Research tells us that feedback is much more important and effective to support student change and growth. There should be a shift away from simple letter grades to better feedback using rubrics and standards-based grading.
But it’s not that easy.
In the current education system, there is not enough time or effort put into providing better feedback due to the structure or game of school.
AI plays a hand in feedback now as well. There are incredible tools like MagicSchool, ChatGPT, Poe, etc. that can expand and expedite teachers’ observations and opinions on student learning.
But AI isn’t the most powerful feedback tool…
Effective feedback doesn’t happen at the end of an assessment or assignment, but it happens throughout the learning process. For many, the purest, most effective form of feedback looks like this:
Failure births immediate feedback. Failure without context is taken as a negative word, yet when the development of learning centers around the intelligent failure and recovery of learning, there is no stopping growth and understanding.
However, failure isn’t the most powerful feedback tool…
The most powerful feedback tool is time management.
Some might say that "we need more time" is a cop-out, yet the reality is the time is there, and the management game needs to improve.
As much as time management is taken for granted, or determined by a computer program that creates the schedules for the year, this is a foundational cornerstone that can impact feedback the most.
In education, the Industrial Revolution is mentioned often. Schools existed to train children to be obedient, behaved, and informed citizens based on a 9-5 schedule. Yet the schedule has left. The information that comes is constant. A student will receive more feedback on a YouTube video they posted than all of the essays they write in a school year.
The point is that managing the time of learning means chasing the innovative idea that the system that has always been is not working to develop students effectively. There are mastery paths, station rotation models, in-class flipped mastery learning, and so much more that can do two things:
-Free up more time for Feedback
-Create more personalized learning for Students.
But it all comes back to Time Management. Better Planning. Interleaving. Data-Based Personalized Learning Tech Enhanced Instruction and Practice.
The time is there. Have you managed it well?
Goodbye Red Pen.
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