Can I be that little bit better at.....changing the game?

Change is difficult.  It's been a running theme throughout this blog that there was a stage in my career back in 2009 where I begun to realise that what I was doing in the classroom probably wasn't as effective as it could have been.  Activities were designed before the learning or outcomes were planned.  Questions were machine gunned around the room without any care or consideration.  Feedback did little to benefit anyone but looked good on book trawls.  Differentiation became a logistical observer tick box nightmare and dented our photocopying budget.  The problem is though, as a teacher, it is very easy to fall into a routine without realising you've got there.  I had all the best intentions in the world to become the best I could be, but after a few years habits take shape.  At the 2012 SSAT conference Dylan Wiliam highlighted this issue by saying:

"Currently all teachers slow, and most actually stop, improving after two or three years in the classroom"

His point was that the environment is so challenging when we start teaching that we are forced to improve.  After we sort classroom routines and management strategies our progression begins to plateau and we can sometimes simply coast.  He stresses that it takes ten years of deliberate practice to develop expertise in our job.  This may be the case but ten years of constant refinement and improvement can be a difficult thing to keep on top of with all of the other tasks that make up the complex job of a teacher.

Naturally then we begin to develop habits.  Many of them are effective in the classroom and define who we are a teachers.  Unfortunately, there are habits that could do with refining or tweaking if we are to stay at the top of our game.  The thing is though, habits are tough to break.  To the annoyance of my wife I bite my nails.  It isn't the worst habit in the world but after a bit of reflection (or nagging) I consciously make an effort to reduce it.  In fact when I catch myself doing it I make the decision to stop.  However, after the two years that Wiliam talks about, do we realise the bad habits that we fall into and can we change them?  In his 2014 white paper 'Optimizing Talent: Closing Educational and Social Mobility Gaps Worldwide', Wiliam goes on to talk about the difficulty in changing habits:

What isn't required is an overhaul of our teaching.  We don't need to scrap everything we do and reinvent the way we approach lessons.  Not only is that unrealistic, but it is time consuming, incredibly difficult and hard.  Instead we need to be more pragmatic and identify key areas and work on them.  On the back of a number of low medal returns in track cycling, Team GB/British Cycling didn't throw the programme out of the window and start from scratch.  Instead they decided to focus on a few key principles.  One of these being that they needed to know more about their opponents than their opponents knew about themselves.  After the Athens games they went to every World Cup and World Championships and videoed the opposition and built a massive database which they used to their advantage.  It's so simple when you think about it.  So how can this apply to us in teaching?

"Great teaching cannot be achieved by following a recipe, but there are some clear pointers in the research to approaches that are most likely to be effective, and to others, sometimes quite popular, that are not.  Teachers need to understand why, when and how a particular approach is likely to enhance students' learning and be given time and support to embed it in their practice."

Professor Robert Coe from Durham University.

If we are going to change the game maybe we need to focus on core components of teaching and understand not just the what of them, but really get to grips with the why and the how.  Why is feedback effective?  How can we improve the way we approach planning?  Why is one particular questioning strategy better than another?  Asking questions like this, reflecting on what we do, and then refining our practice is a lot easier than starting from scratch.  So what have been the game changers in my own practice over the last few years?

Planning

Planning lessons is an area that has been widely talked about in education.  In fact I talked about it here.  How much is too much?  How much is too little?  Taxonomies or no taxonomies?  What makes up an outstanding lesson?  If there's one thing that has been highlighted over the years it is that planning is very personal to individual teachers.  One persons approach can be completely different to another and we shouldn't be trying too look for the 'magic formula' of what makes a perfect lesson.  In fact the varying contexts, school settings and students we work with means that a fantastically planned out lesson for one teacher may not work for another.  However, there are some key things that can make planning more effective and more efficient:

