I, Joy Kirr, am a middle school teacher, author, and speaker. My 7th grade ELA (English Language Arts) classes are working to improve their lives through student-directed learning - without marks throughout the year. This is a log of my learning experiences... Want to have me speak with your staff or facilitate a workshop? Here is my PORTFOLIO.
My blog's name is due to me wanting to share my own learning with others. When I was on Twitter, I would share the link with educators. It got a lot of visits, some comments, some questions, and we kept the conversations going. Sometimes I would write to document what I've learned or to document my thoughts or to document a great or terrible day - mostly about education. "My Own Genius Hour" meant my own learning - about teaching and life - a place to reflect publicly.
I was once again inspired to write by the #SOL - Slice of Life - community when the new year rolled around. I am a huge reader, but I could use the nudge to write. Now that we're more than half-way through May (OMG my MIND this past week!!) March, and many #SOL writers are writing every day for the March challenge, I knew I wouldn't keep up. Many (most?) in this community are retired teachers who've been doing the #SOL on Tuesdays for years. It's not my jam right now.
So instead, I collected photos of what I wanted to write about for Tuesdays. Stories from my time with Duolingo and how it helps me learn and also frustrates me with its challenges/games/XPs... The flowers popping up way too early... State testing and how it absolutely sucks the life out of everyone...
My problem today is that those are not authentic writing for me. I don't want to write just because it's Tuesday or just because others are sharing their writing on Tuesdays. I don't want to take on someone else's challenge - I have enough challenges right now at work and at home.
I want to write when it's important to me. Some days I want to write in my gratitude journal. Some days I want to write to my "inner thoughts" (inspired by the book Tiny Beautiful Things) in my "daily chirp" journal. Some days I want to write lists. And some days I want to document things here (like this thinking) or share ideas here (for teachers who are still following this blog even if I can't tweet it out anymore). I may even have a student reading these posts, and I'd like that young writer to know I'm human. :)
So today... I suppose I'm writing a goodbye letter of sorts - to the #SOL crew. I won't post it in their comments section, because they've got lots of other great posts they can read through, enjoy, and comment on. This post is to document. This post is for my own reflection. My learning journey - which is what "My Own Genius Hour" means to me.
My learning changes throughout the years, thankfully, so I may come back to that community - or find another one - or maybe even an in-person one once I retire. As long as this blog truly represents me as a person, I'll continue using it as one of my writing avenues.
After providing video feedback on myriad pieces of writing from my seventh graders, I was inspired to write this post. I'd read Matthew Johnson's post titled, "What Story Does Your Feedback Tell?" a few days ago, and thought now would be the perfect time to share some feedback tips I've learned. Most of these tips, if not all, can be applied to more than writing pieces. Consider using these for artwork, posters, presentations, and anything you'd like students to try improve the next time.
As an ELA teacher who has also authored two published books, I take providing feedback on student writing very seriously. I never liked writing until I started this blog and was able to write about whatever I wished. I remember all the red ink on my own papers, and I remember the lack of ink, as well, when a teacher simply put a letter grade at the top with a couple of words. ( From "Great job!" to "More thought needed.")
I remember when rubrics started becoming popular, and we had a heck of a time trying to make the words in each category become more and more objective. We even had some professional development time grading sample essays to help us become more objective. I remember on these days we'd give each sample a grade, write about one thing the student did well, and write one piece of feedback to help the student improve. Looking at other educators' ideas of feedback was very informative, and I found these days useful, even if they were exhausting.
I've since read a few books that have helped me to provide better and better feedback, even if I still have room to grow:
Since I am the curator of the Feedback in Lieu of Grades LiveBinder, I've also soaked up the articles and blog posts on this tab titled "How to Give Feedback." Today we use all kinds of colored ink, yet as soon as we attach a grade to the piece, all our work on the feedback is often ignored. This, too, has come into play in how feedback is received by students, so the most important feedback is provided BEFORE students turn in the work to us. Conferring one-on-one is my favorite way to do this.
