The Positive Possibilities of Feedback
by Dr. Brady Quirk, Coordinator, SPS Professional Learning

   As a new year begins, we tend to be focused on the future by making resolutions and concentrating on the possibilities that lie ahead.  The possibilities of taking our students to that next level is no doubt a resolution for many of us, and focusing on feedback can be an integral part of that.  In John Hattie’s Visible Learning meta-analysis, feedback had an effect size of .73, making it one of the most powerful variables available to teachers. What feedback looks like, however, and how it is experienced by the student tends to vary tremendously.
   According to Hattie, when teachers are surveyed about what they consider quality feedback, it revolves around the “ten C’s” of comments, clarification, criticism, confirmation, content development, constructive reflection, correction, cons & pros, commentary, and criterion relative to a standard. When students are interviewed about their perception of teacher feedback, the main theme that consistently emerges is: they want to know how to improve their work so that they can do better next time. Keeping an awareness of what students need in teacher-provided feedback and perhaps more importantly, how it is perceived by the student, is crucial to moving them forward.

• Keeping Feedback Future-Focused: While teachers’ input revolving around the ten C’s may seem like it meets this need, the feedback is almost always focused on a past product or piece of data.  Students tend to be future-focused, looking toward the next assignment or task rather than on work already left behind.  This is not to say they don’t want mistakes to be corrected, but rather that the key may be in the delivery of feedback while also looking toward future opportunities for mastery. The positive possibilities of what success may look like on subsequent opportunities will inspire effort more than just a critique of the past assignment, which they have mentally left behind.
• Positive to Negative Ratio: While students want to know where to go next, research shows that teachers tend to achieve this goal through what students perceive as negative feedback. The result is students often ignore the extensive feedback that teachers spend a lot time and effort to provide. Human nature is to lend more weight to negative events (or feedback) than positive events.  In regard to teacher input on student work, Hattie found that students mentally/emotionally equate one negative comment to four or five positive comments.  The suggestion is not to provide a constant stream of unfounded praise, but rather to maintain an awareness of the ratio of positive to negative comments.  Keeping the ratio of positive to negative input as equal as possible and focusing on the student’s next opportunity to perform seems to produce the greatest growth in student work.
• Too Much Praise: Keeping the positive to negative ratio somewhat equal is important, but over-praising can also have a negative effect. While classroom praise has positive interpersonal and classroom management results, there is no research to show that it considerably improves student achievement.  Research on growth mindset has shown that frequently praising students for being intelligent or clever on simple tasks has the side-consequence of causing ability to be perceived by the student as a limited resource.   When more complex tasks are presented, students are more likely to perceive themselves as “not smart enough”.  Keeping feedback tied to the learner objective and not emphasizing natural ability has shown the best results.
• The Video Game Comparison: Feedback attempts to move students from their current level of knowledge/skill to a desired objective.  Oddly enough, video games do a great job at this by clearly showing the player what success will look like. Video games are programmed to monitor player performance and pick up next time where the player left off.  The game then provides a new challenge that is just out of reach of the current state, combined with extensive “feedback” in order to get the player to the next level. What we don’t want is for the classroom to look the video game without the appropriate feedback.  Students must know what success (i.e. the next level ) will look like for them to move forward, so clear goals and success criteria are crucial.

Being mindful of HOW we provide feedback to students is just as important as the feedback itself.  By maintaining a balance between the student work in question with the next opportunity, and by being intentional to balance the positive with the negative, feedback can be framed in such a way that students take it, use it and really show you what they can do.

Hattie, J. (2014). Visible learning and the science of how we learn. New York, NY: Routledge

Recommended Resource for Differentiating Instruction
By Curtis Cunningham, SPS Professional Learning Specialist
 
   If you are looking for a good resource to support your efforts in differentiating instruction we recommend Fair Isn’t Always Equal by Rick Wormeli.  Differentiating instruction can seem like a daunting task, especially when the teacher considers how differentiation will effect grading and assessment.  Wormeli addresses topics such as: incorporating effort, attendance, and behavior into academic grades, grading homework, recording zero for missing assignments, allowing students to redo assignments and assessments.
   Wormeli is a frequent presenter on the topic of assessment and grading.  He also holds the distinction of National Board Certified teacher and he is a columnist for Middle Ground magazine.  His entertaining, yet thought-provoking writing style makes Fair Isn’t Always Equal a must read for any teacher intent on differentiating instruction. 

Teaching with Passion and Purpose
by Alma Pettenger, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

   Teaching provides us with the unique opportunity to inspire, guide, and help students find their purpose.  For me, teaching is more than just a job; it is a privilege which bears much responsibility.  How did you decide to become a teacher? What influences in your life brought you to where you are today?  What keeps you going even after the tough days? As you have this inner dialogue, you might want to think about what purpose means.  By definition, purpose is knowing the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.  A teacher who has found true purpose in what he does is a gift to students.
   I recently had an experience that led me to this state of reflection about teaching with passion and purpose. What I thought would be a routine coaching conversation with one of my STEP UP Year Two teachers turned out to be an inspirational and highly motivational experience for me.  As I started to lead this young teacher into a coaching conversation, a conversation in which the goal was to support and stimulate his thinking, the roles became reversed, and I found my thinking being supported and challenged. 
   Austin Kendrick, a PE and Health Teacher at Parkview High School, is a cancer survivor who has truly found his purpose in life.  He believes that his life experiences and some very influential people around him have prepared him for his role as a teacher. 
   I invite you to follow this link to listen to Austin as he shares his story.