• Plan collaboratively - As Hattie states in Visible Learning, planning is at its most powerful when teachers work together.  Collaborating with others allows ideas to be bounced around, lessons to be critiqued, subject knowledge to be extended and strategies to be shared.  Although finding time may prove an issue, it is definitely worth the effort to do so.
• Keep it simple - Are we spending our time trying to teach too much and actually over-complicating things in lessons.  Trying to cram in every detail, every fact, followed by a starter, plenary and a wide range of activities can make a 60 minute lesson look very messy.  Try and refine what you teach by identifying the core principles and spend time developing students understanding of them.  What are the two or three things that must be learnt so that students can then access subsequent information.  How can we share that in a way that is accessible for our students?  Focus on this, slow down the time spent on them and remove the messiness.  
• Learning first, then activities - It can be very easy to think of a new activity to hook students in or grab their attention.  Sometimes in this instance though we focus too much on the activity and not on the learning.  What do you want students to learn?  Will doing this activity help do this or just distract them?  Will it clearly help them acquire the knowledge or skills they need?  Does it take you longer to resource the activity than students spend using it?  If so, maybe rethink what you're doing.  Keep it simple instead.
• Make them think - Daniel T. Willingham's states that memory is the residue of thought.  When designing lessons check how much real thinking is taking place.  Will students spend time really unpicking information, questioning its value and discussing their opinions.  Will they be spending time thinking about applying knowledge to real contexts or challenging problems?  
• Backward design - What is the end point or goal and plan backwards until you get there.  Such a simple yet powerful approach which ensures you identify the various stages and routes to an outcome.

Biggest impact:

• SOLO taxonomy - Love it or hate it, SOLO has really allowed me to unpick a topic and its various components before teaching it.  By doing so it has allowed me the ability to identify core knowledge that I need to spend time covering.  Used purely during the planning phase, it helps me pull apart a topic and refine what I will teach.  It helps ensure that I find larger context to fit the new knowledge in so students see where it fits into the bigger picture.  Mapping it out also lets me create a journey or story, which I don't have to stick to, but helps me explain what it is that I am teaching.

Feedback

Feedback is incredibly complex and the focus of two of my blog posts here and here.  In fact we know that if done well it can have a very high effect on students learning in the classroom.  Unfortunately we also know that if it is done badly it can have detrimental effects.  Feedback has also begun to be applied unreasonably in some schools with increasingly high expectations in marking policies.  It can make an enormous contribution to teacher workload and see little results on what really matters; student learning.  Instead of adding to the complicated world, here are my three game changers for feedback.

• Feedback should cause thinking - Taken from Dylan Wiliam, if I am going to provide feedback, it had better make students think hard about it.  Throw away comments and the token 'Really good work' are now replaced with a number of strategies such as feedback questions and critique.  Students need to have a change in thought about misconceptions and actively try to correct them if things are going to move forward.  Feedback also needs to help students identify what has gone wrong and what needs to be done to get better.  Making them think is proving to be a great way to make them do that.
• Feedback should be more work for the recipient than the donor - If you find yourself spending more time writing feedback than students do acting upon it, I'd rethink what you are doing.  Marking keys, burning questions, proof reading work before submission, critique and DIRT time are all ways in which students work harder than you and actually act upon the feedback you are giving.
• Feedback should close the gap from where students are and where they should be - Do our comments (or even peer comments) actually move the learning forward?  Do they help get students up to the level that they should be?  Would you understand your comments if you read them?  If there are no real misconceptions can we extend a student?

Biggest impact:

• Feedback questions - Such a simple strategy but ensures students engage with feedback.  When spotting misconceptions, put a number in the margin where the error took place.  At the end of the work, place a question which links to that number.  The question is a reworded variant of the original question, or simply a prompt question that forces the student to realise what mistake was made, and make them think about what the correct answer is.

Questioning

Leven and Long (1981) found that we ask around 300-400 questions a day whilst teaching.  That is a lot of opportunities to fully engage with students and assess their understanding (or effect their thinking).  It is therefore wise to reflect on how we approach questioning (as I did here and here).

• Provide thinking time - With the average gap between asking a question and asking for an answer being less than one second (Walsh and Sattes 2005), is it no surprise that sometimes the depth/quality of students answers isn't as good as it could be.  Providing wait time, or even using a strategy like snowball questions, jigsaw groups or think, pair, share can be very helpful in giving students the time to formulate a high quality answer.
• Inclusive questioning systems - Using strategies like Doug Lemov's 'Cold call' or the simple 'No Hands up (with hands up)' method ensures that every student in the class is included in the questioning that goes on.  Check whether you keep asking the same people for answers.  If you do, maybe try one of these methods (here).  Once the culture is formed and the environment is safe for students to contribute, the confidence in sharing answers increases (as does the learning).  Hinge questions are also a great way to get a whole class providing an answer.
• Modelling & constructing exceptional answers - Stepping away from 'I don't know' or poorly constructed answers is very important.  If this happens try modelling answers with students.  Scaffold their responses so they learn how to provide a well constructed answer.  Highlight exceptional answers and explain why.  Write key points from students answers on the board.  Use ABC questioning.  All of these methods help ensure students know what a good answer is and begin to share them themselves.