When students turn in completed work, I use the following tips...
Allow for multiple revisions. No, I cannot accept revisions the day before grades are due. I can, however, accept revisions one after another until I create a cut-off date. I've learned to provide time in class for students to revise, and I've learned to give them a time frame, as well. When they used to turn in a revised piece that was a month old only because they were worried about their grade, I would become so frustrated. I now say (in my recorded feedback), "Revise by (insert date here), or your revisions will be too far removed from when you wrote your original."
Record your feedback when you can. I used to use the free version of Screen-Cast-O-Matic. This year I splurged and paid for Loom. (The decision is explained in this post.) Video or screencasted feedback helps my students feel as if I'm sitting right next to them. They can hear the inflection in my voice, hear my smiles and laughter and thinking, and hear when I'm confused. With using a picture-in-picture, they can see me, as well, and knowing this actually helps me keep the feedback more positive. I focus more on next steps, rather than what went wrong.
Keep your feedback short and sweet. If using video feedback, definitely keep it under five minutes per child or piece of writing. If the writing is much longer, either read it ahead of time or only read the portion you can read on screen.
If all students have longer pieces of writing, ask them ahead of time to highlight the section they'd like for you to look at. This way, you're either looking at their best work or the work they would like help with.
First, share how proud you are of what they've done. Share the positives - where you can hear their voice come through, where they've used a technique practiced in class, the strong start they had (yes - even if you told the class exactly how to begin), a literary element they implemented... anything you see that shows a skill they've used.
Share ONE thing students COULD improve upon, if they so desire. (See below for phrases that promote ownership.) This may be a grammar skill that they can work on throughout the piece. This may be giving more background information so readers can understand the evidence they used. This may be the introduction or the conclusion. It will be tempting to ask them to revise MANY aspects of their writing, but in my experience, they'll only edit one item anyway. Since you're providing opportunities for students to revise their writing, you and the student can tackle one issue at a time. The research I've read shows that students learn each skill better in this fashion.
Have a system for letting students know you provided feedback and for students to let YOU know they've revised and are ready for more feedback.
If you can, do NOT put the grade on the writing until all feedback and revisions have been completed. For my own notes, I jot down where I believe students are on the rubric(s) I've shared with them, but I try my hardest to not tell them until they decide to stop revising. (Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam's research titled "Inside the Black Box" persuaded me to update this practice, and my own observations in 2016 settled it once and for all for me.)
Ever since I started writing what I've wanted to write (instead of "back in the day" when teachers chose what I wrote), I've become more defensive about my writing. Much (real) writing is personal. Writers can get offended if someone tells them something looks "wrong" or could be said "in a different way." Since becoming a writer of my own blog, I've learned that I don't have to conform to anyone else's way of writing. It's MINE. If I had a teacher now who told me how to "fix" my writing, I may simply quit. I don't want to be the reason my students stop writing. I want to be the one to help them put strategies in place to improve.Therefore, I've learned how to approach what they could improve upon with certain phrases. For example, if a student's grammar is horrendous, I may say, "As a reader, I get distracted with your choice to not use our rules of grammar here, and it makes me either not understand what you're saying, or not want to continue reading. If you decided to capitalize names and spell words correctly, your message would come through clearer to your readers."
Phrases I use often that provide choice and ownership of their writing:
"What would happen if you..." (ex: ...added more evidence here...)
"You may want to think about..." (ex: ...moving this piece over here...)
"You might want to consider..." (ex: ...getting rid of this sentence because it distracts or refutes...)
"Your readers might appreciate..." (ex: ...if you elaborated more here...)
