1)      Feedback helps students to know the things they did well and the things they need to improve on as they strive to reach a goal.

2)      No matter how low preforming a student is or how inadequate their work is there is always something positive that can be said about a student’s work. Positive feedback is more effective than negative.

3)      Feedback needs to be specific so students have a clear understanding where they need to improve or what they need to continue to do. 

1)      Does all student’s work need feedback?

2)      Is feedback more effective if given verbally or written down?

When I think of feedback, I automatically think about growing up playing soccer. When a child is learning to play soccer, the goal is to learn the skills necessary to develop as a player, learn to work together on a team and of course what every player wants…to score goals. Without the help of a coach and guidance from someone who knows the game, it would be very difficult to progress as a player. You could spend hours kicking and dribbling a ball but without some sort of feedback and someone telling you what your doing right and what your doing wrong you most likely will not develop to your fullest potential. A player also needs constructive criticism and encouragement to gain the confidence in his ability as a player. This is no different than feedback from a teacher to a student; it is vital for their academic progression to receive feedback.

1)      Feedback can provide information like whether a student’s answers were right or wrong, comment on the strategies they used, help increase self-confidence and help the student to feel smart.

2)      Feedback is effective when it translates into a clear and positive message that a student can understand. This means that the feedback describes the students work, comments on the process used to do the work and makes specific suggestions for what to do next.

3)      Feedback should be corrective in nature, given in a timely  manner, be specific to a criterion, provide elf-evaluation, reinforce to the students that the harder they try the more successful they will be, and should provide verbal recognition.

I no longer have any question about feedback.

      I don't think I would change my analogy from the one in my pre-module reflection but I did learn more specific things about teaching and coaching. In this module it had an article that talked about how coaching is similar to teaching. It said that coaches and teachers should make feedback meaningful, specific and that it needed to be positive. Both coaches and teachers should limit feedback and provide feedback throughout the learning process, not just at the end. Feedback for both coaches and teachers needs to be interactive; a dialogue between teacher and student. (Ward 2018)

Comparison of pre-module reflection to post-module reflection

      I think there are a few differences in my pre-module reflection and my post-module reflection.  I think my thoughts and ideas, even though correct in my pre-module reflection, are not as in depth as my post-module reflection. I think this shows how much I learned and how my knowledge has deepened. I also went from having questions about feedback to not having any. This was a very informative module and I feel much more confident in providing feedback to my future students. 

Ward, F. (2018). Thinking like a coach. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/thinking-coach (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. 

My Concept-based lesson was titled, “Mapping the Pilgrims”.  I started by reminding the students they had been learning about Pilgrims and that I was going to teach them some new things about them. I asked them questions to access prior knowledge and get them thinking more critically. I displayed a map on the smartboard that I created on thinglink. I told them that they will learn how to read the map as they learn some more interesting facts about the Pilgrims journey to America. I was able to use the interactive map to teach the students about map features and also about the Pilgrims journey to America. After the lesson I asked them more questions to check for understanding and then gave them their assignment.  They had 4 sentences they had to copy and then use a word bank to fill in the blank with the correct word. Then they had to illustrate what their map of the pilgrim’s journey would look like.
     2.   Secondly, identify the specific learning objectives or what you aimed for students to know, understand, and be able to do as a result of instruction.

The learning objectives for this lesson were for students to be able to:

·         Recognize and Identify features on a map

·         Determine cardinal direction and location of one object on a map in relation to another

1.      Student 1 Feedback- This is a very good student who normally preforms on or above grade level. This student usually is the first one done, and most work is done correctly. My feedback to this student would be: 

·         Very neat handwriting

·         Great strategy of writing the word bank on your paper

·         All blanks were filled in with the correct words which help me know that you understood the lesson

·         Your illustration of the map shows the route the Pilgrims took from England to America but next time maybe you can include more details on your map like a compass rose

2.      Student 2 Feedback- This student was retained last year and has a current IEP. This student is a very sweet and even though this student is easily distracted, worked very diligently on this assignment. I was very proud. My feedback to this student would be:

·         Very neat handwriting

·         Good work beginning each sentence with a capital letter and ending them with a period

·         Very detailed map showing the route the Pilgrims took from England to America

·         Compass rose is drawn correctly with north, south, east, and west in their proper locations

·         All blanks were filled in with the correct words which help me know that you understood the lesson

3.      Student 3 Feedback- This student is considerably below grade level and also has an IEP. This student often tries to complete class work but often doesn't want to participate in group discussions/work. Since I knew this assignment may be difficult for this student, I only asked for sentences 1 and 2 to be completed. My feedback to this student would be:

·         Great illustration of the Pilgrims route from England to America, especially the boat you drew and the waves in the ocean, great detail

·         Good numbering on your paper

·         Next time try to answer the question using your best handwriting