Biggest impact:

• 'No hands up (but with hands up) - Using a simple system where students initially refrain from putting their hands up to answer a question.  It has allowed me to create an environment where all students know a question could be posed to them at any point.  More students stay focused and answers have developed in quality over time.  I also allow hands up after a few answers are taken to allow those students who wish to add to the discussion the opportunity to do so.  From experience I would recommend staying away from random name generators or whizzy name selectors.  Although they allow questioning to be truly random, they slow down the lesson and become tiresome after a while.

Differentiation

The various abilities and needs of students in your lessons mean that we need to tailor how we teach each one.  It doesn't mean that differentiation needs to add to workload or contribute to an over-complicated lesson.  Differentiation should also be for the students we are providing it for, not observers or tick box scrutiny.  I spoke a lot about a sensible approach to differentiation here.

• Differentiation doesn't need to be visible or just for observers - Differentiation is for your students.  It shouldn't be about ticking off a component of a lesson and definitely shouldn't be pointed out purely for the benefit of an observer.  Differentiation is subtle, personal and ingrained in what we do.  It isn't a short term fix but a longer process of planning.
• Differentiation is teaching (and very responsive) - It's the conversations we have, the bespoke feedback we give, the way we differ questions between groups of students.  Differentiation is very responsive and happens regularly within the classroom without us even noticing.
• Aim high and support up - Scrap must/should/could outcomes and set high expectations for all.  Use models, examples of excellence and worked examples where possible.  Show students what they should be aiming for (and even surpassing) and help scaffold students up towards that outcome. Using graphic organisers to help map out ideas, or even dropping in a few A-level questions.  As Daniel T. Willingham said, we shouldn't make the tasks easier, instead we should make the thinking easier.

Biggest impact:

• Modelling and examples of excellence - Simply demonstrating exceptional work either through modelling or using examples (professional work, my own work or student work).  By doing so, students can see the high expectations that we are aiming for.  By modelling the process, individuals can also see the steps/thought process that was taken so that they can develop similar approaches (or not) themselves.  Modelling and using high quality examples has definitely become a prominent feature in my classroom.

Literacy

Literacy has such an importance in learning.  Establishing how to write effectively and communicate in a coherent manner is something we should all be teaching our students.  With the push for improved literacy in schools, there has become a view that 'literacy' in teaching has become a bolt on.  At it's worst it's become a tick box rather than a core component of our teaching.  I've talked extensively here about how we are all teachers of English and identified a few ways that we can help improve verbal or written communication in our lessons.  As a non-subject specialist, here are a few things that have worked well in my classroom:

• Demonstrate great writing - Showing students what great writing is has been an important element of my teaching.  Using articles or examples of excellence, students can see first hand what we are aiming for.  As a class we can deconstruct it, analyse it, critique it and discuss what has made that piece of writing great.  We can then begin to model and scaffold how the writer has created their work.  Spending time in lessons to talk through detail and process has allowed students the opportunity to learn from others and endeavor to implement similar ideas themselves.
• Build up vocabulary - Of the many ways I have found effective in improving students vocabulary it has been encouraging reading around my subject.  Many of my lessons include articles where students naturally pick up subject specific words which are used within context.  We read, we discuss and we take.  We can keep glossaries of new words and even use techniques like @TeacherTweaks vocabulary upgrade to get students to review their writing and improve its academic quality.  Spend time on words as they will benefit students writing in the long run.
• Build up confidence in structure - Showing students the fundamentals of sentence and paragraph structure is worth focusing on.  I am no English teacher so don't feel confident looking at the technicalities of writing.  What I can do though is use simple scaffolds and strategies to build a foundation with students before allowing them to be creative.  The use of Doug Lemov's 'At first glance' sentence starters helps students include a better quality of academic writing.  Using Helen Handford's 'Four Part Process' for writing excellent sentence that include definition and meaning have shown my students the fundamentals.  Even initially using an essay structure like I.D.E.A (Identify, Describe, Explain and Apply) helps get the basics right before removing the shackles and encouraging freedom.

Biggest impact:

• The four part process - A process borrowed from Lee Donaghy (who borrowed it from Helen Handford), it is a fantastic way to structure sentences with students.  It asks individuals to identify the thing being written about, add a verb, define it and then add meaning.  Like any other framework, the end result is a sentence that can be read as a complete entity.  The process isn't finished there but requires students to then go away and refine/redraft it further until as a class we have created an amazing sentence.  Co-planning, modelling and high expectations is key.