Finding Balance in the Busyness
by Alma Pettenger, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

   Teaching is one of the most rewarding professions, but at the same time it is one of the most demanding.  If we do not find balance, we run the risk of burning out.  Establishing and adhering to some work management guidelines can help us as we wrap up the semester and head into spring.

Do not reinvent the wheel. See what already exists and tweak it to fit your goals. When people ask me about where I get my ideas, many times I honestly don’t remember.  But, what I do know is that more than likely, I didn’t create it from scratch.

Create a file management system that works for you.  How can you find those amazing lessons or activities for next semester or next year?  For some it will be an electronic file, for others it will be a 3-ring binder or filing cabinet.  Choose an organization method that works for you. 

Collaborate.  We might think we just don’t have time to get together with other teachers to bounce ideas off each other, but it is time well spent! It is front loading today that will save us time tomorrow.  By collaborating, teachers can divide and conquer those upcoming projects, units, or lessons.

Keep yourself healthy.  According to a 2012 study by Careerbuilder.com., teaching is one of the careers among those most likely to report gaining weight, and the holidays certainly don’t help! Allow time to exercise and eat right. 

Start a Smile File.  Create a file folder of “pick-me-uppers.”  These are meaningful gestures students, parents, administrators, and colleagues give you that demonstrate appreciation.  They may be pictures, cards, notes, etc. 

Learn the power of no.  Often, we are guilty of biting off more than we can chew because we want to be helpful and be perceived as team players.  Kindly decline when you know you are over-extending yourself.  This allows you to focus on what you have already committed to and still have time for you.

Don't sweat the small stuff.  No matter how prepared you are, things sometimes don't go as planned. Learn from it and move on. 

Steer clear of negative attitudes.  Our job is challenging enough; don't allow the negative attitude of others to bog you down. A negative attitude is like a virus that can spread quickly.

Budget your time.  Time is like cash.  We have to make plans for how to spend it, or it vanishes into thin air and we have nothing to show for it! Minimize interruptions and plan ahead for what you will accomplish and when.  How you manage your time can make the difference between taking work home and going home work-free.

Keep your focus.  Perhaps this is the most important tip I can give you.  Remember why you became a teacher in the first place.  Maintaining that sense of purpose is highly motivating and it helps us realize that our work is worthwhile.

Tis the Season for Stress!
by Marcia Hansen, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

   The weeks before the winter break can be very challenging for teachers.  Students sometimes experience a slump. Their focus may be off.  There seems to be more talking, less working.  Blame it on extra sugar, heightened excitement, or less sleep due to attending all the festivities that come with this season, but whatever the reason… it drives teachers’ stress level up!
   Rick Smith, author of Conscious Classroom Management, writes about the power of procedures.  He equates procedures to a train track that moves a train -- the content that you teach.  His advice is to determine which procedures are needed, teach them, practice them, reinforce them and periodically review them. 
   This is a good time of the year to think about classroom procedures again.  Do your procedures still meet your instructional needs; are more needed or should you drop some?  Are your students following your procedures or do they need to be reinforced?  Are you being consistent in using procedures?  This review of procedures could produce the gift of “normal” before and after the Holiday Break.

The Gift of TIME
by Sarah Logan, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

      If you find yourself in a place where your to-do list seems to be getting longer and longer by the second, take heart. You are in good company! Between responsibilities in wrapping up the 1^st semester of the school year and the busyness of the holiday season, you just might be feeling like you hardly have time to catch your breath. Yet, pausing to reflect may be exactly the gift you most need to give yourself.
     It’s been said that we learn from experience, but that’s not entirely true. We learn from processing our experience. As you reflect on your school year to this point, allow yourself the gift of TIME:

T: Take a fresh look.
Consider your year from other perspectives.
How might the students describe their semester? What might a visitor to your classroom notice?

I:  Interview yourself.
Explore the thinking behind decisions you’ve made and the impact they’ve had.
How have you chosen strategies and approaches for working with this group of students? What patterns or trends are emerging?

M: Move forward.
Apply what you’ve discovered to planning for the future.
What are you noticing that will guide your work next semester? When specifically might you have an opportunity to put it into action?

E: Enlist support.
Identify available options for assisting you in applying your learning.
What resources might you need? How will you know you’re successful in implementing your learning?

The gift of TIME is truly is a gift for all seasons—one that honors you for all the time you spend giving to others! Take the time to treat yourself soon!

Letting the “Real Me” Stand Out for Students
by Debbie Yonke, Coordinator, Quality Assurance in Learning

   In Visible Learning For Teachers, Hattie shares research regarding the roles of peers and social support.   Not only is it important for students to have friends at school, but positive peer relations and classroom climate can actually impact learning.  “Peers can influence learning by helping, tutoring, providing friendship, giving feedback, and making class and school a place to which students want to come each day” (Wilkinson, Parr, Fung, Hattie, & Townsend, 2002 as quoted by Hattie, p. 79).   This can look many different ways in our classrooms, but recently we saw an example of allowing peers to have a positive influence at Reed Academy in counselor,  Jill Wilson’s 6^th grade study skills classroom. 
   If you look closely at the picture below, you will notice that each student is posed in front of the white board.  As each student sat in the “hot seat,” their peers came up and wrote positive character traits all around them and then the picture was captured.  Jill shared that her goal in this activity was to activate the students’ thinking on what character traits they would want to be known or remembered for.  She really wanted the students to let go of negative labels and let the “Real Me” stand out.  This activity was the last of several lessons that allowed students to focus on not only their own positive character traits and strengths, but those of others.  Thanks for allowing us to share this, Jill!