Foundations and Assessment of Education/Edition 1/Assessment Table of Contents/Assessment Chapter 1: Feedback/Article 2 Reader Responses

Feedback That Fits

Reader Responses
The feedback described in this article seems appropriate and something that shoud just be an obvious way to deliver feedback. Looking back at my own experience with teachers tells me that is not true. I did have difficulty understanding why we would not make corrections on the everything. Wouldn't this be demonstrating te correct way? However, I can see why we would not want to confuse the student with minor corrections at a young age.Jnemo001 (talk) 02:41, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

I liked the different examples in this article. The author brought up a good point when she mentioned the importance of giving positive feedback where it's due. It would be impossible to be an effective teacher without providing enough feedback for students in the proper manner. There is certainly a fine line between being direct and informative, and saying something that may rub a student the wrong way. I think it's important to keep sensitity in mind. I remember the worst thing I ever found written on one of my papers in school was "SEE ME AFTER CLASS". That is never a good thing to find written on your paper. There is no reason to scare students, positive & effective feedback goes a long way! Ldomm002 (talk) 01:28, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

This article brought up some good points. If the point of school is to get a grade and get out, then a rubric is perfectly acceptable. If the goal is to learn something, then the teacher needs to give feedback that tells the student what they did good, and what they need to do to improve. The teacher can't just grade writing so that all a student needs to do is re-write it. When my violin teacher would give me feedback, instead of saying, "your intonation was wrong here" or " play this phrase with more of an arc" he would ask "how was your intonation" or "how were your phrases". I would hate him, but it was good for me. Rebecca.hechler (talk) 04:17, 31 May 2009 (UTC) I think this was a very helpful article on feedback. This is a very important part of a teachers job. The author clearly states how this can be a real problem. She states the main topic and has supporting ideas on how to give effective feedback that students can understand. The article addresses the when, how much, and mode of feedback which are all important. The nature of communication matters a great deal. The author also give some great examples to show the difference of good verses bad feedback. One thing that stood out in my mind was that "good feedback contains information that the student can use." The goal of all teachers is to help all students grow in a positive manner. As teachers we will need to master the nature of feedback.Aferg006 (talk) 05:15, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

The article on constructive feedback was a great explanation of how teachers can aide students in their own individual learning journeys. Today, classrooms are extremely diverse, but learning targets are unfortunately not. Baseline standards are in place so that students can pass rigorous high stakes tests for their particular grade level. Although my opinions of these highs stakes tests are not of admiration or fondness, they are still a sad, bureaucratic reality. Nonetheless, if students must focus on specific learning targets, teachers must be able to effectively evaluate and assess individual work and progress. Proper feedback is critical. Therefore, teachers must remain current with research in this particular area. Opportunely, the assigned assessment article explains various modes of feedback delivery and even makes content suggestions. Moreover, it provides specific examples of effective and ineffective feedback, while also laying a solid foundation of the overall topic. The article also implies that students will need some differentiated learning, as they will all have different skill sets. Accounting for diversity in classrooms is a significant part of feedback research. Teachers have to understand each student in order to chart individual growth, goal set, and exceed state standards. Genuine feedback is essential to this goal setting process, which in turn, increases the self-efficacy of students. What teacher wouldn’t want to increase self-efficacy? We should all want students to believe they have the skills necessary to accomplish everything they work hard for. Abitt002 (talk) 02:29, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree with the message about feedback indicated in this article. I feel that Brookhart has mentioned the critical components of effective feedback for students including thinking about feedback from the student's perspective. I think that Brookhart effectively demonstrated that the impact of feedback on the student should be taken into consideration when preparing and giving feedback to a student. If the feedback is given in a tone that the student perceives as threatening, then the student will not be benefiting from that feedback as a result. I feel that Brookhart listed all of the possible positive and negative outcomes to feedback both for the teacher and the student. The teacher needs to evaluate the learning targets when assessing the student's performance as Brookhart mentioned. By looking to see whether the student achieved the learning targets or not, the teacher will be able to provide a more effective feedback for the student allowing them to understand that they grasped the assignment, but also noticing that there are other aspects of their work that may need improvement. By letting the student know that they understood and completed the basics of the assignment correctly, they will be more motivated and self efficient in correcting their work. I believe that Brookhart's article outlines effective tips and models for future and present teachers to follow when preparing and giving feedback to students. It was also well written, and adhered to critical points to outline the main idea in the article. I believe that many readers who read and have read this article will listen and apply her points to their own teaching methods and classrooms. Rburt005 (talk) 17:25, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

I think this is a very effective article on feedback. The author clearly demonstrates her knowledge and experience when discussing what constitutes good feedback. She provides meaningful examples of appropriate and positive feedback for a writing assignment and turns what might have been just a rewrite into a learning experience the student can use for future self assessments. The author also reminds those who assess how important timliness is when providing feedback and how comments must be specific to the assignment. I was so impressed by the author's article that I will be looking into purchasing her book for my own personal library. She reminds her readers that not only what you say, but how you say it to a student can make such an impact! Sciaston (talk) 14:32, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

