Our Messages to Students 1.5 hours into PART 2…2 hours left if all is good. Moving on to Feedback. Our Messages to Students

Feedback Read the first page: Feedback as Part of Formative Assessment from How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students by Susan M. Brookhart Note: Ideas that reinforce your ideas. Ideas you question Ideas that surprise you. Read only the front of the paper. (Back is supporting research) Share your noted sections with another person at your table. http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108019/chapters/Feedback@_An_Overview.aspx

Making sense of descriptive feedback….not one dimensional! Seven content attributes Focus Comparison Function Valence Clarity Specificity Tone & Word Choice Four strategies Timing Amount Mode Audience Setting the stage for looking deeply at feedback. No need to take notes…..this will all be provided. We will look at just the content attributes first, then the strategies for delivering them later.

Feedback Content

Focus Purpose Examples of Good Feedback Examples of Bad Feedback To describe specific qualities of the work in relation to the learning targets To make observations about students' learning processes and strategies that will help them figure out how to improve To foster student self-efficacy by drawing connections between students' work and their mindful, intentional efforts To avoid personal comments Examples of Good Feedback Making comments about the strengths and weaknesses of a performance Making comments about the work process you observed or recommendations about a work process or study strategy that would help improve the work Making comments that position the student as the one who chooses to do the work Avoiding personal comments Examples of Bad Feedback Making comments that bypass the student (e.g., "This is hard" instead of "You did a good job because …") Making criticisms without offering any insights into how to improve Making personal compliments or digs (e.g., "How could you do that?" or "You idiot!") Overview purpose in your own words. Then go through examples.

Comparison Purpose Examples of Good Feedback Examples of Bad Feedback Usually, to compare student work with established criteria Sometimes, to compare a student's work with his or her own past performance Rarely, to compare a student's work with the work of other students Examples of Good Feedback Comparing work to student-generated rubrics Comparing student work to rubrics that have been shared ahead of time Encouraging a reluctant student who has improved, even though the work is not yet good Examples of Bad Feedback Putting up wall charts that compare students with one another Giving feedback on each student's work according to different criteria or no criteria Overview purpose in your own words. Then go through examples.

Function Purpose Examples of Good Feedback Examples of Bad Feedback To describe student work To avoid evaluating or "judging" student work in a way that would stop students from trying to improve Examples of Good Feedback Identifying for students the strengths and weaknesses in the work Expressing what you observe in the work Examples of Bad Feedback Putting a grade on work intended for practice or formative purposes Telling students the work is "good" or "bad" Giving rewards or punishments Giving general praise or general criticism Overview purpose in your own words. Then go through examples.

Valence Purpose Examples of Good Feedback Examples of Bad Feedback To use positive comments that describe what is well done To make suggestions about what could be done for improvement Examples of Good Feedback Being positive Even when criticizing, being constructive Making suggestions (not prescriptions or pronouncements) Examples of Bad Feedback Finding fault Describing what is wrong and offering no suggestions about what to do Punishing or denigrating students for poor work Overview purpose in your own words. This might help: Valence, as used in psychology, especially in discussing emotions, means the intrinsic attractiveness (positive valence) or aversiveness (negative valence) of an event, object, or situation. However, the term is also used to characterize and categorize specific emotions. ... Then go through examples.

Clarity Purpose Examples of Good Feedback Examples of Bad Feedback To maximize the chances the students will understand feedback Examples of Good Feedback Using simple vocabulary and sentence structure Writing on the student’s developmental level Checking that the student understands the feedback Examples of Bad Feedback Using big words and complicated sentences Writing to show what you know, not what the student needs Assuming the student understands the feedback Overview purpose in your own words. Then go through examples.

Specificity Purpose Examples of Good Feedback Examples of Bad Feedback To give guidance but not do the work for the student To give suggestions that are specific enough so that the student can take concrete next steps Examples of Good Feedback Using a lot of nouns and descriptive adjectives Describing concepts or criteria Describing learning strategies that might be useful Examples of Bad Feedback Using a lot of pronouns (this, that) Copyediting or correcting every error Making vague suggestions “Study harder”) Overview purpose in your own words. Then go through examples.

