Based on chapter 5 in Jackson's book, why is effective feedback one of the most powerful tools to improve student achievement?
What are two examples of"red flags" that can happen, and what strategies can you use to get students quickly back on track?
Please also be prepared to discuss Prensky's writings on the difference between real and relevant.
Lastly, watch this video and think of what you can do for the next 30 days. In the classroom, at home, in you life. Be well, I will tell you what I did.
http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days.html
Have a great weekend.
Effective feedback is so important and keeps kids on track. I think is so important to get feedback from students and from fellow teachers. We are new teachers that have so much to learn and effective feedback makes us aware of what we need to improve. I love in thhe chapter that students keep track of their progress and give themselves feedback as well. Students need to be aware of their progress and what they need to be doing to help their success in school. Students know where they lack understanding and we need to give them the tools to track their progress, give self feedback and guide themto improvement. Feedback from teachers gives students an idea of where they need to pick up in certain areas and where their strong points are. All feedback should be a positive motivator whether it is feedback that ivolves a plan for improvement or feedback of great achievement.
ReplyDeleteWhat are two examples of"red flags" that can happen, and what strategies can you use to get students quickly back on track?
One example of a red flag is quizzes. If you notice a student not performing welk on quizzes that should be a red flag as to how that student will perform on the test. You as the teacher need a plan of action to get the student back on track. Try a different method of teaching, maybe extra worksheets and just some one on one wih the individual student to help boost their understanding.
As a class, if you ask a question and get no knowledgable response huge red flag. Something did not click in the lesson you taught and you might have to revisit the topic differently. Try a different method of teaching.
Kids have amazing memories. The feedback they get from teachers and adults (no matter how subtle the message) sticks with them forever. This goes for both positive and negative feedback. While we’ve come a long way from the dunce cap, as teachers we really need to be so careful how we give feedback to our students. Last week I caught myself breaking our Social Contract by being sarcastic in our Tuesday night class. While no one else picked up on it, my immediate thought was “what if I had said that to a student?” For a young child, it can be absolutely devastating to get criticism, sarcasm or negative feedback from a person of authority and trust.
ReplyDeleteNot only does our feedback need to be positive and/or constructive, but it needs to be given on all aspects of the learning process. The whole point is for the students to master the information. And we need to take the opportunity to use the feedback we give to our students to fine tune our teaching methods. It might mean scrapping the lesson plan and starting over. But, after all, what good is a lesson plan if the lesson isn’t learned?
One red flag might be if a student is showing aspects of mastery during class discussions and activities but is not demonstrating that mastery on written tests. We need to assess where the breakdown occurred and find ways to bridge the gap so that the student’s knowledge of the subject can be seen in multiple areas of testing.
Another might be if a student appears reluctant to answer questions in class for fear of being wrong. The section in the chapter regarding using feedback to teach children how to fail raised some good points on students’ perceptions of failing vs. succeeding. After all, it is through failure that many great lessons are learned. As Jackson so aptly states on page 143, “If students learn to fail effectively, they are more likely to succeed later on”.
One last thought…Remember the movie The Breakfast Club? The “geeky” kid reveals that he is in detention because he had a gun in his locker. His reasoning for the gun was that he was flunking shop class. He took the class because he thought it would be easy (“only dilweeds take shop”). But he found that being book smart wasn’t going to help him in build a working lamp. Now of course it ended up being a flare gun and everyone laughed. But there are many kids are out there who are so focused on the “A” that their life is literally destroyed when they fail. These are the students that are afraid to take risks, are afraid to deviate from the norm and, ultimately, can grow up to be afraid to live.
Marvelous Mark Said:
ReplyDeleteWe get feedback from all over. Parents, colleagues, peers, and even our own students can give us a tremendous amount of feedback. We can also use various assessments for good feedback. When we utilize all the tools that we have we can begin to address problems, develop meaningful lessons, and really focus on the highs and the lows of our students. We can also learn a lot about ourselves and the areas that we must improve in. Feedback although useful to the teacher it is important to remember that it is just as pertinent to the student and his/her parents. Feedback can be given verbally as well as paper and pencil. Students may also develop their own feedbacks in the form of portfolios, checklists, profiles and exhibitions. Another way to use feedback is to create early warning devices or red flag mechanisms that can signal when a student is struggling.
When we scan the room we can see when most are struggling or if they are getting what was taught. We must teach students to take risks so that we can identify these red flags. If I see a student constantly throwing a tantrum during certain subjects during the day I may possibly identify a red flag. I should have a plan in effect for the students. This plan should be full of strategies and alternatives for the student as well as me. If a student’s red flag is poor test taking strategies, then my plan should be to re-teach how to study and then allow the student to retest.
