The feedback I gave to my students was, I believe, one of the more valuable tools I could have utilized. I gave the student, on a daily basis, both verbal and written feedback,  in order to make sure each student had the opportunity to see that I was looking at what they were doing and doing it correctly (See Examples under Feedback Plan).

            There were a variety of reactions to the feedback I provided.  They included both indifference as well as appreciation; however there was no consistency as to which student was indifferent or appreciative, at least outwardly.  The examples I provided show the written feedback I gave to students that fit in that range. The student who had the largest learning gain from the pre to the post-assessment seemed completely unaffected by any feedback I gave her, but the student who showed the smallest percentage of learning gains from the pre to the post assessment seemed to glow anytime I gave her feedback. 

            Another student I gave a lot of verbal feedback to (Student 18) did not have a good record of even attempting assignments in the class. I had laid some foundational work with him by beginning to give him positive reinforcement a couple weeks before I started teaching my unit. By the time I started working with him as his teacher he consistently attempted to do that work and asked me for feedback on how he was doing that day. For this student I believe that if I’d had the opportunity to work with him longer I would have make even further progress in encouraging him to try and then to work to improve what he did.

            As a group I constantly reminded them that I wanted them to make their best effort and work hard. I believe that my own positive attitude during class time helped to set the tone for the class and they were more willing to focus when they knew I had positive intentions toward them and believed they were working hard.   On the other hand, there were a couple of time where I had to talk to them about the fact that they were not being respectful to their fellow students or to me and because I had already laid a trusting foundation the reaction on those occasions was regretful. I received apologies on some work for not knowing the answer, because they hadn’t been paying attention. My reaction to those students was to thank them for being honest, remind them of my expectations and then answer their questions. I don’t believe in being sarcastic, condescending or telling them that because they weren’t paying attention I wasn’t going to help them (something I have observed other teachers doing). Their reaction, in turn, was to thank me and then sits down and get to work.

            In addition to the feedback I provided I also allowed all work to be made-up. My philosophy on class work or homework is that because it’s meant to solidify or add to the students’ learning, if they make the effort to come to me and say that they need more time or were absent when an assignment was given then I wanted to give them the opportunity to make it up. All students and parents have access to an online system that shows their grades as well as all their assignments and which ones were missing.

             I allowed them to come in during lunch, after school or bring in their make-up work the next day.  I had informed the students at the beginning of the unit that I would be available to them after school every day if they needed help and there were a couple of students who took advantage of my availability on a regular basis.

            My plan to include parents in student struggles will include calls home after the students go two weeks with missing assignments. Because it does not take long to get behind, but an enormous amount of time to catch up I want to be sure that students are supported on multiple sides. The only step I did not take during my 10 day unit to support my students was calling home to involve parents in their education. If I was going to teach one additional week, then on the Friday of the second week I would have sat down in the office with a translator and started making calls home to the students who were missing work or struggling with the assigned work. Another part of parental involvement does include letting those parents whose students are doing well know how well they are doing. Waiting until the parent/student/teacher conference is too much time, so I would be sending notes home or calling home on occasion to let parents know that their students were working hard and doing well.

            All of these elements of feedback are vital to the education and growth of students. In the future I will continue to utilize the techniques I have witnessed to be successful as well as being to include phone calls and letters home to include parents in the growth of their students and ensure that they are part of their students’ success.