Tone & Word Choice Purpose Examples of Good Feedback To communicate respect for the student as a learner To position the student as an agent (active, not passive)   To inspire thought curiosity, or wondering Examples of Good Feedback Using words and phrases that assumes the student is an active learner Asking questions Sharing what you are wondering about Examples of Bad Feedback Using words and phrases that “Lecture” or “boss” Telling students what to do- leaving nothing up to the student’s choice Assuming that your feedback is the last word, the final expert opinion Overview purpose in your own words. Then go through examples.

Looking at Feedback on Student Work Feedback Strategy Purpose Good Examples Bad Examples Feedback For students to get feedback while they are still mindful of the learning target. For students to get feedback while there is still time to act on it. Returning a test or assignment the next day Giving immediate oral responses to questions of fact Giving immediate oral responses to student misconceptions Providing flash cards (which give immediate right/wrong feedback) for studying facts Returning a test or assignment two weeks after it is completed Ignoring errors or misconceptions (thereby implying acceptance) Going over a test or assignment when the unit is over and there is no opportunity to show improvement Timing For students to get enough feedback so that they understand what to do but not so much that the work has been done for them (differs case by case) For students to get feedback on "teachable moment" points but not an overwhelming number Selecting two or three main points about a paper for comment Giving feedback on important learning targets Commenting on at least as many strengths as weaknesses Returning a student's paper with every error in mechanics edited Writing comments on a paper that are more voluminous than the paper itself Writing voluminous comments on poor- quality papers and almost nothing on good-quality papers Amount To communicate the feedback message in the most appropriate way Using written feedback for comments that students need to be able to save and look over Using oral feedback for students who don't read well Using oral feedback if there is more information to convey than students would want to read Demonstrating how to do something if the student needs to see how to do something or what something "looks like" Speaking to students to save yourself the trouble of writing Writing to students who don't read well Mode To reach the appropriate students with specific feedback To communicate, through feedback, that student learning is valued Communicating with an individual, giving information specific to the individual performance Giving group or class feedback when the same mini-lesson or reteaching session is required for a number of students Using the same comments for all students Never giving individual feedback because it takes too much time Audience Distribute Assessing Feedback Strategies & Content Point out that the first four rows are the strategies. The next nine are the content attributes we just talked about.

Feedback Content Valence Clarity Specificity Tone & Word Choice Focus Comparison Function Good or Bad and Why? Read each card. Using the Feedback Content criteria describe why the card would be good or poor feedback. This is really bad….you should take a more serious attitude toward your work. Distribute good and bad feedback cards to pairs. Have them discuss, come to consensus, and sort. (Cards are made from page 27-29 in Brookhart) If you need to save time here, just have them do a portion of the cards. No need to do all. And, no need for a whole group share out, except perhaps if there are some that are difficult to reach consensus on.

Feedback Strategies Feedback Strategies Timing Amount Mode Audience Time target here 2 hours and 15 minutes… 1 hour and 15 minutes left to go. Strategies are the who, when, where, and how’s of feedback. These are tied to the design and management of instruction. Let’s look at these for a moment before we write own feedback.

Timing Purpose Examples of Good Feedback Examples of Bad Feedback For students to get feedback while they are still mindful of the learning target.  For students to get feedback while there is still time to act on it. Examples of Good Feedback Returning a test or assignment the next day Giving immediate oral responses to questions of fact Providing flash cards (which give immediate right/wrong feedback) for studying facts Examples of Bad Feedback Returning a test or assignment two weeks after it is completed Ignoring errors (thereby implying acceptance) Going over a test or assignment when the unit is over and there is no opportunity to show improvement Overview purpose in your own words. Then go through examples. It would be wise, if there is time, to clarify this for teachers: “Giving immediate oral responses to student misconceptions“ was edited out…in conceptual development, particularly in science, it is critical to let students work with their own misconceptions, and not immediately correct them.