Making it stick

Remembering information so that students can use it over the long run is an important factor.  Helping students store information so that they can use it in future learning, discussions, debates, answers and exams has become increasingly more important.  The work of cognitive scientists and psychologist is extremely complex but fascinating.  Although we are still learning more about how the brain works every day, there have been some interesting strategies that could be extremely helpful within education (even if just as a starting point):

• Using desirable difficulties - Robert Bjork's term 'Desirable Difficulties' refers to a number of strategies including frequent low stakes/high impact testing, spacing out the retrieval of old information over time, and interleaving topics together.   The combination of these ensures that information is retrieved at numerous points throughout the learning process, and more importantly, over time.  Small mini tests that focus on old topics during starter activities, identifying where two topics link and spacing out when we revisit old parts of the curriculum are just some of the simple things we can embed into our curriculum, schemes or lessons.
• Helping working memory - There is still so much to learn about the brain, its functioning and capacity.  However, the discussions around working memory is one area that even though I am a complete novice in, is still an area I find is helpful to know when designing lessons.  With its limited capacity, do we make lessons to fussy or distract students from what we really want them to understand?  Does making them design a powerpoint about the 'principles of training' make them think more about what clip art/animation/font to use rather than really learning the content?  Do our explanations confuse students or overload their working memory?  Keep things clear, simple and focused has been my biggest lesson learnt.
• Make them think - Daniel T. Willingham talks about memory being the residue of thought.  So how much of my old approach to lessons really got students thinking, and thinking hard?  Check back through your planning.  Instead of copying a definition from a book, could they not answer an exam question which forces them to use the definition in context?
• Three is the magic number - Although in lower school settings, Nuthal's research of student learning in the classroom brought out a point that really stuck out for me.  In it he found that for a student to really learn, understand and remember a concept, they would need to encounter it on at least three different occasions when being taught it.  I now ensure that I check through my plans and groups of lessons to see if I am asking students to use this information in a variety of ways numerous times.

Biggest impact:

• Cumulative tests - We use cumulative tests in a variety of ways now.  All of our unit exams and assessments used to be block tests which just focused on what was just taught.  We now include questions from every topic so that students retrieve information from units that were taught 2 months, 6 months or even a year prior.  Although we have yet to see the full impact of this, students are more able to recall topics that would previously have been forgotten.

Data

Data can become one of those time consuming tasks that adds to our ever increasing workload if we are not careful.  For a long time a created spreadsheets and did very little with them.  Data can have great impact on teaching and learning if we use it correctly.  So what have I learnt about data?

• Are we collecting data just to say we have collected data? - If it's not going to change teaching and learning or help move your students learning forward then don't waste your time.  To often we keep records for 'others' to check.  Follow school guidelines, refine what you do and create a system that helps you make a real impact.
• Does data improve T&L? - Compare data with your colleagues and department.  Talk about what others are doing in certain topics to get great results.  Borrow ideas from them or co-plan.  Look at what areas your classes have struggled in and evaluate whether the way you taught it was the problem.  Make data be a part of your professional improvement.

Biggest impact:

• Data to make a difference - Still very much in its early days, we have begun to share data across the department.  Now at meetings we fully scrutinise key areas and talk about what we did, how we taught it, what exactly students got confused with (with exams and tests on the table in front of us to do so) and how we can teach it better next time.  It's about using data to make teaching and learning better, and to help improving us collaboratively.

And so?

I started the 'Can I be that little bit better...?' series as a way to talk openly about my professional development.  Cultures are changing, errors have been made, practice has improved and a lot of thinking has happened on my part.  There is still a long way to go and improvement can always be made.  What I have done though is decided that good teaching is more than just adding strategies to your game.  It's a lot more than that.  It's an understanding of our craft.  Part of this is knowing the fundamentals that underpin effective learning and consciously trying to refine them.  It's then about trying to be a little bit better at using them in the classroom.

Can I be that little bit better at.....understanding why I might be getting differentiation wrong

There are a few things in education that either scare me or confuse me.  One such thing is the term differentiation.  When I trained as a teacher we discussed the fact that students vary in ability in lessons.  This is common sense and something anyone would be able to tell you.  If I remember back to my own school days, every lesson I was in put me in a different academic standing.  Some lessons I flew in, some I struggled and some I just plodded along.  It's obvious then that students in lessons may require additional support, help or challenge.  Now this thought sits very comfortably with me.  But this sounds so simple.  Why then does the term 'differentiation' wake me up in the middle of the night with screams of terror?

