TL;DR: Teenagers are not bored, disengaged, and unhappy by nature. Teachers can improve rapidly if we ask students to give us feedback. It can be scary to ask; we need to train ourselves to depersonalize the feedback. A healthy feedback loop produces happier students AND a happier teacher. One Simple Strategy to Teach Better: Ask for Feedback One of our … Read More
Teaching Collaboration and Communication
TL;DR: How do students know if they’re doing a great job collaborating? Directly teach students what collaboration looks like. Share feedback with them throughout their class through glows and grows or a rubric. Embed practice into your lessons. Prized Classroom Possession My most prized classroom possession may not be what you’d assume. It’s not a document camera, SmartBoard, or other … Read More
Providing Better Feedback
TL;DR: Providing feedback to students is one of the most crucial aspects of our job. In this post, you will find five simple steps to incorporate effective and timely feedback to your students. (1) Classroom environment – establish norms and expectations for giving and receiving feedback. (2) Streamline grading practices – use the same grading rubric. (3) Use online tools … Read More
Reflect to #TechBetter
TL;DR: Students need to know the expectations and deserve feedback to help them improve and grow. #TechBetter with an “edurubricon,” which involves numbering the skills and including icons to create an easy visual for students to follow along. Happy New Year! I hope as we begin 2022, all of you will use the ways that we have discussed to #techbetter. … Read More
Approaching the Upcoming School Year
TL;DR: Shift the focus to the development of skills. Content is still important, but it’s just not the purpose of the course. Develop a framework and common language to use during the feedback process. Limit feedback to a specific part of the assignment. When used appropriately, whole class feedback is a valuable tool. Provide multiple practice opportunities to every student … Read More