SHAZZAMMMM FEEDBACK!!!
How could teachers improve the feedback they provide to their students AND save time doing it?
Traditional feedback equals a teacher marking up a student's paper with a red pen, circling mistakes, writing short, blurby suggestions and corrections in the margin. For example, below is a typical math assignment and typical feedback you'd see after the teacher has graded the assignment.
Traditional feedback equals a teacher marking up a student's paper with a red pen, circling mistakes, writing short, blurby suggestions and corrections in the margin. For example, below is a typical math assignment and typical feedback you'd see after the teacher has graded the assignment.
But what if, instead of simply handing this back to the student, the teacher were to instead provide electronic, 21st century feedback. Rather than the student printing out a hard copy of the assignment, the student turns the assignment in electronically using Edmodo, SharePoint, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc. The teacher opens the file on his/her laptop, and using a screen-recording tool (like what's in Active Inspire SmartNote, Snag-It, Screencast-O-Matic, etc.) and the laptops built-in microphone, the teacher creates a narrated video filled with detailed diagnosis, comments, suggestions, praises and criticisms specific to that student and their assignment, along with annotation identifying specifically the whats and wheres. Or....the teacher grades the assessment under their document camera which is recording and the laptop connectedAfterwards, the teacher posts the video securely online and gives the student the URL to watch the video and not only SEE the feedback, but HEAR it too! Below is an example of what I mean:
SHaRING?
WHAT IF EVERYBODY SHARED? What if EVERY teacher in your school was able to observe all of their peers in action, picking up all the best tips and tricks and methods and ideas and strategies and plans....and then put them to work in their classroom? Obviously, since the majority of your teachers teach at the same time, and when they aren't they are planning or grading or conferencing, its not very realistic. But...
What if your school created a Padlet board where every teacher was able to share their ideas, plans, best practice tips. What if every teacher in the school posted their best lesson idea and plan, and every teacher at every other school in your district did the same? What if once a month, all the 8th grade math teachers, instead of meeting in the traditional sense, met in a 6th Grade math class (a learning walk) to observe pedagogy that they could then apply in their classrooms? Or what if a 7th grade science teacher, once a month, was a guest in an 8th grade Health class or Latin I class? What if once a month, two 7th grade social studies teachers combined their classes and co-taught a lesson in the school auditorium or out on the football field bleachers or in the library....witnessing the expertise of each other's mannerisms and communication skills and persuasiveness?
I feel like most every teachers that I've had the privilege to work with genuinely wants to make a positive impact in children's lives. But I feel like a lot of teachers who have AMAZING ideas that would be a magic elixir for many students struggling with one concept or another, choose not to share.
Why?
Is it because they have shared with, shall we say "less motivated" teachers who then successfully use their ideas AND take credit for discovering them? Is it because they are in competition with their colleagues....who's class will have the highest end-of-year state test pass rate?!?!?!?!
Who cares?
If teachers truly teach for the betterment of children and mankind, then who cares whose idea it was? And who cares who's class had the highest pass rate? When teachers walks through the doors of their school, they are teachers and they teach and they, AS A WHOLE, are responsible providing the best education possible to ALL the students in the school. Not just those on their roster but anyone who is lucky enough to encounter them and benefit from their knowledge and skills of delivering that knowledge. And no ONE person had the highest pass rate. Every educator who ever interacted with those students...that HUGE list of experts....THEY had the highest pass rate.
What if your school created a Padlet board where every teacher was able to share their ideas, plans, best practice tips. What if every teacher in the school posted their best lesson idea and plan, and every teacher at every other school in your district did the same? What if once a month, all the 8th grade math teachers, instead of meeting in the traditional sense, met in a 6th Grade math class (a learning walk) to observe pedagogy that they could then apply in their classrooms? Or what if a 7th grade science teacher, once a month, was a guest in an 8th grade Health class or Latin I class? What if once a month, two 7th grade social studies teachers combined their classes and co-taught a lesson in the school auditorium or out on the football field bleachers or in the library....witnessing the expertise of each other's mannerisms and communication skills and persuasiveness?
I feel like most every teachers that I've had the privilege to work with genuinely wants to make a positive impact in children's lives. But I feel like a lot of teachers who have AMAZING ideas that would be a magic elixir for many students struggling with one concept or another, choose not to share.
Why?
Is it because they have shared with, shall we say "less motivated" teachers who then successfully use their ideas AND take credit for discovering them? Is it because they are in competition with their colleagues....who's class will have the highest end-of-year state test pass rate?!?!?!?!
Who cares?
If teachers truly teach for the betterment of children and mankind, then who cares whose idea it was? And who cares who's class had the highest pass rate? When teachers walks through the doors of their school, they are teachers and they teach and they, AS A WHOLE, are responsible providing the best education possible to ALL the students in the school. Not just those on their roster but anyone who is lucky enough to encounter them and benefit from their knowledge and skills of delivering that knowledge. And no ONE person had the highest pass rate. Every educator who ever interacted with those students...that HUGE list of experts....THEY had the highest pass rate.
TOOLs TO ENGaGE
nearpodNearpod is a presentation tool that allows teachers to create a presentation and bring it to life by pushing it out to students and guiding their activity in real time. It involves the student in the presentation by having them interact with and submit responses on any device. The teacher can monitor and measure student results, which is something that can be difficult to keep track of when students are only participating verbally or sporadically in class.
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TouchCastTouchCast creates an interactive presentation that mixes video with web content. The app lets you record a video and overlay elements such as web pages, maps, photos, Twitter streams, polls, quizzes and more. Users watching the video can click on these multimedia elements and interact with them while the video continues to play.
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Kahoot!Kahoot! is a game-based blended learning platform, allowing both educators and students to research, create, collaborate and share knowledge. It gives students a voice in the classroom, and allows educators to engage and focus their students through play and creativity.
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don't forget about...
ThingLink is a web-based tool that lets users easily produce interactive images.
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Piktochart is another free, web-based app for creating engaging and memorable infographics.
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