I agree with Susan students should be encouraged to think out of the box and really explore what's out there. Take risks and know that it’s okay to fail; the only true failure is not trying at all.
WRITTEN BY MARK CARLSON
Effective Feedback is great when used correctly. This type of feedback is what changes a students’ performance. It should be direct and should also acknowledge where a student needs to excel, to move to the next step. If a student in your class is having difficulty in a multi-step procedure, the effective feedback should hit the lowest procedure they are having trouble with and once they master this step, they can move up. This chapter also spoke about students being aware of their grades and taking ownership. These grades are not our grades, they are the students. They need to begin at an early age taking ownership of their education which includes their grades. Students will take the zero to get out of staying after or missing lunch but what are we telling them by taking no grade? All too often students feel as if they are just not good enough to get the grades, and they simply give up. By giving effective whether it be verbally or on paper, it needs to be done. Some ways to support students are by: giving the grades to the students and having them average it, giving extra help, giving effective feedback that supports students and guides them to success, and allowing students to make up exams.
ReplyDeleteRed Flags
There are many ways that you can check to see that students comprehend the lessons being taught. One red flag can be a worksheet that students did not complete correctly. Catching this red flag immediately and correcting it, is imperative. Having a plan in place is also very helpful for these students. If I am teaching a lesson on the life cycle of amphibians and students are expected to complete a worksheet and two students show me a lifecycle that is scattered, it tells me they did not understand what I taught and I need to reach them in a different way.
Another red flag can be informal. I am teaching a lesson on nouns and I ask the students to write a noun on the white board and hold it up to me and someone writes “sing”, I now know that they do not understand what I am teaching, and I will need to reteach, or teach differently to meet this students’ needs.
We cannot use the final test as a red flag. If we do use this technique, then we are only hurting our students. This chapter discussed finding the red flags in everything they do and catching these misunderstandings immediately and not waiting until it is too late.
Effective feedback is one of the most powerful tools to improve student achievement because it lets us know and the student know where they stand in their and your learning goals. Effective feedback is useful in a variety of ways for both the students and the teacher. It is direct so that students know where they need to go, where they are succeeding, and can be properly directed to the end goal. It also helps the teacher to know where the student stands in their understanding and mastery of the information. It helps the teacher know if she can continue on in the unit, or if the students need to be retaught using a different method. It can also help the teacher identify red flags. One example of a "red flag" that can happen is when you have a student in your class that has been working toward mastery and then suddenly on your next formative assessment does very poorly. You need to stop and reflect on what may have caused this to occur. Another step you can take is to talk to the student. Find out if it was caused by your teaching style, something physical, environmental, or social. Then, act accordingly.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of a "red flag" is when you are noticing a student in your classroom is struggling with the same information after a couple of formative assessments. The goal is for every student to reach mastery level, but if you see a student not even coming close to those goals, it needs to be addressed immediately. Consider reteaching, using different methods in the classroom to intrigue your students. Try different approaches and strategies and authentic teaching to engage and captivate the students in wanting to not only learn the material, but to also pursue and create from it.
Effective feedback continues to be one of the most powerful tools for students because it helps students better grasp there own work. I liked the idea Jackson spoke about having students create their own grade tracking sheets, grade portfolios, and more opportunities to provide and receive peer feedback. Awesome. I also liked the strategy of explaining exactly what the grades mean. What does and “A” mean vs. a “B“ or “C”. Students have anxiety over grades. Explaining what the grades mean and what value they hold may better place the students mind at ease.
ReplyDeleteRed Flags may be found during pre assessments, and or formative assessments These red flag markers are important for teachers to catch early, in order to assure they are teaching the full class. Teachers may use methods like “dipsticking; a one question quiz”, Thumbs up/down, or dry erase boards to answer quick questions through out the lesson(s) in order to assess that students are grasping the info being taught. If the teacher sees the class is lacking in an area, He/she will then know to review or re-teach that part or parts of the lesson to assure full class acknolgement.
Effective Feedback:
ReplyDeleteEffective feedback is a very important tool for student achievement and performance. Effective feedback should be positive and direct, as well as constructive for areas that may need improvement. It is important that we are specific and focus on behaviors. Recognizing effective performance can be a powerful motivator too. Teaching our students to be aware of their progress and taking ownership of their work is important too. We should be giving them the tools to help them become successful. It is also important for them to figure out for themselves what works for their learning. When the feedback is effective all can work on reaching goals.
