
Teacher: The something is like an object that represents something else?
Grace: Symbolism is when an object in the story is used to represent ideas.
Teacher: I like what you’re saying, but can you get us the rest of the way there?
Grace: Symbolism is when an object is used to represent ideas by giving the objects meanings that are different from their literal sense.
Teacher: Okay, so, Symbolism is when an object is used to represent ideas by giving the objects meanings that are different from their literal sense?
Grace: Wait, Symbolism is the use of a symbol to signify ideas by giving the symbols meanings that are different from their literal sense.
Teacher: There it is! Good job, Grace.
Teacher: In a piece of literature, what is a symbolism?
Grace (Student 1): It is something in the story that normally influences the protagonist, or good character in the story.
Teacher: It is a something, but we haven’t quite made it to reviewing the definition of a protagonist, yet. Tell me a little more about the something you mentioned, Grace.
Grace: The something is like an object that represents something else.
Teacher: The something is like an object that represents something else?
Grace: Symbolism is when an object in the story is used to represent ideas.
Teacher: I like what you’re saying, but can you get us the rest of the way there?
Grace: Symbolism is when an object is used to represent ideas by giving the objects meanings that are different from their literal sense.
Teacher: Okay, so, Symbolism is when an object is used to represent ideas by giving the objects meanings that are different from their literal sense?
Grace: Wait, Symbolism is the use of a symbol to signify ideas by giving the symbols meanings that are different from their literal sense.
Teacher: There it is! Good job, Grace.