Simple but effective ideas: Feedback 5

It’s clear that if students understand what they need to do in order to improve, they are more likely to achieve. Furthermore, accurate assessment and marking is one of the cheapest and most effective ways of improvement pupil outcomes. One challenge is how to set individual(ish) targets. Although I don’t advocate every doing anything purely to satisfy Ofsted (or Gove for the matter, quite the opposite at times Winking smile ), the need for students to respond constructively to the teachers comments is a focus in the new frameworks.

The question is how? At Priory Geography we developed a simple Feedback 5 session. We mark our books every five lessons, using tailored target sheets to comment on what we have been looking for and what the pupil did well (this mirrors out school’s marking policy).

The first activity in the lesson after marking is Feedback 5. Students have five minutes to respond to comments, ask questions (especially with my questionable handwriting) and, most importantly, set their own target. The targets are linked to our level sheets and informed by the improvements identified though the marking process. The following activity is then informed by the greatest weakness of the class. In the case of my Year 10 class today, this was the spelling of key terms. Here are some example resources used to support this process in the department.

What I’ve found during routine monitoring (i.e. speaking to young people) is that students confidence in what they need to do seems to have increased. That’s got to be a good thing, right?

Year 7 amazing places fedback 5 1 from David Rogers

Gcse feedback 5 coasts from David Rogers

Comments

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge. I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post. I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff. If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment is not always conducive to profound

The danger of Teaching and Twitter conversations: poorly formed bipolar arguments.

Sometimes in life, there really are only two options. Get the wrong one and you can look like a muppet. Take this useful sign for the toilets in Morocco. I successfully navigated it, choosing the right option. The result? No egg on my face. As a mountain leader, there are many right or wrong decisions that I’ve faced, as there are all over life. It’s not a good idea to let inexperienced young people walk themselves down Snowdon. They may die or be seriously injured. If someone is showing the signs and symptoms of hyperthermia, you need to treat it fast in a specified way. There is no real arguing with this sign: Other options are less obvious. Take this sign recently spotted near to where I live: Now, I wouldn’t consider sleeping in a bin. However, faced with a sub-zero night, I could see the appeal. The danger? Being tipped into one of those huge lorries with a compactor. (by the way, I only really considered all of this thanks to questions from my four year old boy).

David Rogers

Search This Blog