We are still in the middle of the COVID19 crisis, but home learning seems to be going well. Teachers are doing a great job of connecting with students while managing their own crazy lives. In this vlog post, I recommend that reachers avoid “Good Job” or “Well Done” when giving feedback to students. Instead giving them actionable and specific feedback to encourage them, be constructively critical, and give them items to work on with a timeline for review.
I work as an Educational Technology consultant at International EdTech committed to helping schools use technology successfully. I frequently present at conferences on Educational Leadership, Learning Technology, IT, and Data Systems. I am also a a published author focusing on Educational Technology, International Education, and Leadership.
Most of the time I agree with what you’ve said, and I mostly agree with this. The problem is that teachers don’t have time to give this much detailed feedback, so they likely need assistance (technology, rubric development, etc.) to give this kind of feedback.
If teachers front-load expectations and criteria for success, it may be possible to create a shorthand that helps students understand specifically what they have done and how they can move forward on their learning. A visual reference that teachers use with students can be really helpful. Just telling them “give more detailed feedback” creates pressures on most teachers who are struggling with time already. That was true at the time of this post, and likely true in most cases now.