Feedback, Feedback, Feedback

I had two opportunities to see the value of feedback to improve instructional practice.

First I had the chance to see a high quality model for instructional supervision.  The foundation of the model is continuous feedback from the building principal and even district administrators. Teachers set goals and constantly receive feedback about their practice, with new teachers receiving extensive support as they learn the craft of teaching. It struck me that this school has built a culture of continuous improvement through conversations about instruction.  Since personnel make up the bulk of the budget in any district, it only makes sense that feedback and support be provided to the most valuable resource - the staff.

The second instance was at a session on digital walk-through training provided by one of our principals - Mitch Kubicek- to a group of 14 principals from schools across the state.   Mitch provided the group not only the technical expertise about how to use a digital tool - Google Forms, but also the rationale for continuous feedback.  Mitch uses the data from 5 minute walk-through visits to provide feedback to teachers and to look at aggregate results for the building.  This not only provides the opportunity to set individual teacher goals, but also to look at professional development needs for the building.  For example, if the building data indicate a majority of the instructional methods involve presenting new information, professional development on how to practice and deepen content knowledge may be in order.  None of this is possible without providing feedback to the teachers about what is happening in the classroom.  Mitch even has the teachers tape 15 minutes of classroom instruction and use the walk-through tool to analyze their own teaching - self observation.  His goal is to walk through 6 classrooms a week - which takes about 30 minutes to complete.  Imagine the impact on teaching and learning that costs just 30 minutes a week?

Neither of these two examples are possible without feedback models.  In order to truly examine the teaching practices we need to uncover them, provide feedback, and insist on continuous improvement.  If each teacher can get a little better everyday, over time the improvements in teaching and learning would be profound.  It all rests on feedback.

Toby

Kid Talk

The following exchange took place between my wife (a math teacher) and my teenage daughter after a math homework session:
Mom: How often do you get to talk through solving your math problems?
Teen: We don't
Mom: You don't get to talk?
Teen: No, but we ask each other anyway
Mom:  How does the teacher know if you have problems or questions?
Teen: You're supposed to go up and ask - if you don't know and don't ask, it's your own fault.

Really?  I hope this isn't the case - but it is at least one student's perceptions.  We need to extinguish the sage on the stage mentality and get students talking.  How can we expect students to learn by sitting and listening with only quiet seat work to follow?  Is that how you learn?  Is that how anyone learns?  Humans are verbal creatures - we learn by talking (and doing).

Our staff has been training engagement techniques over the past several months that promote student talk.  I thought this would be a good time to list a few and consider how these techniques could change the above conversation.  All of these techniques get kids talking and many of them promote physical movement.  See how many you recognize or call by another name:

Inside - Outside Circle: two circles of students facing each other for verbal review.
Clock Partners: students paired for reflection/review based on "appointments".
Choral Response: whole class response technique when answers are short and the same.
I have...Who has...: structured verbal review of important concepts.
Musical Cards: students trade concept cards while music is playing, then pair to discuss.
Line-ups: students line up according to degrees of agreement, then discuss viewpoints.
Run the Tournament: students discuss important concepts and determine winners that advance in the tournament.
Academic Games: Pyramid game, taboo, Who am I?: each game requires students to verbalize answers.

So, why would we want to get kids up and moving and talking when we have them quiet and look like they are paying attention?  Because the brain needs processing time; the brain will drop concepts that are not processed.  Academic talk provides processing and results in greater engagement and retention of both concepts and skills. Ever talk your way through a difficult task or chore?  Talk's not just for memorizing jargon.

So how prevalent are these practices?  Are students expected to still stay in their seats, listen and do quiet seat work?  The teachers who have tried these techniques report positive results from their students and indicate their classes are more enjoyable.  We've learned it doesn't take much to implement; teachers just need to try a few things. 

So maybe the conversation could go like this:
Mom: How often do you get to talk through solving your math problems?
Teen: All the time.
Mom: How?
Teen: We work in partners, we trade up all the time, we talk about how to get answers.
Mom:  So what does your teacher do?
Teen:  Most of the time the teacher just listens and if somebody is wrong they get help right there, or the teacher goes over it with the class.