Sometimes, after all this, I am exhausted. I hit "stop recording" on a video with one particular tough piece of writing, and my smile falls. I sigh. I've figured out that my students respond to more positive growth statements, so I keep them up for the video, and then I copy the link to the video, paste it into the online grade book for them to watch, and move on to the next child. I don't linger on the myriad issues we need to address until it's time to teach in front of them once again. In essence, my "red pen" isn't flying all over the page - my voice reflects that of hope and encouragement.
I'd written about using Explain Everything to provide feedback back in 2016. I then started using Screencast-O-Matic for most of my feedback, as we are now a 1:1 Chromebook school. I had in my notes this year to try Loom, a Chrome extension. (Thank you to whomever suggested it!) I'm a large proponent of FREE tools, so I'm going to share today how Loom compares to Screencast-O-Matic.
And here's how I add the link to the document students are working on - it's just like how I added the Screencast-O-Matic YouTube links:
Screencast-O-Matic
free (up to 15 min)
easy to find on my computer
can be used on both home and school MacBooks
can edit the name of the video
captures student writing and my mouse or highlights as I read it aloud and provide feedback
can share the video with a single link
can embed the video if you'd like
students can respond
Not the best:
need to set the screen size
uploading to YouTube takes almost the same amount of time as recording the video
when I upload to YouTube, I need to make sure it says "unlisted," so only those with the link can view it (me, student, parent)
I need to go to and look up on YouTube who's viewed their feedback
Better than Loom:
can choose exactly what to screencast - can size it to where you want it
can see the timer
Loom
free trial of Pro, and there's also a free version (up to ?? min)
easy to find as a Chrome extension
can be used on both home and school MacBooks
can edit the name of the video
captures student writing and my mouse or highlights as I read it aloud and provide feedback
my picture is in the bottom left - I hear students take feedback more seriously when they can see you
captures student writing and my mouse or highlights as I read it aloud and provide feedback
can share the video with a single link
can embed the video if you'd like
students can respond (right in the video? I'm not sure yet)
Not the best:
no embedded timer - I need to look at the clock or set a stopwatch
Better than Screencast-O-Matic:
no upload time - it's instantly ready
can simply hit "record current tab" instead of setting the screen size
I can be alerted when someone views it - if I choose to not be alerted by email, I can easily see in the extension who's viewed their video
fun reminders to smile pop up for a second when you open it (see examples here):
It wasn't until I'd completed my PRO trial, that I saw the limitations of the free version of Loom... Here are the full pricing details: www.loom.com/pricing
I currently have just under 70 students, so we need access to more than the last 25 videos.
The debate in my head was a quick one. I'm going for it. The time I save uploading the videos is worth the $96 in my opinion. Others will think differently, especially if they don't give video feedback on students' writing. Since my students value the video feedback (only four this year said they'd prefer the comments only on their documents), I'm going to stick with this for the long run. I think the personal touch and the instant uploading time is worth it.
I decided last night, as I was soaking up Jack Andraka's Breakthrough, that I need to read and share more nonfiction with my students this year. I also finished Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder this week. I posted it on instagram, and one of my former students said she read it for a class her senior year. That one makes me simply want to do MORE to become a better person.
With Jack's book (I'm going to finish in two days), it's personal.
A dear friend of my husband was diagnosed (early, she says) in June with pancreatic cancer. A dear friend of my own's father passed from this terrible disease. I didn't really know about this type of cancer until June last year, and now I fear for our friend.
I've heard of Jack Andraka, and knew he did something remarkable with science, and I'd probably even heard it was for early detection of pancreatic cancer, but at that point, I simply didn't care enough to read it. It wasn't personal for me.
His writing is personal. Jack's close family friend he called an uncle passed away from pancreatic cancer. His work is personal. He spent months of his freshman year working towards this ONE thing. My reading became personal as soon as I stepped into this book. It wasn't simply "something on my to-read list" anymore.
There's so much more to say about this book (that I now need to purchase for the classroom), but I'm not here to write about the book. I'm here to explore - again - that this is how I'd love for school to be. I'm in the perfect position - ELA class - where we can read and write like crazy. I truly wish we could make it more personal for students - reading and writing MOST days about what we believe is important.
