EduBlogClub Prompt #10 was a catch up week and since I am already in catch up mode, here is Prompt #11:
Prompt: Write a post about giving feedback to students.
Some questions to jumpstart your thinking:
- What is your favorite type of assignment upon which to comment? Why?
- Do you have any tips to share on using rubrics, alternative assessments, or anything else related to feedback and grading work?
- How do you balance constructive criticism and sensitive students?
- How do students respond to your feedback? Do you have any thoughts about changes that could strengthen your feedback?
- How do you give feedback “in the moment” during classroom activities? What are the most effective strategies you’ve used?
One of my favorite ways to give feedback when I was in the classroom was on a rubric. Given a specific task or project, I would develop a rubric and review it with my students. There were times I would even create the rubric with my students so we all had a clear understanding of what the assignment expectations were. I think making the rubric available beforehand (and even creating it with students) is a great way for students to prepare and be successful.
I would take the time to write notes on my students’ work and/or the rubric. My notes contained both praise for what they had done well (and I always found something they had done well) and feedback on what needed improvement. I would talk to the students individually as well, which of course took a good deal of time, so I had to be judicious on which assignments merited this sort of feedback.
If I had to do it over again, I would give audio feedback as well. I am currently in a doctoral program working toward my Ed.D in K-12 Educational Leadership. I recently was fortunate to have an expert in the field of online learning agree to be my content expert for my dissertation committee. I have been sending him parts of my work so far, and he has sent his feedback in the form of audio files, which are short little recordings no more than 5 or 6 minutes long. They are chock full of valuable feedback and in a way that makes immediate sense because I feel as if I am sitting down with him and he is telling me what he things of my work. It has been so powerful for me that I know if I were in the classroom again I would incorporate that into my feedback in some way. Especially with so much of the classroom being digital.
How do you give feedback to your students? What forms of feedback have you experienced that you have found powerful? Share your thoughts with me in the comments below! 🙂
21st Century Educator 
Hi Melanie!
Thank you for sharing this inspiring post.
I’m catching up very slowly, but at each time I manage to write I look for your corresponding post.
I totally agree that making the rubric available beforehand and creating it with the students generates motivation by clarifying the goal to reach. When I was a teacher in the classroom I also used to write notes on their work. On my first year, a 5th grade student suggested me to write on the other side of the page, just so his work would keep a more aesthetic appearance. I followed his suggestion for years and today he is a Teacher of Arts in our School!
When I listen to a podcast or to a YouTube video in English, I have to stop often to take notes. If I’m listening in Portuguese, I usually write at the same time. If I don’t write down the main ideas first, I can’t reflect upon what I’ve heard: it just vanishes. The books of French pedagogue Antoine de la Garanderie helped me a lot to understand my visual learner students which are opposite to me.
I’m striving to learn how to incorporate podcasts in my blog to publish my students’ interviews. Usually I transcribe what they are saying in a sort of “personal stenography” and post the interview later, but they would love to hear their own voices!
Ines