A few years into my teaching something changed.  All of a sudden (and I'm not sure where it came from) people were talking about the fact that we need to be planning detailed lessons that highlighted and catered for every single student in the classroom.  The word flew in like a whirlwind and numerous strategies and ideas were left in its path.  Suggestions of designing a lesson numerous different ways, creating thirty different worksheets for thirty different students, changing the outcomes for the different abilities in your lesson, utilise students learning styles, that it should be clearly visible to an observer how I was differentiating for every student.....  It all got a bit overwhelming and if I'm totally honest, a little bit far fetched.  Luckily for me our school stayed pretty grounded and kept things in perspective.  But the worry of whether I was doing it right still lingered.

The differentiated worksheet

The reason that this particular face of differentiation bothers me is that it seems very unrealistic on teachers.  I am fully aware that the students in my classroom are very unique and learn in very different ways.  Experience tells me this.  I understand that some prefer different approaches and various forms of interactions.  I understand that students differ in the type of instruction they need.  They're not battery hens where a one size fits all system works.  But what for me felt like hysteria around differentiation a few years back gave me the feeling that what was expected wasn't for the students, but for other groups of people.  It felt like there was an expectation that every lesson had to be uniquely tailored to all students.  Now that takes time.  And I tried it for a while.  Believe me I did.  I spent hours on each lesson thinking how I could ensure every student was catered for.  But ultimately it became an impossible task and I felt fraudulent when I eventually only did this level of planning for things like observations.  So how could I manage this effectively and be realistic, and a bit more effective, in helping cater for students in my lessons?

As part of my renewed focus on my practice over the past few years I started to think of ways that I could scrap this view of differentiation, and simply look at ways that I could instead provide challenge for all.  In fact I'm not even sure what I'm talking about is differentiation anymore.  With it I began focusing on approach that would ultimately work for me and my students.  So what lessons have I learnt?

Differentiation isn't a short term fix
For me differentiation felt like a series of short term solutions.  'How could I adapt this part of teaching for this part of this lesson for this student on this day' became stuck in my head.  What I've learnt is that differentiation isn't about that at all.  It's not about one off strategies and doing things in isolation.  These can help but for me it's much better than that.  Differentiation is all of those tiny subtle things we do on a day to day basis.  The things we do naturally with the various students in response to their needs.  The hundreds of conversations, questions, discussions and pieces of advice.  These small moments that happen consistently on a daily basis makes a much bigger deal in the long run.

Sometimes you may not even know you're doing it
There are times in our profession, especially in observations, when we feel we have to make every action in our classroom visible.  But sometimes differentiation will happen and you may not even notice you've done it.  I worry that we expect differentiation to be the adapted worksheet or different task.  Something we know we've done and can point to in lessons.  Something we can physically hold on to and say 'here it is!'.  Or worse, something we go out of our way to make visible for others to observe it.  But differentiation may simply be the bespoke feedback you've given or the way you've demonstrated something differently to a student.  It's the way we respond to students needs.  It's helping students move forward.  As I've just said, it's the tiny conversations we have.  Those small things happen every single lesson and we may not even notice or recognise it.  That for me is differentiation.

Differentiation should be simple
Over complicating differentiation has been my downfall in the past.  It shouldn't take hours of my planning time but instead be part and parcel of what I do.  I don't need over complicated resources, activities or tasks.  Making things more efficient and manageable is a much better way to go.

More work isn't differentiation - is it?
There were times when all I did was provide more work for those who were flying which meant less work for those who weren't.  Is this differentiation though or is it just simply setting more tasks.  I'm not sure I know the answer.  I guess that if we do provide more work, it should firstly be something that extends students rather than being much of the same.  Secondly we need to make sure that there is a culture that everyone is expected to have the same output otherwise some students may produce two or three times the amount than others.

30 different worksheets for 30 different students isn't realistic
Yes every single student in your class is different but spending hours creating unique and bespoke resources can be very time consuming.  If it will help, if it will challenge, if it will support and if it will be used again then go ahead and make it.  If you feel that simply planning your explanations, your questioning, your feedback or demonstrations would be a better and more effective part of a lesson, maybe the worksheets can wait.

