Giving Effective Feedback

We all know how challenging it can be to give and receive even the best-intentioned feedback. Here are some hints to improve your feedback to students (and maybe they’ll work in your personal life, as well! J).

We took most of these hints from “Why Giving Effective Feedback is Trickier Than It Seems” by Katrina Schwartz, who draws much of her information from Susan Brookhart, author of How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students.  You are welcome to read Schwartz’s blog, but if you are overwhelmed right now, you may want to read the Brooke/Bridget condensed version here J.

According to Schwartz, Brookhart, Brooke, and Bridget:

• Teachers must figure out what is worthy of feedback and when to give it.  This is also called finding the leverage point.  Too many teachers try to close EVERY gap in the student’s learning with one round of feedback. Instead, consider: What is the ONE change or strategy that will MOST greatly help the student to master the skill?  Focus on THAT skill or strategy, and you can add others later. 
• Imagine your supervising teacher telling you during student teaching ten things that you were doing wrong. You might have run as fast as possible away from a career in education.  Even worse, imagine your spouse giving you a list of ten behaviors you need to change!  

·      When evaluating  student work, descriptively praise the work’s strengths and then give 1-2 suggestions aligned with the learning target and success criteria.

•        Example: “Great use of evidence from multiple texts to support a solid claim.  How might you include more reasoning or elaboration to show your reader how your evidence supports your claim? For example, you could add some at the place I marked.” 

·        If a teacher gives feedback on aspects not aligned with the learning target, such as grammar errors on a science lab (not part of the rubric), then feedback becomes about pleasing the teacher and not about learning, according to Susan Brookhart.

o   While many of us can’t stand careless spelling or punctuation errors, if it’s not part of the rubric, it shouldn’t count against the student.  Save yourself valuable time and angst, and mark only rubric-related issues.

·       Give the feedback at a time when students can act immediately on it, not at the end of a unit or essay. Susan Brookhart says, “If they’re not going to be able to use it [feedback],” it’s a waste of time – yours and theirs.” However, delayed feedback can be useful if students are returning to the work to revise it. This extra review will help them to retain the information.

o   We always felt like teacher failures if we didn’t write extensive comments on summative assignments, but the truth is that most kids looked at the grade and either recycled or filed the assignment.  If the learning will continue, and students will revise or revisit, then give feedback, but if it’s a one-time assignment, just complete the rubric (even if you feel guilty).

·       Connect the feedback to an important future skill so that students care about it and understand how it might transfer.  Example: “Creating a stronger argument by considering counter-arguments will help you to ask for a new position or a raise at work, or ask your parents to drive you somewhere somewhere they don’t want to go!” 

o   Better yet, ask students how they see this skill transferring to the future—they may have even better examples.

·        Feedback such as, “Add more here” does little to help most students. It is better to provide sentence starters or meet with them to ask how they might add more. 

o   As an example, you could write, “Another concern is that…”

·        The best feedback is differentiated, as ALL students who struggle should also be held to high levels of thinking.  Sometimes we give lower-level feedback to lower-level students, which keeps them from growing.

o   Don’t fall into the trap of commenting on appearance or structure for your struggling students. Honor their thinking by commenting on it.

·       The ultimate goal of feedback is not only for the student to grow, but to help the teacher understand more about how the student is thinking. This allows the teacher to vary his/her instructional strategies to reach more students.

o   Giving the same repeated feedback quickly shows us that there is a common misconception we need to address (even if we've taught the concept brilliantly, but they somehow failed to learn it :-)).

·       Surveys of students show, according to Brookhart, that students want feedback they can use and the opportunity to use it.  The more practical and applicable, the better!

o   It’s kind of like teachers who say, “Give me a tip that I can use tomorrow in my classroom.”  Students also want immediately useful strategies for improvement.

Quick Check-Ins: Student Choice with Formative Assessments- Part 2

Classroom Scenario from Mike Anderson’s Blog:

“Across the hall, Chris’s colleague Aaron Hall is also using choice for a quick check-in. While Chris offered choice to allow students to differentiate according to challenge level, Aaron is going to use it to differentiate based on interest and background knowledge. His class has been studying the human body in science, and he wants to see how well students understand how body systems work together. He offers students the choice of four similes to complete: “The human body is like a (sports team, grocery store, jazz band, or coral reef) because __________.” Students are encouraged to pick a simile that will best help them demonstrate some of the key ideas they have been studying.”



Ideas for Implementation:
1.”Practice, practice, practice.”
Sometimes providing choices to students can be overwhelming because they don’t know what to choose. Making this type of assessments part of your classroom routines can help kids get the practice they need. It might be a good idea to have a menu of formative assessment choices that kids can go to if they get stuck or don’t know what to choose.


