CEDO 525 Entry Two

Feedback that Fits Reflection:
Providing students timely and meaningful feedback is a very important part of the learning process. It is something however that is more complicated and sensitive than most teachers know. Feedback can be provided in a variety of ways whether it is written, oral, or electronic but it must be timely. Students need the feedback to be able to make adjustments or corrections in their understanding of a learning target and it will only be effective if it is received by the student in a timely fashion.
Feedback should also be relatively positive. Although comments such as "good work" or "nice job" are not particularly effective, negative comments can have a devastating effect on students who struggle or have low self esteem as it may in a way confirm their self-doubt. Therefore, effective feedback points out strengths in the students work with meaningful and positive observations.
Meaning feedback critiques the work by challenging, making suggestions, or asking critical questions. While negative comments can have a negative impact on student learning, critical questioning can help students look more critically at their work and help them take more ownership in their learning.
Overall, providing meaningful and effective feedback to students is not as simple as most seem to believe. Teachers must find ways to help students re-examine their work and learning while focusing on the learning targets. This important step in the learning process needs to be well understood by all educators.


Exploring Resources:
Rubistar:
An online rubric-making program. It allows registered users to create and save rubrics. The site is free to use and is easy to use. It also contains a vast library of rubrics that can be used or edited by anyone. Personally I could use the site as a reference but still prefer to create my own personalized rubrics on a word processor as this site does not seem to offer any obvious benefit beyond doing that.

Quia:
An online assessment maker that allows educators to create online quizzes and assignments. The website could be a very valuable tool as it allows for quizzes and assignments that students take and submit online. It also has data analysis that could be a valuable reflective tool for teachers. This is a tool that I am definitely interested in using although the cost seems concerning and Google Forms could do many of the same things.


Reflecting on Strategies: 
Setting Objectives:
Students walk into most of their classes with a varying degree of abilities and prior learning. One of the things that causes many students to struggle is simply that they have a difficult time deciphering key learning targets. A step that many educators skip is setting and communicating learning targets (objectives) to students. Setting objectives is the equivalent of revealing the destination before leaving on a road trip, it seems like common sense but is often left out. This should be done before lessons and when assigning projects or assignments rubrics should be used to guide students. I have found in practice that providing student objectives has led to much better comprehension and has especially helped struggling learners. 

Providing Feedback:
Giving students feedback on achievement and effort is a very important step in the learning process. Too often students learn and are assessed with little knowledge of how or where they are at in terms of meeting learning standards. Technology has made it much more easy and efficient for teachers to provide feedback. Email, commenting, and response tools have given students and teachers quick ways to measure where they are at. Feedback should be authentic and positive while being truly meaningful. Thoughtless or negative feedback can actually have a negative effect by  reinforcing self-doubt or not having much meaning to a student. Providing comments that praise strengths and encourage the student to critically examine their work, often by asking them questions, can be a great benefit to the learning process.

Providing Recognition:
Positive recognition can help all students, especially those who may have confidence issues. Many students go through school feeling average as they may not be on the honor roll and may feel lost in the shuffle. Finding ways to positively recognize student achievement can have a great effect by motivating students to continue quality work. This also is a step that makes learning more authentic as positive recognition as displaying student achievements allows for a real world audience to see what they have done, and that incentive often increases student motivation as well.