Why marking students’ books should be the least of a language teacher’s priorities – The Language Gym. 1. Introduction Never, as in this day and age, secondary schools in the UK have made such a big fuss about the importance of marking student books and never has giving feedback been so tiresome and time-consuming for teachers. Based on the intuitively compelling notion – supported by recent research claims by the likes of Hattie – that a more cognitively demanding student involvement in the feedback-handling process significantly enhances learning, Modern Language teachers are now asked in many cases to place marking at the top of their priorities and engage in elaborate corrective approaches. The trending remedial methodology prescribing a conversation-for-learning approach to marking, whereby the feedback unfolds in the form of a dialogue between corrector and correctee, book-marking has become a very taxing process for both parties but especially for teachers. 2. 3.
The obvious answer is ‘No’ as students and parents do demand we correct. . (1) the student must understand the correction; 20 Ways To Provide Effective Feedback For Learning. 20 Ways To Provide Effective Feedback For Learning by Laura Reynolds While assessment gets all the press, it is feedback for learning that can transform a student’s learning. When feedback is predominately negative, studies have shown that it can discourage student effort and achievement (Hattie & Timperley, 2007, Dinham). Like my experience, the only thing I knew is that I hated public speaking and I would do anything possible to get out of it. As a teacher, most of the time it is easy to give encouraging, positive feedback. However, it is in the other times that we have to dig deep to find an appropriate feedback response that will not discourage a student’s learning. A teacher has the distinct responsibility to nurture a student’s learning and to provide feedback in such a manner that the student does not leave the classroom feeling defeated. 1.
Providing feedback means giving students an explanation of what they are doing correctly AND incorrectly. 2. 3. 4. What can the student do? 5. Improving Written Feedback. This week I gave a seminar at TeachMeet Clevedon. I am going to post more fully on my topic of teachers getting better by undertaking ‘deliberate practice‘ sometime soon. One smaller aspect of my presentation was how teachers can improve written feedback, both to improve learning and to marginally reduce the time taken to give written feedback.
With the gift of more time we can free ourselves to pursue becoming a better teacher more deliberately: with reflection, planning and deliberate practice. Of course, written feedback is so crucial that it can improve teaching and learning significantly, therefore it deserves our attention in its own right. The following list of tips is a synthesis of my experience and that of my English department (see our policy for feedback here). It also draws upon many excellent teachers and their cumulative experience of effective written feedback. – Create a ‘marking rota’ . – Give feedback in lesson time. . – Don’t mark everything. . – Refuse sub-standard work. Seven ways to give better feedback to your students | Teacher Network. Feedback can be a difficult business. When it is used in the right way, it can be one of the most effective strategies to improve learning, according to The Sutton Trust.
But research also suggests that, if handled badly, it can do more harm than good. We all want our feedback to be encouraging and constructive, yet it can be misinterpreted as judgement and criticism. So how you save yourself – and your students – from potentially damaging comments? Don’t go overboard When a student has repeatedly struggled, it is tempting – and natural – to want to heap lots of praise on them when they achieve some level of success, no matter how small it is. Correct quietly Teenagers care a lot about what their peers think of them. One way to overcome this is what author Doug Lemov calls private individual correction. Don’t compare It is far better to focus your feedback on a student’s individual development and improvement rather than comparing them to their classmates (or anyone else, for that matter). Welcome to Discovery Education's Puzzlemaker! Create crossword p.