2. “Don’t force it.”
There might be a time that one type of assessment is appropriate to get the data you need from you students. Don’t force something to provide choice if it doesn’t makes sense to you or your students.


Strategies for the Classroom:
1. “Alone or Together: Students will list questions they have about a topic being studied. They can brainstorm questions either alone or in a small group, whichever they think best.”

Bridget and Brooke say:

If students are working alone and aren’t comfortable asking questions in front of the class you could let them record their them on a sticky note or a sheet of poster paper. This strategy could be used in pairs up or groups of 3. Many times if groups get too large, there are only a few people actually thinking and making meaning.

2. “Highlight an Example: If students have been working on a variety of problems or examples, at the end of the period they choose one. You decide what the focus will be: One they are proud of? One that was hard? One they aren’t sure about? Students can explain their choice, jotting a sentence or two on a sticky note and attaching it to the problem.”

Bridget and Brooke say:

We really like this strategy for three reasons. One, it’s a great way for kids to determine their level of understanding. Two, it’s a great way for kids to reflect on their learning in a quick and simple way. Three, it’s also a great closure activity. One suggestion we would make is to have the kids write their example on the sticky note along with a reason why they chose this example and then hand it to you on their way out the door. This way you have what you need right in the palm of your hand and you have a fairly good understanding of where kids are feeling successful or challenged.

Quick Check-Ins:Student Choice with Formative Assessments

Classroom Scenario from Mike Anderson’s Blog:

“Chris Ward’s fifth graders have been practicing long division for most of the period. While some understand it well, others are still struggling. Tomorrow, Chris wants to offer appropriate choices to enable students to practice what they need, so today she’ll use a quick check-in—a simple formative assessment—to determine those choices.There’s a dilemma here, however. If she uses an assessment targeted at the middle of the group, she’ll miss key information. She already knows that some students can easily compute 453/7 and others will find it overwhelming. So she offers students a choice. She writes three problems on the board—453/7, 625/5, and 4,357/18—and says, “For today’s math exit ticket, you’re going to choose a division problem to help show where you’re at. There are three on the board for you to choose from, and you may also create your own. Solve a problem that feels just right for you—one that is challenging enough to give you a push and that you think you can solve successfully. This will help me plan for tomorrow.” Offering a variety of problems, she gains a broader understanding of how she can set up tomorrow’s math work to be appropriately challenging for everyone.”


Ideas for Implementation:
1."Create good choices. Choices should align with learning goals and success criteria. They should resonate with students—matching success their varied interests, needs, and abilities. These check-ins should involve light prep on your part and about the same amount of time for students to complete."


2. “Help students choose well. Give students some guidance about which choice might be best without overly directing them. A teacher might say, ‘Think about which of these choices will best help you highlight your understanding of the topic we are learning. For example, you might choose one that matches your interests.’ Another example of what a teacher might say is, ‘If one of these problems seems to match up with how you’re doing on the topic, you might pick that one. If you think making one up will best help show your level of understanding, that also might be a good choice for you.’”


Strategies for the Classroom:
1. “Key Idea, Question, or Challenge: Students write a key idea they’ve learned, a question they have, or something they’re finding challenging.”

Bridget and Brooke say:
Using the scenario above, a teacher could ask kids what was a key idea or way of solving this math problem. Kids could ask a question about the steps to solving this type of math problem. Or, students could explain how challenging solving the problem was. 

Based on their choice of how they express their understanding you will find that it's a bit easier to inform your instruction for the next period. To help students choose well, you may have them try another way of expressing their understanding if they are using one of the three choices more than once or twice. For example, "I see you've been asking a lot of questions about what we've been learning. Have you considered writing down a key idea or something you find challenging?"

2. “T or V: Students can choose to summarize information using either a T-chart or a Venn diagram, whichever will best help them communicate their understanding.”

Bridget and Brooke say:
Using the classroom scenario, the teacher could use the Venn Diagram to have students compare the different fractions OR create a T chart that has the equation on one side and the steps to solving it on the other.

Since T-Charts and Venn Diagrams ask kids to do different thinking skills (categorizing and comparing respectively), you might find it interesting to see why and how they will categorize or compare. This gives kids a way to show you their perspective on the learning they have done. It can show you where kids may need support, too.

FAQs on DOK

Last week we shared a review of Depth of Knowledge (DOK). This seemed timely, as administrators, coaches, and T & L will be collecting data in classrooms and scoring lesson submissions from teachers from now through mid-May. Assessing DOK is a part of both the data collection and the  lesson submission scoring process.