Don't make the task easier, making the thinking easier
Adapted from Daniel T. Willingham, this little nugget of advice has really stuck with me.  Instead of making the outcomes of tasks easier for different groups of students, structure the thinking behind it that little bit better.  A colleague of mine said a few months back that ultimately, every student in her class, regardless of ability, will have to sit the exact same exam with the exact same time limit as everyone else.  Making tasks easier for some just means that they will know less.  I have to agree.  Gone are the 'must, could, should' objectives and differentiated endpoints.  Instead every student has to learn the same key content, but, the way each student thinks and gets there may be different.

Differentiation is about knowing your students
I can't think of many things more important to help you teach your students.

Focusing too much on a group
I found myself guilty of focusing on specific groups of students that I actually took my eyes of those that remained.  Pinpointing under achievers or stretching the more able is important, but what I did when doing this was forget about those not in these groups.

And finally, differentiation is responsive
If you have a firm grasp on your group and you use various forms of evidence, assessment or data, you can plan differentiation into your lessons effectively.  Equally, if you know your students and know the difficult parts of the topics you teach, you could probably plan and adapt your delivery differently at these 'sticking points'.  Being prepared and planning differentiation is important.  However, I fell in love with the term coined by Andy Tharby; Differentiation the responsive way.  Most of the differentiation we do in lessons happens in response to the events that unravel.  Yes we can plan until the cows come home but it's the moments in a lesson when you have to rephrase an instruction, give a prompt when someone is stuck, pose a tough question that spins a student on their head when they are flying.  We never know what will happen in lessons.  We work with students so why would we.  Having experience, skill and expertise in our teaching means we can respond to differentiating when it jumps out on us unexpectedly.

So my approach to differentiation has changed and I hope for the better.  Instead of trying to plan numerous resources and creating an extensive range of activities, my focus is to respond to students needs in the lesson.  Planning to pinpoint sticking points, looking at tailoring questions, giving personalised feedback and helping support every student to achieve the same high aspirational goal is the key.  So how am I doing it?

1. Data, assessment and information that I'll actually use
Data is important but too often we can focus on the wrong things.  Regular marking, questioning students, homework scores, test result, quality of book work.....are all things that help me build up a picture of how my students are doing.  Years ago I would mark books because I had to.  Now I take books to help me see who needs help, who needs to be stretched and who needs a rocket firmly placed.  Paying attention to these details helps you understand the individuals and allows you to have those all important conversations.

2. Seating plans
Now I have tried a million different seating plans in my lessons.  For a while the consensus for some was to have more able and less able sat together.  The idea was to have direct support there when the lower ability student needed it.  It allowed students to feel confident that the person next to them could help them and in return, the more able student would reinforce their understanding by explaining it to their peer.  At the end of Year 11 I regularly get students to evaluate my teaching so I can tweak in preparation for my next group.  Out of all of the things, this type of seating plan took the biggest hit.  The higher ability students in the class highlighted their dislike for such a plan.  They felt that when they wanted to extend themselves they had to come back to help those who were struggling.  They also felt that discussions were limited and never grew with much depth.  The less able enjoyed the support but benefited more from my intervention.  Over the last few years I now group students based on their results.  After unit tests or exams, the groups are reworked.  Those that consistently achieve around the A*-A grades work together.  Those around the B grade sit together.  And this goes on.  And it changes every unit.  Now is it working?  Well if I had to group students without any sort of data but purely on knowing my students they would be roughly the same groups.  It means that I can go to every group and pose a slightly different question or challenge their thinking.  On one table I may pose a question that gets them to reinforce a key piece of information.  On another table I may ask students to think about the impact this topic has had on another.  It isn't full proof but it allows me to provide 6 or 7 differentiated pieces of instruction, questions or feedback very quickly.

3. Oh no, not SOLO - The Marmite of eductaion
Love it or hate it but using SOLO taxonomy to plan my lessons allows me to think through the different stages or a topic.  It really helps me break down the components and begin to formulate a plan of delivery.  This allows me to identify possible sticking points and create simple contingencies or interventions.  The system also allows students to have different entry points.  I can work with some students developing the important content knowledge that they need whilst helping others tie this topic into other areas we have covered.  The taxonomy also allows students to go back a level as well.  I worry some feel that we need to get to the top to EA as quick as we can where as we can actually spend a good lesson or two developing students uni/multi-structural knowledge go back and forth until it is secure.  For me it's a real help.

