In this post I want to share some of the things I did to provide and receive feedback in my class this year, which I consider work well and are worth giving them a try.
I wrote letters to each of my students as an end of the year farewell with a message more focused on the type of people they are becoming than the class itself, just to let them know they are important in the world.
I used checklists for a variety of activities assigned in class, which allowed checking, grading and providing feedback to be fluent and easy for the student to understand.
Rubrics were of great help, especially with oral and written tasks. I never had a problem with a grade thanks to the clear criteria students were given when assigned their tasks.
Though time-consuming, I saw better results with this method than by using correcting symbols, This mainly because students could identify error types easily. (I am aware this would be complex for color blind students)
Whether it was to congratulate or to alert parents, I sent notes of some students to keep parents informed on the good and the bad. Students showed positve rapport, even when I was focused on aspects that needed improvement.
I also wrote personal notes to students (not all) to let them know what I expected of them or to ask them to do something more. After these notes, I noticed that students I had asked to speak up started raising their hands and participating more!
In the first term, I asked students for feedback with post-its and asked them to stick them on the board. Then we analysed what they wrote together. The feedback was anonymous.
I think bringing color and fun figures into the classroom makes activities visually different and attractive for students. This happy face was used to ask students for positive feedback about my classes. It was a group discussion activity.
On occasions I handed out small pieces of paper and asked students to tell me if the topic we had seen in class was confusing or what they thought about a specific class. This gave me insight on what to focus on, what they liked and what needed improvement.
If you have other ways you provide or receive feedback. Please, do share!
2 Comments
Great ideas! I especially llike your color-coding system.
Thank you Marija!