This week we have some FAQs for you.  If you have unanswered questions, please let us know!

FAQs on DOK

How will administrators and coaches score the classroom observations?

During the data collection process, the administrator or coach will evaluate your lesson plan, and assign it a DOK level 1, 2, 3, or 4.  When you debrief with your administrator or coach, he/she will undoubtedly discuss the DOK level with you. Remember that we are taking data for the system as a whole; we want to ensure that our classrooms include a range of DOK levels and that our students frequently work in the higher-level DOK levels.  Sometimes, however, a lower-level DOK lesson may be necessary for entry-level skills or to provide essential background knowledge.

After you have submitted your lesson, the scorer (instructional coach or someone from T & L) will determine the DOK level.  Feel free to contact your coach any time to talk about the DOK levels in your classroom. In addition, your coach or administrator would love to meet with you to share your lesson submission scoring with you.

I’ve been told that the verb I use in my learning target is important. If I use a verb from Levels 3 or 4, does that make my lesson rigorous?
The verb is helpful, but what matters is the cognitive effort that the student must exert.  In other words, “draw conclusions” is listed in Level 3, but if the learning target is “I can draw conclusions as to which version of the scene appeals to me more,” little rigor exists. However, a learning target such as “I can draw conclusions as to which of the two problem-solving strategies is more effective and provide supporting evidence” requires far more depth of knowledge.

Do longer lessons generally fall within a higher-level DOK?

Sometimes this is true.  For example, a project in which students must specify a problem, design and conduct an experiment, analyze the data, and report the results will undoubtedly occur over several lessons.  However, planting a seed and recording its height each day will take place over time, but requires little thought other than recording results from a ruler.

Where could I get one of those DOK wheels for my classroom? 

Click here!

This DOK wheel is nice, but it isn’t specific to my classroom. Are there some subject-specific DOK charts I could use?

Click here if you are in Tahoma School District.
Click here for access to the website--scroll down to the box with subject areas listed.

Where could I find more information about DOK?

Click here .

 Are there some question stems I could use to start to elevate the rigor in my classroom? 

Click here.

Any other questions?

Contact Brooke, Bridget, or your administrator.

Revisiting DOK

All teachers want their students to be challenged by rigorous, rich curriculum requiring them to grapple with complex ideas and skills. CEL 5D includes “High cognitive demand” as one of its criteria (criteria 1.4), and our own Teaching and Learning Department includes Depth of Knowledge (DOK) in its assessment of classroom observations and lesson submissions.  DOK is considered a more specific tool than its predecessor, Bloom’s Taxonomy. Remember the Three-Story Intellect?  DOK just makes it a bit more specific

Below is a refresher of the DOK levels. 

_________________________________________________________________________

Depth of Knowledge (DOK)

Level 1: Recall and Reproduction (only cognitive effort required is remembering right answer)

Copying, computing, defining, and recognizing are typical Level 1 tasks.

Level 2: Skills and Concepts (usually includes decision-making)

Tasks with more than one mental step such as comparing, organizing, summarizing, predicting, and estimating are usually Level 2.

Level 3: Strategic Thinking (more abstract, usually requires students to justify choices)

Tasks with multiple valid responses where students must justify their choices would be Level 3; examples include solving non-routine problems, designing an experiment, or analyzing characteristics of a genre.

Level 4: Extended Thinking (require most complex cognitive effort)

Students synthesize information from multiple sources, often over an extended period of time, or transfer knowledge from one domain to solve problems in another. Designing a survey and interpreting the results, analyzing multiple texts by to extract themes, or writing an original myth in an ancient style would all be examples of Level 4.

Note: much of today’s posts has been adapted from  https://www.edutopia.org/blog/webbs-depth-knowledge-increase-rigor-gerald-aungst and from http://www.karin-hess.com/cognitive-rigor-and-dok.

______________________________________________________________________

As administrators, coaches, and T & L staff collect data in classrooms and evaluate lesson submissions, they are not looking for DOK Level 3 and 4 lessons in every classroom. We all know that it is sometimes essential for students to be able to recall and work at the skill/concept level before they can progress to deeper tasks and thinking.  We do, however, hope to see a balance of DOK levels across the district and within a classroom, with all students getting to complete some tasks at the Level Four level.  

Two important things to remember are:

• ·      Students do not necessarily need to progress through DOK levels in sequence.  Sometimes motivation is increased if students start with a Level 3 task that requires them to return to the more mundane learning required in order to accomplish that task.
•       DOK levels are not developmental.  Kindergarteners don’t live in a DOK Level 1 world. Students of all ages should be allowed to tackle tasks requiring complex thinking.