4. Conversations
More than anything I now try to spend time chatting to my students.  Lesson time doesn't allow me to have numerous 1:1 chats, primarily because I have to get through the teaching.  One thing I have done is design a rota where I aim to chat to 4 or 5 specific students every lesson.  Over the course of a few lessons I have had a conversation with every member of the class about their progress, where they are at, what needs to be improved and where need to go to move them forward.  The conversation is bespoke, it's unique and it's tailored to that student.  By using a rota as a guide combined with the general hustle and bustle of getting around your class, I now try to ensure I have real conversations with students about their learning.  Some are longer than others, some are more direct than others, but ultimately they happen and they happen regularly.

5. Bespoke feedback
Feedback, in my own personal opinion, has to be one of the best methods of differentiation.  What I say to one student will be different from what I say to another.  The tailoring of this feedback can prompt a student to become unstuck or stretch their thinking beyond the curriculum.  Each student is individual no matter how similar their grades may suggest.  What you say can be hugely important and is such a vital part of our craft.  Marking falls under this category as well.  It may be slightly more time consuming than generic comment stickers or stamps, but I aim to give every student at least two feedback questions when I mark.  Yes two students may have a similar grade or mark, but they have probably had a different experience doing that work.  Knowing my students allows me to provide personal feedback that works for that individual.  Feedback in my eyes in key.

6. Questioning
There's a real craft in using questioning to support, stretch and challenge.  Planning questions for key parts of the lesson is advisable but the art of being responsive and posing them in real time is a real skill.  There are those students whose bewildered faces suddenly become enlightened when a rephrased question you pose gets them unstuck.  There are those able students who think they've done it, only for you to spin their head with a higher level question.  Having such questions at the ready may come over time with increased confidence in your subject and increased experience.  But, along with the bespoke feedback you give, what can be more effective and more efficient in terms of differentiation?  In my eyes, not much.

7. Examples of excellence
No book has inspired me more than Ron Berger's 'An Ethic of excellence'.  The book shares numerous stories of how Ron gets students from a young age to create work well beyond their years.  It is a masterpiece and a must read.  Throughout the book Ron explains how he uses 'examples of excellence' with his students to demonstrate the high quality of work they need to produce.  He doesn't expect lower ability students to create any less work than a more able.  In fact he aims students to produce professional pieces of work such as architect designs and town radon reports.  The choice of excellent examples is a fundamental building block in the process.  By sharing outstanding or high quality work with students, you can inspire them to achieve work beyond what they probably believed.  The examples help students understand where work could lead to and the dissection and unpicking of it helps to make the steps to greatness concrete.  Collecting examples from industry, media articles and from students is easy to do and can be brought out when units or schemes are taught again in the future.

8. Modelling
Modelling is not a new idea but one that is used so regularly in the classroom.  And is it differentiation?  If we go by any technical definition it might not be.  In my classroom though, modelling is an essential component.  Over the years I have begun to use students work as it happens.  Sharing students work with their peers can be very helpful.  Like with examples of excellence, models happen there and then.  They can incorporate greatness, errors, and process of thinking.  They help students who are struggling see the next steps.  By working as a class to refine a sentence it can help the more able progress their work further.  If we use models in the right way, they become an important method and can provide so much in terms of moving everyone forward.

9. I scaffold and structure
As Daniel T. Willingham talked about, I shouldn't be making the task easier.  Instead I should support the thinking that is needed to get there.  And I totally agree with this.  Within my lessons students are expected to produce excellent pieces of work.  Some will get their by themselves.  Others will need varying levels of support.  What none of them needs is for me to make tasks easier and expect lower standards.  Using a variety of scaffolds is very helpful.  Using ideas like the four part process for writing excellent sentences is one great tool that pops up again and again in my class.  For some students it becomes the guide that they really need.  For others it is just a simple reminder of what to include.  For others it is irrelevant as they write with confidence, style and elegance.  Ideas like Dough Lemov's 'At first glance' sentence starters has also been a great way to develop, support and extend.  Simply providing three words of differing academic difficulty (although all of them are still quite high) forces students to think and adapt the subsequent sentence they craft.  Designing and displaying these starters is quick and effective.  The important thing is that these types of scaffolds become redundant the more skillful the students become.  And that's what I feel scaffolding and using structures (like PEED, IDEA and so on) should do.  Help when it's needed but then disappear when ready.

