…Is five minutes given in each lesson to feedback on work that has been produced and move students forward.
This could be :
Time to read, understand and check comments that you have made
Time to respond to comments that you have made. What they should do next time or what they should complete now or for homework; what they should do to ‘fix’ the work. In some schools this is done by ‘Green pen marking’ and is completed by the student in green pen so that a teacher can identify that a students has taken in the feedback that they have given.
Time to fix key spellings or an aspect of work; such as completing a graph or rewording a paragraph, or underlining pages or using the wasted space!
Time for general comments back to a class on the quality of a work completed or to correct a misconception or error all students made. It may be that you are not physically marking this work but are giving feedback as a class. Will this be recorded ?
Time for peer and self-assessment if you were not marking this work.
Time for students to look at examples of good practice in the class or to have a teacher model ‘ it might look like this’
Feeding back on students’ work
Ofsted found that “good marking provides maximum help for pupils at the point of learning”.
This occurs when teachers:
Set targets
Good marking provides maximum help for pupils at the point of learning
Share and discuss National Curriculum level or GCSE criteria
Tell pupils how well they are doing
Teach pupils what they need to do to improve
Include clear evaluations and sensible advice in their comments
Leave pupils with action points they are able to work on
Establish continuity in comments from one piece of work to the next
This is the dedicated improvement and reflection time which can occur at any point during the lesson, and should demonstrate reflection on the progress the students have made
Demonstrating progress:
Are pupils developing the capacity to work independently and collaboratively?
Can pupils explain confidently and clearly what they have learned and why?
Do pupils ask questions about their work and learning?
Do pupils understand how well they are doing and how they can improve?
Can pupils apply new ideas in different contexts?
Are pupils working close to their capacity?
How attentive are pupils?
Are pupils developing an interest in the subject?
Consider use of WWW (What Went Well) and EBI (Even Better If)
Some ways of demonstrating good progress in lessons
Make sure you know the depth of pupils’ prior knowledge so you are able to build on it effectively – ‘Range finding’ questions are useful here; as is the use of assessment data. This will also help to set high, but realistic expectations of pupils.
Ensure that lessons focus on ‘learning of concepts and skills’ and that success criteria are differentiated to meet the needs of all students. Ensure they focus on the small steps of progression; not a series of activities. (Often finer than in the APP charts – although they can help to determine the appropriate level of challenge and the progressive steps).
Share the big picture for the lesson – the progressive steps that are to be taken in the lesson to reach the key outcomes.
End each progressive step with a mini plenary to check all pupils’ progress – hinge questions are great here as they are quick; as are the use of white boards, cards with ABCD, T/F, Y/N or RAG.
Use the information in point 4 to move away from plans if necessary and further differentiate tasks. – Be flexible to pupils’ needs.
‘AfL style’ questioning and dialogue is essential, pupils are more actively involved and the discussions can display to any onlooker how pupils’ thinking is progressing through the lesson.
Tasks need to be appropriately challenging, differentiated and require the pupils to process their learning at a ‘deep’ level (as opposed to surface learning); it is only then we as teachers can truly see what they understand and how to take their learning forward.
Model what ‘good quality’ looks like; equally as useful to model what is not required and how it can be corrected / improved.
Ensure there is evidence of quality feedback in books – against the criteria and that any suggestions have been acted upon by students. Feedback can also involve pupil feedback… it needs to be specific as does oral feedback and again related to the lessons success criteria.
Make time for pupils to demonstrate to you they have learnt and for them to reflect on their learning – including what further support they require.