Some of my seventh graders need more guidance, I know. Some of them seem apathetic about so many issues; I get it. As I provide short video feedback on our last bit of teacher-directed writing however, I am catching some students who have the skills and asking them to move FORWARD. To not take my direction, but use the same skills to write about what THEY deem important. Great - you can tell me who the dynamic character is in your book and back it up with evidence and then explain it all clearly? Then NEXT time, write about a PERSON you know that is dynamic, and provide the evidence and explain. Better yet - write about something you want DONE - find your audience - and write to THEM about what you think needs to be done, and then share your evidence and your WHY. Make it personal. Do it because it's right and good for you and your life, or the lives of others.
What other nonfiction books are out there for our younger adolescent students? I need more nonfiction books that will get my middle schoolers (some of whom still think reading is not for them) feeling, thinking, and responding. Responding through writing, projects, actions... More along what I wanted our genius hour to be. More along the lines of Erin Olson's idea of - "Read. Be inspired. Do something inspiring."
Please add your favorites in the comments below - and tag another reader with this post so I may easily curate a bunch and pay for them when I can. Please share how you use nonfiction - and make it personal - for our students. Thank you!
Last Friday, my coworker and I thought it would be a great idea for our students to write in their reader's notebook a letter to the author of the book they're reading. Once I said it aloud to students, I immediately added, "And let's find the authors on Twitter and share your letter with them!"
My first class was a bit hesitant, but many students in my second and third classes took me up on the offer. We sent a total of __ letters into the Twitterverse (and one more via snail mail), and we received THREE email letters back, and SEVEN authors responded via Twitter! SUCCESS!
I just wanted to share with you the letters and responses here:
As a teacher who is going into her second year of only providing feedback instead marks, I NEED to do this more effectively. I also need to model effective feedback for my students, so they can provide better feedback to each other, as well. I learned so much that will help me with these goals from this resource-full book.
I did not expect to get so much more out of it... after all, I just spent a school year giving ONLY feedback! Since reading, however, I have created a contract for students if they need that scaffold to help prove their grade at the end of the quarter, I have collected so many great phrases and routines to use when providing feedback, I have added these three peer feedback protocols to the Feedback in Lieu of Grades LiveBinder (Patty said it was okay!), and I've made a commitment to include a few minutes for reflection in as many days as possible.
Here is one way I make notes - I make lists of what I want to go back to in the book. You'll notice some I've crossed off because I already tackled them, and some I still need to do (um, quite a few I still need to do)...
Here were some of the gems I shared (via Twitter):
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Now go digging and find your own gems in this jewel of a book!
I'm excited about next year because of how this year went... One class of mine gave themselves their final grade and grade-report comments each quarter, using proof from four categories. Here's what we did...
I was forthright with parents from the start. A letter went out the first week of school, and I updated parents with an email to our ELA class updates every two weeks.
First quarter, we created a chart so students can fill it in with proof they've collected.
We came up with myriad ways (and one central location) to prove our learning (this document is always changing).
I began a document with comments I could copy and paste into the online grading system, thanks to Mark Barnes' SE2R idea. These are brief and not perfected, by any means, and I'm excited to add more this next year.
We used a survey at midterm (which I've already edited for next year) for one check in.
We discussed "effort," and how much impact that should or should not have on grades. Our final decision was to keep effort out of the grade. If students were putting in the effort, they should get the grade. One of the quotes students liked - "Don't be upset with the results you didn't get from the work you didn't do."
I created sample examples of videos students could create to explain their grade.
Students shared videos with me explaining their grade while providing proof. For students who did not prepare, or who did not develop this skill of reflecting in this way, I met with them one-on-one to come up with a final grade.
First quarter was fairly successful, knowing all we didn't know!