Amount Purpose Examples of Good Feedback Examples of Bad Feedback For students to get enough feedback so that they understand what to do but not so much that the work has been done for them (differs case by case) For students to get feedback on "teachable moment" points but not an overwhelming number Examples of Good Feedback Selecting two or three main points about a paper for comment Giving feedback on important learning targets Commenting on at least as many strengths as weaknesses Examples of Bad Feedback Returning a student's paper with every error in mechanics edited Writing comments on a paper that are more voluminous than the paper itself Writing voluminous comments on poor-quality papers and almost nothing on good-quality papers Overview purpose in your own words. Then go through examples.

Mode Purpose Examples of Good Feedback Examples of Bad Feedback To communicate the feedback message in the most appropriate way Examples of Good Feedback Using written feedback for comments that students need to be able to save and look over Using oral feedback for students who don't read well Using oral feedback if there is more information to convey than students would want to read Demonstrating how to do something if the student needs to see how to do something or what something "looks like“ Examples of Bad Feedback Speaking to students to save yourself the trouble of writing Writing to students who don't read well

Audience Purpose Examples of Good Feedback Examples of Bad Feedback To reach the appropriate students with specific feedback To communicate, through feedback, that student learning is valued Examples of Good Feedback Communicating with an individual, giving information specific to the individual performance Giving group or class feedback when the same mini-lesson or reteaching session is required for a number of students Examples of Bad Feedback Using the same comments for all students Never giving individual feedback because it takes too much time

LASW- Looking at Student Work An opportunity to look at some student work and practice writing quality feedback…. Transistion to Work Samples…

Writing Feedback- A 4th grade Math Problem Jan's Snack Shop has 3 flavors of ice cream—vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. The ice cream can be served in a dish, a sugar cone, or a regular cone. There are 9 people who choose 1 dip of ice cream in a dish, or in a sugar cone, or in a regular cone, and all of their choices are different. List or show the 9 different choices. Could another person have a choice that is different from one of these 9 choices? Why or why not? The next three slides overview three possible problems with student work samples that teachers can choose to write feedback on. There also are rubrics for each item…not quite the same as this morning's rubrics, same idea, much smaller scope, only one problem. (This sample is also used in Brookharts book.)

Writing Feedback- A 8th grade Science Problem The picture above shows the positions of two runners at one-second intervals as they move from left to right. For each runner, indicate whether the runner's speed seems to be constant, increasing, or decreasing. Explain how you can tell this from the pictures.

Writing Feedback- A 4th grade Writing Problem We all have favorite objects that we care about and would not want to give up. Think of one object that is important or valuable to you. For example, it could be a book, a piece of clothing, a game, or any object you care about. Write about your favorite object. Be sure to describe the object and explain why it is valuable or important to you.

Your Turn Choose one of the Problem Packets. Write high quality, descriptive feedback to each student, using Assessing Feedback Strategies & Content guidelines. When finished, trade papers with a colleague who gave feedback to the same Problem Packet Peer review….giving your colleague high quality, descriptive feedback using Assessing Feedback Strategies & Content guidelines. Go over instructions. Problem Packets have copy of problem, correct answer/rubric and sample work. Teacher choose one to work with.

Feedback on Morning’s work Return to the colleague who’s rubric you reviewed this morning. Read over the feedback you wrote. Change, delete or add to your feedback, based upon what you have just learned? When you get here you should have 20 minutes left. This is an important reflection step that also forces teachers into acknowledging their need to improve feedback. (pedagogical dissatisfaction)

Final Reflection? What are three valuable ideas you will take away from today? What is one question you still have or area you would like to explore?

Evaluation & Clock hours

Upcoming AfL courses…… FREE Introduction to Assessment for Learning Assessment for Learning 1: Designing & Assessing Learning Progressions Assessment for Learning: Classroom Culture & Feedback Assessment for Learning: Discourse & Questioning Assessment for Learning: Designing Formative Assessments Assessment for Learning: Tracking Learning for Students and Teachers

Cool AfL Prezi http://prezi.com/1xg7lkg83gyw/assessment-for-learning-five-key-elements-theory-and-practice/ Optional if you need something to wrap up or fill time