Students can get feedback from me, their teacher, when I mark their work or talk to them in class.
Students can give feedback to me when I ask them about their learning.
Which is more valuable for student learning? According to an article I was reading today, getting feedback from students is more powerful than giving students feedback. Cris Tovani argues that when teachers obtain feedback from students they can make changes easily to subsequent lessons, and this leads readily to improvement in the students’ performance. Tovani is a reading teacher, so here are a few ideas from me to help get feedback from students.
Three Minute Feedback
I do love this strategy and it’s the only thing I’ve continued doing since the very first teaching I did at university. (Sometimes I forget to use it, though, for months at a time. Does anyone else have this problem, even with great ideas?!) See here for an example when my IB SL students were preparing for a test; see here for an example when students were learning to expand brackets. Here’s one I prepared for my year 9s for tomorrow; they are revising for a test. Tovani says that after she spots the patterns in her exit tickets, she throws them out – it was freeing to read that.
Looking for Themes in Book Marking
When I take in a set of books (or tests), I jot notes to myself about commonalities among the students’ work to see on which topics they need help. If it’s just a small group of students who need help with factorising, for example, I might invite them all around one table when the class are working on something.
Quick Quizzes
Short quizzes with only a few questions that can be done at the end of class let me know if a concept from earlier is still secure. For example, I gave a four question trigonometry quiz to my year 10s a few weeks ago (and discovered that I need to refresh their memories about the difference between trigonometry and Pythagoras). I would like to get into the habit of using more mini quizzes.
Giving and Getting Feedback
Each of these examples allow students to give me feedback about their learning but they are also a means of the students getting feedback from me. In the case of the Three Minute Feedback, they have the chance to reflect on their learning and identify what they need to do next. With book marking, I have been challenging myself to only write questions to prompt thinking that will help students improve. In the case of quick quizzes, I provide detailed exemplar solutions afterwards for them to see and analyse. Thus students know where they are now and how to improve.
Which do you find easier in the classroom: giving students feedback or getting it? Tweet me (@mathsfeedback) or comment below.