The three stratgies we studied this week--setting objectives, providing recognition, and providign feedback--provided me with much food for thought especially as these are areas I do not make a habit of enhancing with technology. My main goal was considering the technologies available in my school district and on the web.
Inspiration is a tool available and something I had not considered, prior to this week, to help students set objectives. I was able this week to explore the Planning folder to take a peek at the Goal Plan template. As we delve into our next long-term unit (poetry), I'd like to secure lab time to have students map out their learning goals based on benchmarks (instructed and assessed) and the tools and centers available in the classroom during the unit. I think this will help provide organization, direction and focus, especially during the self-directed, center times. I know that my obsessive-self does too much of the objective setting in the classroom. I would also like to use a data collection tool like Survey Monkey to inform our classroom goal setting as well as group creation especially during shared inquiry projects.
Providing recognition is not something I spend a whole lot of time on. Much of classroom recognition comes in the form of group applause, verbal recognition, work posted on classroom walls, etc. I never print certificates but distribute stickers. I know I need to make recognition part of the weekly routine beyond the weekly drawing all red house teachers do on Friday's in each of their classrooms. I did a ton more as far as recognition as a fourth grade teacher than i do as a 7th grade teacher. I think time is the factor that affects this the most.
The final strategy for this week, feedback, is something I manage to provide in a timely manner but need to continue to work on as mentioned in my reaction to the "Feedback that Fit" article.
The article "Feedback that Fits" was excellent especially as it comes on the heels of us studying the strategy of providing feedback this week. The article's discussion of feedback was concise and clear and helped me to see even clearer the necessity of continuing to work toward providing students with communication that matters and feedback that is effective. In my attempts to keep up on "paperwork," I too often don't provide usable feedback or feedback that is thorough enough. I need to take more time to comment on where students are in relation to meeting benchmarks/learning targets. I need to more often put myself in my students shoes and consider what I what like to hear from my teacher in the form of comments. The article points out the importance of using different types of feedback--written, oral and visual/demonstration. I think I do a good job of offering these types of feedback on a regular basis to students. I also provide feedback at all stages of students' progress during assignments which is also important for students. I plan to share the article with colleagues.