Second Quarter, students in this class gave better feedback and quality boosters than my other classes. We also decided that the final pieces for proof did NOT have to be published. Students did not want their essays about Phineas Gage on their blogs - totally understandable. This is more fuel for making our writing more meaningful for students.
I began giving video feedback - very valuable. I've learned how to use Explain Everything and Screen-cast-ify efficiently as a result.
The first parent inquiry was about revisions - did her son HAVE to revise his writing? This was the catalyst for the Feedback Loop, which I actually think I need to throw out or totally revamp for next year. AUTHOR'S NOTE - Feedback Loop REVAMPED August 1, 2016:
I created a document (and they were on the board) of Independent Writing Prompts. One step toward making writing more meaningful for students...
I continued grading my students' work the rest of third and fourth quarter. Students were used to it, and we actually had fewer "assignments" fourth quarter due to testing, a three-day outdoor ed trip, reading The Outsiders Whole-Novels style, and presentations for Genius Hour.
All year, I felt like I was cheating my other classes who did not give themselves a grade at the end of each quarter. I have spent the first month of this summer excited that my other classes will be taking this trip with me this next school year!
Here's all the parent feedback received...
"I think that students have learned to reflect and improve more (w/teacher's help) minus the stress of 'grades.'"
"Twitter account was insightful."
"Small amount of homework is great."
"My son seems more interested in reading than recent years. If grading himself did that, then this approach was very successful."
"I don't know if it is luck or parent approach, that my children are, for the most part, self motivated to learn, or at least, do good in their classes. Especially ___ - she has always done a good job in school. I do like grades - I believe healthy competition for good grades is a motivation for kids (people) to raise their bar. We have a motto - Most of the time, the results reflect the effort. If tremendous effort is put forth, and child is still struggling, then intervention is needed. We don't mind As, Bs, and Cs, as long as effort is applied."
"When it comes to grading, while it is important, it's more important that the child is learning. Grades can be somewhat subjective so as long as the child is improving on the subject, being graded is secondary."
"Hopefully during the process the kids took more ownership of their results, they were always given a chance to correct, enhance or re-do - so if this happened grades should all be good."
"My attitude towards the grading process has changed with the introduction of a collaborative process between teacher and student. Much like a class with a more 'traditional' grading system, students were given ample feedback on assignments from the teacher. What made this class unique, however, is that students were also given a sense of ownership in this process. It was no longer a one-way communication of grade from the teacher, but the process became a tool for ongoing engagement between the teacher and student. I would like to thank you, Mrs. Kirr, for covering not only the classics, but encouraging students to explore their individual interests. It is very apparent to us as parents that you love to teach and that you are expanding 'traditional' boundaries in an effort to encourage reading, critical thinking, and self-reflection. Thanks also to the administrators at Thomas and District 25 for supporting these new learning methods. We are grateful that ___ had the opportunity to participate in this process."
"_____(Child) had an outstanding year in your class. He was quite uncomfortable at the process of your grading system and the responsibility on his part at the start. He shared his fears about this with me. But as the year progressed, he fully was invested and loved how the class and grading system was run. He is very independent with the process and never complains. He has grown from all the opportunities to be a leader and the responsibility that was offered throughout the year. I believe _____ enjoyed the process and understood that it's not just about grades. Your updates, communication and suggestions/insights to the parents are top notch. I learned so much from what you shared to us. Thank you! Keep doing what you are doing!
Here's what I've already changed...
Next year we'll have THREE categories to prove - reading comprehension, writing, and grammar. I have changed the language to say "grammar" instead of "language usage" (from the CCSS) to make that section clearer to students. I have also taken out the "speaking and listening" portion, as most students proved they were "listening," and some students still never speak in class. I've read some information about introverts and reflected on my own 7th grade year when I never spoke in class. Although I will continue to encourage each student to speak up (and give myriad opportunities, of course!) and add to our class culture, I will not ask students to include this in their grade. Sometimes they over-inflated this portion of their grade, and sometimes they seemed embarrassed that they had not participated vocally. I'll try it out this way for this coming year. I will still keep track of who participates / contributes through speaking, just in case some students may want to use that to tip their grade one way or another.
