So, I have been trying to increase the amount of descriptive feedback that I give my students. They work on a short piece of writing. I collect it and give them some feedback (next steps). At that point they do another short piece of writing and I once again give some feedback. And the cycle continues. The result, each time the students complete the work the majority of them are adjusting their writing based on the feedback. Awesome!
But what about math? A math unit has to end. The feedback-implement loop has to end at some point (doesn't it?), so that I can move on to the next unit. My struggle now is that some students are still progressing in a unit... and I have specific feedback that I want to give them an opportunity to address. It is harder to move on for the rest of the class. Not a new issue I know, the same issue was there before, but a unit test with a grade seemed to give a defined end point to a unit. I find myself trying to come up with ways to move on to the next unit and at the same time allow some students time to address next steps from the previous unit. I'm trying different structures that allow me to do both, but not quite there... yet.
Really great questions Brodie!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if we focus feed back on the math processes, how would that impact the cycle.
If feedback is specific to communication or problem solving then the feedback loop doesn't have an end point. Those processes are not specific to strand, that feedback would be relevant even when the 'concept' has changed.