Listen to the whole episode of Giving Students Feedback 4 Tips from my Elementary Classroom here
Giving students feedback is complex. Most of the time giving students feedback is the last thing on our to-do list. Let’s face it, we have a lot on our plates!
Consider for a moment a time when someone gave you good feedback. Maybe it was a comment or a question that really helped you re-think something and take big steps toward achieving your goal?
Good feedback is vital to learning.
Giving students good feedback is part of a student centered classroom. And if you’re scratching your head thinking, what is a student centered classroom? Head over to this blog article I wrote all about the answer to that question! This article talks about how student centered classrooms are more equitable, meeting the needs of all of our students.
What is feedback?
We all give our students feedback. We know it is important and we try to give good feedback…. But are we actually giving good feedback? What does good feedback even look like in math?
So many questions start swirling around in my head when I think about feedback.
I love this definition from feedbackforlearning.org is “Feedback is a process in which learners make sense of information about their performance and use it to enhance the quality of their work or learning strategies.”
Giving Students Feedback is a Process
This definition points out that feedback is a process. It is not just an interaction or exchange of information between teacher and student, but a process to fully understand and apply the feedback.
What we don’t want is a situation where we spend the time to write or create feedback and deliver it to our students’ and in turn they do nothing with it. Instead, we must have a process for helping our students make sense of it all. Through this process of feedback and apply feedback students can then enhance their quality of work and/or learning strategies as the definition reads.
Feedback is Information
I also LOVE that this definition states that feedback is information. This is something I always tell my students. Feedback is just information – it can be positive or negative, but it is just information. It is really up to us what we do with that information.
To be honest I think this is such a valuable life skill. The skill of filtering through information and deciding what is valuable information and how to apply it. This is a skill I hope students can learn in the classroom through getting and apply feedback, because I know it will be one they use continuously through life.
So, now that we know feedback is merely information– we know that some information is super useful and other information is just not. Let me say this… if you’re going to spend your valuable and very limited time giving students feedback… Make sure your feedback is meaningful and worth it.
What makes good feedback?
Feedback can be the number correct out on a quiz. It can be circled incorrect problems. Feedback can be a checklist or rubric indicating which elements students mastered and which they didn’t. It could be a comment or question written in the margin. However, not all of those pieces of feedback would fall under the good feedback category. So, what makes good feedback?
Good feedback is specific and useful.
Good feedback has a purpose.
Good feedback is clear.
Good feedback is actionable.
When you ask yourself that question, what makes good feedback? Reflect on that list of what makes good feedback and be critical of your own feedback. When we create good feedback we help our students get further along in their learning journey. So, how do you give good feedback?
Giving Students Feedback in 3 Simple Ways:
Let’s talk about 3 ways you can give feedback that is all of those things– specific, useful, purposeful, clear and actionable.
#1- Be clear on what you will give feedback on.
It could be a priority standard or a behavior that students ended to improve. The key is getting clear on the specific behavior or skill, piece of work or strategy that you’ll give your students feedback on.
I am thinking about when my students are having a math discussion and they just KEEP saying the same 3 things… they pass it to the next person and they just repeat with a slight variation what the person before them said. I want this to change because we aren’t getting to the math or identifying the conjecture or math truth in the discussion… we’re just dancing around the same point.
#2- Make the criteria CLEAR
Students need to know what you expect. The criteria for what the ideal (behavior, strategy, skill, work) looks like. You can accomplish this in many ways, but the most important thing is that students know what you expect.
So, in my example about our math discussions. I went back to make sure the anchor chart very clearly labeled what I wanted students to do in the discussion. Then I pointed their attention to the important points→ I want you to “a new ideas” “build on to others ideas” and “ask questions when you don’t understand or know what’s going on”. Then, I knew they were reminded of the criteria. I made it clear what was expected of them and what a good math discussion looked like.
#3-Collect data/ information
This data (aka information) is what will help you create that clear and purposeful feedback that will give students a specific baseline so they can work to improve. Gathering data can take a number of forms, observations to tally marks– it’s just information!
In our math discussions I started to gather data about the discussions to share with the class. Each time a student spoke in the discussion I tally marked whenever we had a repeated statement. I also marked down how many original ideas. Then, I presented it to the class. How many “new ideas” and “repeats” we had. They we decided how we could improve.
This really is an example of how you can give actionable, specific, and helpful feedback to the whole group vs. individual and still help every student improve. Consider using whole group feedback vs. individual feedback if the situation lends itself to that format.
#4- Add in self assessment
Once the purpose and criteria are clear and students know the information then… ask them to self assess. This really helps students start to match their perception with the reality. The more we self assess the more accurate we become… leading to more self awareness.
Giving students feedback doesn’t have to be complex
I hope through this article and accompany podcast episode you were able to gain a few ideas for what you can do when giving students feedback!