The new feedback loop in my head just says - write, get feedback from a peer, revise, get feedback from a peer, revise, turn in to teacher for feedback, revise, etc... I'll add it here when I complete this version.
I will not put a "NI, D, P, or M" (Needs Improvement, Developing, Proficient, Mastery) on student work, rubrics, or the online gradebook. I will continue to keep these notes in my own paper gradebook, just in case students need guidance giving themselves their final grades.
Effort... A gray area. I have decided to keep track of many aspects of student behavior, including but not limited to being prepared for class, and speaking up with contributions in class. These will only come into play in regards to students' grades if they bring it up on an individual basis. We'll address effort at that point.
Our plans for genius hour (to be renamed?!) will be moved to the end of each quarter, as I will now be involved in one-on-one conversations about grades with EACH student at the end of each quarter. This past year, I only needed to meet with a few students. Next year, I plan to meet with all of them, even if they choose to create a video ahead of time. I found this time to be very valuable.
We'll have a "plus/delta" chart up in the room every day for students to add what went well and suggestions for change.
Here's what I still want to do...
Make every "assignment" relevant to the world - something students can put on their blogs for the world to see. Since many students do not come up with writing on their own, I need to create more writing options for them throughout the year. I am currently reading Kelly Gallagher's In the Best Interest of Students: Staying true to what works in the ELA classroom. I'm hoping for more writing workshops and fewer larger assigned pieces of writing.
Give feedback in chunks - which means not one assignment coming in to me from all students at the same time. A year-long project would be great for this. Again... another idea from Mark Barnes in ROLE Reversal... I also need to provide students with more time to give feedback to each other! I'm collecting resources here to figure out how to best use our time.
Get my coworkers on board. However, I can empathize with why they don't want to do this. I am also tired of hitting my head against brick walls. So I will continue to speak of our successes and tribulations, but getting other staff on board right now is not a priority of mine, especially those not within our ELA circles.
Continue to keep tabs with the language I use with students, other teachers, and parents. I need to make sure they know I'm most interested in how students use feedback for reflection and revision in all four areas of ELA - reading, writing, grammar, and speaking.
Phew! What a glorious mess! Please comment with your favorite student-to-student feedback tool, and add any hints or advice or words that show we are in the same boat! Or... please challenge these ideas, as I, personally, learn best when my ideas are challenged!!
I decided to try giving video feedback for one small piece of writing my students did on notebook paper. We only had 10 minutes to write, and the prompt was to explain their "escape," whether it be a place or an action. I let the idea of video feedback stew in my mind, as I only had twelve to look through this weekend, and then decided to use the Explain Everything app. I could draw right on their work, and then could share a private video with each student.
After a few unsuccessful attempts (and successful mishaps), I decided I needed to keep track of the process I'll go through the next time.
Steps:
1. Take photos of all the writing.
(No need to crop them at this time - you can do that once they're on the app.)
2. Take photo(s) of any rubric(s) you intend to use.
3. Create a document you can toggle to on the iPad. This will be where you will house all of the private links to the feedback you're giving.
4. Open the Explain Everything app.
5. Put a photo of the student's writing on the first slide, cropping when you upload it.
6. Add a slide.
7. Put a photo of the rubric(s) you're using on this slide, cropping when you upload.
8. Optional - create two more slides - exactly the same, just in case you'd like to add something else to your dialogue about the students' writing, or more to the rubric. This is also good if you're working with two standards you'd like to look at separately.
