Better Learning

#17-How can I better the feedback/response process?

This week I am going to discuss one of the original “Better Building” questions I posed from the Better Builder series back in August. Twenty-six years in, I am still seeking my authentic answer to this key question about learning and teaching. I am still seeking to make the feedback/response process a sacred ritual in the classroom, that place (that sweet spot) of teaching and learning where growth happens. This is how I explain that place to my kids.

I haven’t taught you anything. Yet. I have assigned a tASK. I have provided some direction. I have given a few examples. But, really, I haven’t done what I am here to do: respond to you. In short, if I haven’t given you feedback, I haven’t supported your growth. You can’t grow without the necessary nutrients found only in feedback. So, my friends, that is the table where we must meet to eat.

Second only to Smiles and Frowns, bettering the feedback/response process is the most important work I do. As such, most of what I do is for Feedback’s sake (for “F’s” sake). And the majority of that “most” is finding ways to get kids to meet me there, so we can continue there. And that begins with an invitation.

.7

What is .7 in Skyward?

I have posed this prompt to my kiddos all week. Their response:

It’s an invitation.

It’s not a 70%. It’s not a C. It’s an invitation to continue based on the feedback I have provided. It’s a signal that there’s still learning on the table; there’s still grub for growth.

Of course, though their responses are becoming rote, it will take some time for them to settle in to this space that I am trying to create for them–for us. They first heard about it in the Learning Experiences document I shared with them on day one.

Okay, some truth. Yes, I suppose–technically–it does register as a 70% C in Skyward, but I am trying to change that, too. Well, at least the mindset. Thus, the mantra.

Skyward is not my grade book. It is a tool for communicating learning

One of the major obstacles to getting kids (and parents–and educators) to think differently about learning is to get them to think differently about grading. And for that we have to sit at a different table with different food, the only food we need: feedback.

And so, this is how I attempt to set the table for my kids as I seek to better the feedback/response process in our shared experience. It’s where have to get to in our work, for it is our work.

Happy Saturday, all. Hope you are well. See ya next week.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.