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Feedback is the buzz-word and, as with most things, it is not being reinvented, but constantly readapted. In recent years, we see more formal national approach. One can become overwhelmed with the copious elements that need to be considered when feeding back to learners.
The key is to be clear a on what exactly you are feeding back on and how the ultimate goal will improve the individual child's learning. Feedback provides students with an evaluation of their work, either written or oral. It can be descriptive, but needs a clear layout in order to channel learners to focus on specific areas. It is important for students to establish clear goals in order to feed forward (use these evaluations to inform next steps). Feed forward gives learners a clearer idea of areas in need of development, which is crucial in goal setting. This is central to successful learning.
The attached template provides a useful tool for use with students to create an individualised learning chart. It includes visuals to understanding, important for EAL learners. The student is able to see areas that have improved and the learning goals to be worked on.
Attending a recent woodwind ensemble concert made me think about language use in the classroom - quite an unusual connection, right? ‘How so?’ you might ask. Perhaps it was because the musicians each had a different heritage, played a different instrument, and spoke another language. Yet, they all tuned their instruments together at the start and communicated in English before creating something beautifully fluid for the audience to immerse themselves in.
Effective teacher-parent collaboration has undoubtedly been found to be beneficial for a child’s wellbeing and academic performance with relevant research recently highlighting two distinct approaches to home-school partnerships associated with specific parent behaviours each (Epstein, 2001). Below we will attempt to shed light on the differences between ‘parent involvement’ and ‘parent engagement’ in an effort to help schools make more informed decisions on what really matters when it comes to promoting successful collaboration with parents.
Graphic organisers can be a powerful tool for learners with dyslexia. They enable learners to plan and structure their ideas in a visual and accessible way. Focusing on getting ideas organised before navigating challenges with grammar and spelling can be a positive approach. The visual scaffold reduces working memory strain by keeping ideas clearly organised and structured. This allows more cognitive space for sentence construction and spelling, which might be challenging.