Want more? Read the blog we used as one of our sources here:  https://www.edutopia.org/blog/webbs-depth-knowledge-increase-rigor-gerald-aungst.

You can also look for next week’s blog, where we’ll have some FAQs on DOK.

Divergent and Skeptical Thinking

In the article “Divergent and Skeptical Thinking: Questioning Strategies for Deeper Learning”, Sarah Johnson gives two very simple, yet challenging questioning strategies you can try in your classroom this week!

Here are some examples of these two questioning strategies:

1. Use divergent rather than convergent questions.
Math: What different strategies can we use to solve the word problem about proportions? Write a step by step process to teach someone your “way.”

ELA: What are some of the similarities between the issues facing ethicists today and the issues that Victor Frankenstein faced and finally acknowledged in reference to the monster he had created?

Science: What adverse effects is population growth having on animals’ habitats?

Social Studies: Which constituents are most likely to embrace the new health care act? Which constituents are most likely to prefer the Affordable Care Act? What are the issues and life circumstances that drive the two groups’ beliefs?


2. Ask questions that propel students to analyze skeptically, not cynically.
ELA: In what ways is the book meant to be taken literally? In what ways is it meant to be taken metaphorically? What did the author achieve in her use of magical realism as part of the story’s development?

Science: What funding sources were used to fund this research? Are there any biases that might have played a role in the findings? Explain.

Social Studies: While many feel that city leaders were at fault, are there any natural features, cultural norms, or weather patterns that might also have influenced the city’s ultimate demise?

Math: Take a look at the problem on the board.What strategies do you think this person used to answer this problem? Do you think the answer is correct? Why or why not? What would you do differently if you believe the problem is incorrect? Explain how this person achieved the answer if you believe it is correct.

What Bridget and Brooke say about these questioning strategies:
We think that this is a perfect opportunity to really nail down Criterion 2.1: Quality of questioning. These types of questions also help us get to know our students just a little bit more than we did before because they encourage emotion and critical thinking. This can also be a great opportunity to address any misconceptions and assist students in clarifying their thinking with one another. Talk about student talk opportunities!

Scaffolding Complex Texts

Last week Bridget wrote about “under-scaffolding” and “over-scaffolding” a reading assignment for students. So, what are some things you can do to PERFECTLY scaffold a reading assignment?

Scaffolding takes time—for teachers and kids—and thus should be used primarily when you have a challenging text whose comprehension is essential to the content or skill development within your classroom. 

One strategy that teachers use frequently is to ask students to highlight the main ideas, but many of our students end up with a bright yellow handout, not knowing what is important to highlight.

This 1:40 video from Teaching Channel demonstrates how important it is to:         

•       Give students a reading purpose before they read. This may be in the form of a question, or may be asking them to read to find evidence for a statement, belief, argument, hypothesis, etc.
•           Ask students to highlight ONLY the specific words and phrases that address their reading purpose.
•      .    After the reading, include student talk, small- or large-group work to ensure that students have identified the key details to support their reading purpose, and then have them use that information in some way to validate the work they just did—sharing the information, using it for the next task, writing a paragraph, completing a graphic organizer, etc.

What else might you do?  Brooke and Bridget suggest:

• ·         Use a Close Reading Strategy.  SpringBoard, the grades 6-11 ELA curriculum, has just revamped its approach for 2017-2018, and it includes previewing the text, setting the purpose, having students do a first reading, and then providing a sequence of text-dependent questions for a second reading. This will deepen comprehension.·        
•        Have students read/highlight for only one question at a time.  This will really help to focus your less competent readers.·         
•        With multiple questions (probably no more than 3-4), you could give various colored highlighters, with students finding the best textual support/evidence for question #1 in yellow, question #2 in pink, etc.  The down side to this is that some of the text might be used to answer for multiple questions, and kids would be frustrated trying to use different highlighters on the same words/phrases.·         
•       Jigsaw the reading. Purposely give your struggling readers a question with easier-to-locate textual evidence, and your strongest readers a question demanding more inference.  Have each student share his/her best evidence while others in the group highlight or take notes in the text.   
•       After students read and highlight, ask them to number their pieces of evidence from 1-3, in best to worst, or most-likely-to-use to less-likely-to-use. This will help them to evaluate the evidence.·         
•        Encourage annotation EVERY time students read—writing questions, using symbols, drawing pictures, writing reactions in the text. This will keep them engaged and will help them to retain more information.