Every teacher is capable of providing feedback, but if the feedback is not effective then the feedback essentially served no purpose. Simply pointing out where students went wrong is not sufficient. Master teachers not only point out where a student may have made a mistake, but they also show their students how to use their mistakes as a learning tool. This chapter showed a great method for implementing this by using “non-examples.” Yes, it is important to show your students where they went wrong, but it is even more important to provide them with strategies that can prevent the same mistakes from being repeated in the future. I think that just pointing out mistakes that your students have made without showing them how to improve can actually have more of a negative effect. This chapter reminded me about when we spoke in class about always beginning with a positive statement before pointing out mistakes that a student made.
ReplyDeleteRed flag mechanisms are designed to help identify at risk students before they actually fail. It is important to identify these students before they fail and prevent them from slipping through the cracks. There are many different red flags that can be used to help identify these students. They can range from a student’s class average, periodic concept checks (formal and informal assessments) etc. I really like the idea of using whiteboards to have students record their answers and hold it up for the teacher to see. I used this method recently when teaching digraphs and I was able to identify students that needed additional instruction.
Effective feedback is one of the most effective tools in education because it shows where the relationship to the objectives are and what the teacher and students need to do to reach those objectives. Positive effective feedback helps students learn, but also become better at learning. If students keep track of their own progress that student can give himself or herself feedback to make them better students. In addition to this student’s memories are forever. Students remember positive and negative feedback from teachers and adults, it is vital that both teachers and adults provide positive feedback to children and students. As aspiring master teachers we need to give students opportunities to learn from their failures and analyze their own grades to become better students.
ReplyDeleteRed flags can be found during through any time of assessment, or observation. These red flag markers are important to catch in the beginning because the teacher can then scaffold or change their teaching methods to become more effective. Teacher may re-teach, or use strategies such as a white board, or quizzes to determine whether or not a student should be red flagged.
What are two examples of"red flags" that can happen, and what strategies can you use to get students quickly back on track?
ReplyDeleteRed Flags are identified through formal and informal observations, assessments, class discussions, lessons, and throughout the day.
An example of a red flag would be during classwork time when a student shows difficulty getting started as well as missing information on their work. A way to get that student back on track is having a conversation with them about what is missing, and giving them a tool to help figure out that area of difficulty.
Another example could be during an assessment, if a student misses 4 or more problems. It is imperative that the student gets another method of instruction, or a possible retest. Effective feedback can provide the student with the appropriate conversations to help them get through the material. It is very important that we are consistent with these practices as well as keeping the lines of communication open.
Wow ! How spectacular is that? A student monitors her progress and then gives herself feedback. Such a task forces the student to analyze work they did observe both strengths and weaknesses and then uses the information to increase learning. Mmmmmmmm, using assessments and assessments to get feedback that will help facilitate learning, who knew? In chapter 5 Jackson has shown how powerful feedback can be. Assessments give students the feedback they need to re-assess themselves especially when struggling with an assignment. Feedback alerts us to Red flags we can use when students are in trouble. After a pen and paper assessment and a group activity assessment where multiple skills are required and a student still responds incorrectly this is a red flag. The red flag alerts the teacher and the teacher uses other ways to help the student master the task. Red flag mechanisms can be formal and informal assessments that allow us to gather feedback in real time. Daily assignments give us immediate feedback. Such feedback allows us to revise instruction and attend to red flag alerts.
ReplyDeleteEffective feedback is so important on so many levels and enables teachers to become a great teacher instead of just a good teacher. Providing students with feedback on there work is extremely important, however feedback is not always enough, effective feedback is what is necessary in classroom. Feedback should be concise and to the point. If there is multi tasks going on at the same time, such as a list of directions and student is having trouble, start from the beginning and work your way to the end, only moving to the next step once the student has mastered the task at hand. Letting students know there doing well in your class can do wonders. Many students lack the confidence to do work, not they are unable to do the work. Giving verbal or written positive feedback are just two ways to boost students self esteem when it comes to schoolwork. Feedback gives students a sense of direction and teachers who give effective positive feedback will see wonders in there classroom. Red flags can be seen on any student at almost anytime. A few examples would be if there is a B student and on a test, homework or paper they get a C-, that’s a red flag and asking the student if they had trouble with the task if they studied for the test are some ways to let the student know that your there for them, and potentially that you did something wrong. Another red flag would be if you gave a homework assignment and Felipe, who always does his homework, does not, or Luca who is an average student not the best of grades but a hard worker who is good is class all of the sudden starts acting out, calling out, and being disruptive. Red flags are important for a teacher to notice they can determine if something is wrong with a student outside of class or if they just need a little more time on a lesson or two.