9. Have something else ready that you'd like to be doing while each video is uploading. The upload time depends on how long the piece is, and how long your dialogue is. Average for the few I did today was 7.6 minutes each - for ten minutes of student writing in class. Tip: You could save them all as different names and upload them all after you're done giving feedback, but I didn't want to use the space on my account or on the iPad if I could help it. I'm not sure how much space I have on my Explain Everything account, and I didn't want to reach the end and then pay for more space with this app.
10. If your student's last name is on any photo you've taken, use the pencil tool to cover it.
11. Begin recording - just be normal.
12. Save the recording.
I named it by the title of the piece or assignment, and then added the child's name.
13. Upload the video to YouTube, marking it "unlisted."
14. When it is done uploading, copy the link.
15. Open the document you have for students' links, and add this student's name and the private link.
16. When you are finished uploading, delete all of the slides, and start over. (This is much more efficient than deleting the audio, your mark ups, and the photos of student work.)
17. Begin at step 5 again. You will be able to rename this project with this new student's name when you upload it to YouTube.
Here is an example of one that was turned in with no name:
Why did I choose Explain Everything?
1. I think it's important to use tools I already like when I'm trying something new.
2. I am very familiar with this app, and wanted to see how it would work for this piece.
3. Student writing was WRITTEN, not done digitally, so Google Doc commenting wouldn't work.
4. I wanted to circle and underline and highlight their words.
What worked:
1. I became more efficient as I went along - with the app, and also with my feedback.
2. I became more precise in using words that focused solely on the skills on which I was giving feedback.
3. I did NOT take the time to go back and hear what I said. If it was a one-on-one conference with students, I would not have that luxury, so I didn't use precious time to go back and re-record.
4. I was personal with students... I let them know that I realized this was only a 10 minute writing prompt. I thanked them for sharing them aloud (if they did so in class). I remarked about their "escape," and thanked them for sharing it with me. I encouraged some to put this piece of writing on their blogs.
What the students said: My question: What did you think of it vs. Google Doc comments?
- "A little better."
- "Once you heard yourself say something, you thought of something else, so you had more comments."
- "It wasn't bad."
- "Gave some good advice."
- "The highlighting, in my opinion, was a little excessive."
- "I think it was better, because you underlined and circled certain words that were good."
- "It was a lot, but it wasn't too much."
- "It gave some feedback, and helpful advice."
- "It took a long time." (5 min)
- "It felt longer, but you also explained more. It explained your train of thought, so I knew what I should do. You were talking out loud, so I could hear what you were thinking about each thing while you were reading it."
Update 11/5/18 - Check out how Andrew Burnett, math teacher, provides video feedback HERE.
[Child] and I are having disagreements concerning what is expected of him when it comes to your class assignments that he has initially completed but they have been returned to him stating they need correction or revision (especially when this is communicated over Edline). Would you mind please stating in an email (so I may share it with [child] and so the three of us are clear and “on the same page with the same information”) what you expect of [child] with regard to making corrections and revisions on his papers, even though you have already clearly stated on his 1st quarter report card the following, “Needs to work on correcting papers below 70%”?[Side note from me/Joy - he gave HIMSELF that comment on his report card...]
--> My Students... Last quarter, in their video reflections, they said they revised their written work "and did much better," but never showed it to me again for more feedback.
Student written work can be revised multiple times in our ELA classes. It can be revised for writing skills (claim, evidence, reasoning OR focus and showing), or for language usage (grammar and conventions). I needed something to clear up the revision process for writing or language usage. It needs to be clear for students and parents.
So... after much writing, rewriting, asking Hubby to read it as a parent, discussing, rewriting... we (yes, Hubby and I) figured out a picture would work much better. A FLOW CHART! After a quick Google search, I found a very basic app - PureFlow. As luck would have it, it's ALREADY ON MY SCHOOL-ISSUED IPAD! After more sketching, re-sketching, resizing, moving arrows, etc.... here is the final (ahem - for NOW) product:
Note: "Proficient" in the grade book (in our 7th grade ELA classes at our school) = 90%.
