Virtual School Dispatches

  Seeking Student Feedback  At an elementary school PLC in the fall, our teachers resolved to seek student feedback. Since then teachers have used surveys, classroom meetings, face-to-face meetings, and simple questions at the end of lessons or units to garner feedback. Doing so has increased student voice and leadership, created stronger learning partnerships and has improved instruction.    As a classroom teacher, I learned the value of seeking student feedback from a fellow history teacher. At the end of each unit, he encouraged me to ask:  Was this unit too hard or too easy?  What were your favorite parts of the unit that I should keep for future students?  How would you recommend I improve my teaching for this unit?  The feedback I gained from these questions was so valuable, that I sought more real-time feedback from students, especially seeking feedback for new lesson designs.  A couple of years ago, I saw ...

Feedback Is the Hinge Instructionally, we established a goal to respond to student needs by improving student engagement and student achievement. In shifting our focus from assessing students to assessment for student learning, we have been exploring 3 ways of encouraging student assessment: Self-assessment : students evaluate and/or use metacognitive strategies, seek information and ways to correct learning, and creating self-teaching and self-regulating situations. Peer learning : we recognize that learning should be a social process, we seek ways for students to clarify information and processing with peers. Teacher interactions:  teachers will provide opportunities for student interactions with content, learning intentions and other students; they will design re-teaching opportunities and provide opportunities for students to correct assignments and assessments. In   Feedback: The Hinge that Joins Teaching and Learning,  Jane Pollock asserts that feedback, especially ...