ReplyDeleteEffective feedback is an element of teaching which should include all the participants involved in the learning process, including the students. Feedback is an essential tool for monitoring progress and determining which techniques work and which don’t.
ReplyDeleteFor teachers, it is important to always seek out effective feedback from your own experiences, other teachers and even students. We should always seek to continuously revise our instructional strategies and materials by constantly evaluating them and the true effectiveness of what we are implementing in the classroom. As reflective practitioners, our own experience represents the basis for most feedback we will receive. This can be achieved through pre-assessments, formative assessments and various quick assessments like “thumbs-up-thumbs-down”. The more assessments that we implement the more feedback we receive from what we are teaching. In concurrence with Jackson’s views, I prefer to use techniques that offer “real-time” feedback. If teachers or students have to wait at all to even receive feedback, how will adjustments be made on the fly, during lessons, when they are needed most?
Another obvious source for effective feedback is other professionals who have similar/different/more experiences than we do. It is important to draw upon the professional resources around us because many times, other teachers have experienced the very same problem that we may be facing and in turn, can really help us deal with various issues in the classroom.
In my opinion, the most important feedback comes from the students. The students give a lot of insight into what they’ve learned, what they need to learn, and what they like to learn. Many times, an outside teacher may feel like a lesson is missing components or doesn’t address certain students, but the reality is that only we as the student’s teacher know what they really need. Other professionals can help with overall planning and implementation but we as the teachers should be the experts on our particular students and their needs. Because of this, the feedback from students is all the more important.
As far as red flags, these can be anything that reveal an incongruence between what is being taught, and what the students actually know. Red flags can be displayed through both formal, and informal assessments and are a valuable form of feedback for the teachers because they represent a need for some sort of instructional change. For example, Christie explains how if many students fail to complete a certain worksheet correctly, it would be a red flag that the students did not grasp the concepts of the lesson as well as they should. An informal assessment, can raise a red flag in a sometimes more immediate way. For example, simply asking students a question regarding previously covered material can offer immediate feedback on lesson effectiveness. If you ask students a question, and nobody knows the answer, then that would be a red flag. The key to red flags are: THEY NEED TO BE RAISED EARLY! If you as the teacher are not aware of these “red flags” early, you cannot make changes to correct them. Constantly institute quick assessments to make sure that all of your students are on the right track and are grasping the concepts that you are supposed to be teaching them. Kim made a good point in saying “red flag mechanisms are meant to identify risk students BEFORE they actually fail”.
One aspect of feedback that Jackson proposes to be useful is student-student feedback. Students, like teachers, should be evaluating their own work through Data notebooks or whatever. It is important for students to have the same critical and constructive view of their own work to foster personal responsibility and create internal motivation to succeed.
SUBMITTED BY CHRIS FOSTER
There are many ways to determine the needs of students. Firstly, you can look to the school curriculum for a basis of what content they are supposed to know, and what they should know by the end of the school year. However, this is obvious and often not reflective of where the students actually are. The use of pre-assessments is probably one of the most important aspects to determining what students need to know because it tells us what the students know already, so we can adjust our units accordingly. When developing any unit, it is very important to reduce the concepts down to clear and concise objectives that can be assessed and referred to throughout a given unit. Students should always have these main ideas running through their heads as they divulge in more complex tasks relating to the overall concepts of a unit.
ReplyDeleteHomework is an interesting topic because it is very tricky to actually get students to do it. Homework as a tool is very important because it drives home the material covered and gives allotted practice time for material that may not be possible in class. The problem with homework is that kids hate it. So how do teachers overcome this?
I agree with Mark in the idea that there should be consequences for students who do not do their homework. However, the consistent absence of homework should raise a “red flag” to us as educators about what we are assigning. Obviously, the students who care about their grades are going to do the homework regardless of what is assigned. It is the students who don’t do the homework that teachers need to address. Firstly, make homework less boring by orienting it towards an overlapping project, or assigning choice homework assignments that allow students to choose something that appeals to them. Also, find a currency other than grades that appeals to students so that you get the students who don’t care about their grades to do their homework because they want that sticker, or whatever. I agree with Christie’s statement about the structure of homework. Because students hate it, teachers need to optimize the effectiveness in the smallest package possible. Overly rigorous homework will only detour students from doing it.
SUBMITTED BY CHRIS FOSTER