This article on feedback was very effective and informative. I agree with the author that effective feedback communicates a clear, concise and positive message to the student. The way teachers deliver the feedback is critical to the student. I think that a very effective strategy is beginning your feedback by asking the student specific questions about their work. This allows them to search through their work to find their own strengths and weaknesses. Teachers should then ask their students what the best solution is. Developing their own solutions to change and improve their work will allow for better student understanding and comprehension. Brookhart also identified key points for delivering feedback, such as being positive and specific, and try for description, not judgement. This article was very well- written, and the formatting was excellent. It captured my attention from beginning to end and I enjoyed reading about the authors thoughts and ideas on this critical subject. Afett001 (talk) 14:54, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I think this article is very effective. It describes different types of feedback and the proper ways to use it. I can see how is article would be very helpful for current and future teachers who are either new to the practice of providing feedback or want to improve their skills. The author of the article comes across as being very well educated and an expert on her topic. I really like the table she provides that gives samples of feedback and tells what the student will gain from reading it. Throughout the article she reminds us of the most important point about feedback: the best feedback is positive and helps the student grow. Sbutl016 (talk) 18:06, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I am new to thinking about all of these different topics and ideas, however the different ways of using feedback seemed quite useful/helpful. It is true that students work better depending on the feedback they receive. I have a personal example to back up that statement. I loved art from a young age and drawing was my favorite pass-time. When I was in elementary school art class my art teacher told me that I was no good at art and wouldn't amount to anything. Harsh words to a little kid! I went home crying and my grandmother did the best thing (besides going to school to chew out that teacher!) ... she took me to Louis Jones a renowned artist and ask him if he would look at my drawings. She told him what my art teacher told me and he said that I was very good at drawing and to never let anyone tell me that I couldn't do something because I could do anything I set my mind to. The difference between that negative and positive feedback was great. As soon as the positive feedback came it pushed the negative feedback away! Hcogg001 (talk) 00:01, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

This article was well written and interesting. Brookhart uses her experience to explain the differences between different types of feedback, as well as giving some ways to use feedback that have been successful for her. It was interesting when Brookhart suggests asking the student questions to see if they can see where their mistakes were. It never crossed my mind that this would be a perfect option, but now it makes sense. In my household, when my children have done something that is not appropriate behavior, my husband and I always ask them first what they did, why they got into trouble, and why was it not appropriate. We do this so that we can make sure that they understand why they are in trouble. Without giving feedback, students could keep doing the same mistakes over and over again without realizing their mistakes. Asking the student where their mistakes are and why they are considered mistakes, lets the student express to their teacher what was on their mind when they completed the task and why they think it is considered a mistake. Scarlett1 (talk) 06:31, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

I think that this was a really good article about feedback. Students not only need feedback, they need the right kind of feedback. I think it is true that sometimes teachers get caught up on correcting spelling and grammar problems and do not focus in on what the paper was really about and if the student wrote it effectively. I can remember when I was in elementary school, one of my teachers would write "good job", give a sticker and maybe correct a few grammar problems. However, my other teacher would write do this in addition to writing comments about my writing style or maybe just that they thought that something I wrote about was interesting. Sometimes she would also give me a few sentences at the end of my paper to read for myself. It would always be positive constructive feedback that made me want to try harder. Sometimes teachers get frustrated because a child "just isn't getting it" but they may need to take a look at themselves and evaluate whether they are giving the child what he/she needs to be a better writer and improve performance. Alucy001 (talk) 15:24, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

I really enjoyed this article because I honestly never even thought about how my students would or wouldn't feel about my feedback. Looking back now I do remember some of my teachers being brutal, especially those college professors!!! However when I was in high school most of my teachers always gave positive feedback. I agreed with the phrase in the article about how different students take feedback in different ways. You could give the same feedback to two different students and they could respond total opposite of each other. I believe that while being positive we don't need to forget the real reason of feedback (to help the student grow intellectually). The paragraph about "loving dogs more than cats" was a good example of papers that I use to get back in elementary school. I still remember being confused and trying to decifer the teachers hand writing or the symbols used. It helped with the students grammar, but the teacher should have told her that she did an excellent job by staying on topic. I think it would've have given the student a more positive attitude about writing on her next topic while allowing her to know that she needs some work in the grammar department. Hcomb003 (talk) 16:26, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

I think that this article was very informative. I often feel that there is a big difference between just giving corrections and actually guiding the students to correct their own work. I think that it is important to know your students on a personal level so that you can better gauge how that student would respond to the feedback for their assignment. I appreciated in the article when the example was given about the writing corrections. I often find that the editing of assignments almost needs another key to find out what the students did wrong, which can be very frustrating for a student(even in college). In the article it made the distinction between giving general statements that provide no real ways for students to gauge the worth of their work and specific statements about their work so that can either have ways to correct the work or realize that you really took notice in their specific work and appreciated how hard they worked. I think that if all teachers remembered that technique would help students feel respected and important instead of just another grade int he grade book. Jnewh001 (talk) 19:04, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Personally, this was the more enjoyable and interesting article of the chapter, because it discussed the differences between a teacher’s perspective and student’s perspective on assessment, suggestions of giving good feedback, and the comparisons of effective and ineffective feedback. Many teachers have very good intentions of giving positive feedback; however, students tend to interpret them as negative comments and make the writing experience more frustrating. I also found it very beneficial that Susan M. Brookhart mentioned that teachers tend to forget that their assessments are going back into student hands. Therefore, it is very important that teachers place themselves in students’ shoes, or even remember their own writing experiences when they are doing assessment. As the article indicated, composing feedback is a skill that will take time to master and educators will have to consider what they say, how to say it, and when they should say it. In spite of this, the skill is worth the benefits, because students eventually learn that their strengths and weaknesses in writing, and different types of methods they can use to fix them on their own. Adart001 (talk) 19:35, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

I think that effective feedback is beneficial. I thought this article to be beneficial also. I plan on reflecting back on it as a learning tool for myself.Mlipl001 (talk) 03:26, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

The author brought some great examples of feedback to the table. I agree that positive feedback where is due is crucial for a students learning. Feedback on improvement also helps the student better themselves and develop their writing. This article helped me to understand the different types of feedback, and it's definitely an article I would look back on during my teaching years. Ehern004 (talk) 21:22, 15 July 2009 (UTC)