Key Learning From our Project

Descriptive Feedback Presentation

1. Model and chunk each part of the Success Criteria

○        Show students what each part means, what each part looks like

○        Go over students work samples to show them what each part could look like

○        Model and have students highlight each part of the success criteria in their work, so that they better understand how to apply the criteria

2. Success criteria needs to work for students

○        Should create it with the students, so that they understand it and it is in their language

○        Students may take a different perspective on what they need to be successful than we do

• Allow students to provide the teacher with feedback on the effectiveness of the success criteria
• Give students opportunity to reflect on how they have used the success criteria and feedback to improve their work (with and without a partner)

○        Students need to have the success criteria reinforced over time

■        Multiple opportunities to practice using the success criteria

■        For example:  using same context for multiple applications of success criteria

○        practice many reading response answers–grade 3 and 6 examples

o        then give opportunity to apply to success criteria to a different context/format

○        Students seem to prefer, and are more successful when the success criteria is more sequential (laying out how to communicate their thinking), in a step by step manner

■        Focusing too much on thinking does not seem to help the students to be successful

○        For Reading, the organization of their thinking needs to be embedded into the success criteria, otherwise students are confused and do not succeed

■        This also helps when providing feedback, because you can pinpoint something specific on a student’s work (writing about reading)

■        Success criteria should help with assessment of the task

○        For Writing, the success criteria can be more thinking based, since the criteria can stand on their own more easily

3.  When to provide feedback:

• Providing feedback during the initial modeled and shared lessons is more difficult
• Use student work to drive instruction rather than focusing on individual feedback
• Many of the next steps or needs are used as formative assessment to plan the next lessons
• In initial tasks, feedback could be limited to positive comments, what students have done well
• Students need several attempts at the concepts/task to start understanding what they need to do
• In writing, feedback before students start revising is more useful
• In reading, provide feedback for each formative task, showing students what they have done well (which success criteria) and which criteria they still need to work on

o       Orally conference, prompting students, asking them questions, or working with an elbow partner

• When providing feedback on areas that need improvement, suggestions on how to improve should be included
• Limit feedback to 1-2 (max) next steps

4. Differentiate feedback for your students

○        Some will benefit from written feedback, others need an oral conference

○        Some forms of feedback that we tried:  Google Docs comments, post-it notes, success criteria checklists, conferencing, peer collaboration groups, peer feedback with post-it notes

○        Some students will need more time to master each part of the success criteria, therefore limit the criteria they are working on for each assignment

5. Need to check on students to see how they are applying the feedback

○        Whether they understand the feedback

○        Feedback needs to be simple and relevant

○        Feedback log helps students to focus their next steps

■        Students write feedback from each piece into log

The feedback log helps students to focus on their next steps