10. Graphic organisers
I rarely produce a worksheet for lessons anymore simply because of the balance between the time it took to produce it, compared to the time the student actually used it.  Instead I have a bank of graphic organisers which I can tweak and tailor when needed.  The beauty of these resources (such as double bubble maps, compare and contrast maps) is that they can help students keep track of the information before working with it.  The less able in the class can use them to record key points and then manipulate them.  The more able can use them to find more detailed connections and relationships.  The organisers are excellent and can be used flexibly from one lesson to the next.  Adding prompt questions or even high level statements can support or stretch abilities.  They can also help scaffold and structure work.  A complex essay can be quickly mapped out before becoming a plan for the subsequent drafts.  Graphic organsiers in my classroom have made things a lot clearer for students and have a place for all ability levels.

11. A level beyond the curriculum
I've thought a lot that we shouldn't simply be restricted by the curriculum we follow.  Yes students must know, cover and learn information that may come up in exams, but we can go beyond to really enlighten them.  I've been dropping a few AS level PE exam questions into lessons.  I use them for two reasons. Firstly, when something becomes difficult, showing them something at a more advanced level demonstrates the bigger picture and has helped students understand the topic better.  Doesn't sound right does it?  Secondly, they provide a great challenge when students have finished work and shows them that a topic isn't finished.  There is always something more to learn.

12. Expect excellence
And finally, I set the expectation that every student can produce great work.  I know that links into the Growth Mindset ethos, and some might argue that not every student is capable of producing great work, but I do set the aim that we all can achieve a high standard of work.  And I demonstrate how.  Redrafting work shows that things do get better when we act upon feedback.  Using techniques like the literacy upgrade shows that by improving the vocabulary we use in answers or essays, or work becomes more academic.  By spending time with a peer/group/class removing redundant words I show that we don't all need to waffle and in fact we can become much clearer in our writing.  Demonstrating these small things makes a big difference and changes habits.


And so?
And that final point is the big deal for me.  It's the small things that make a big difference over time.  Like Sir Dave Brailsford's Marginal gains, the aggregation of all of these little strategies improves the outcome over time.  Are some of these things differentiation by definition?  Most probably not.  But I have learnt that I can't make lessons 1:1 or bespoke to every student every lesson.  That takes too much time and is unrealistic.  Instead I can put in manageable strategies and spend time doing the things that matter.  In my eyes, if you asked me outright, I'd say effective differentiation (for me) is talking, questioning, challenging, marking and responding.  I call it teaching.  So can I be that little bit better at differentiation?  I probably can, and probably a million times better.  But I am not super human.

Can I be that little better at….knowing what high quality work looks like?

There are times when you catch up with a colleague in school and have a conversation that completely spins your thinking on its head.  Last week I had such a conversation with a fellow teacher.  There were a few emails about effective methods of feedback going back and forth between two colleagues.  Somewhere in the dialogue I was cc’d in to share my thoughts.  I did what was easiest and said I’d pop along to their classroom and have a chat.  I showed one of the teachers a few ideas and we spent a little time looking at how I have been using feedback questions.  I talked about how the method causes students to think and hopefully help close the gap between where they currently are and where they should be.  The method creates a dialogue between staff and students and is as easy to provide as simple comments.  I then explained that feedback should be evenly distributed to all students.  If not, those who have made a number of mistakes have far more comments/scribbles on their work than those that do not.  This can cause students to believe that if there’s a lot of feedback, my work must be wrong.  Instead I put forward the point that even the best pieces of work should receive equal amounts of feedback as we look to stretch and extend.  My colleague agreed.  Then he said something I had not yet thought of. 

“You and I could probably quickly and easily think of feedback to push work further and further, but does every teacher in every department know what high level work, answers and knowledge looks like?  What about PGCE/ITT/NQT students?  Do they have the experience to be able to extend every student?  Do they actually know what an A* paragraph or essay actually looks like?  You would assume that because we all have degrees we could, but I know from my own experience that in the first few years of my teaching, what I was probably doing in cases like this wasn’t that great”.

Within an instant a wash of memories came flooding back.  He was right.  When I remember back to my first few years of teaching, my ability to stretch and challenge was nowhere near as good as it is now.  I knew the topics I was teaching to an extent but could I really push those who were at the top even further.  Could I extend those students who seemed to have mastered the topic I was teaching them?  At the time these students either scared me or stumped me. 

If I was also being honest, did I actually know what high level work consisted of?  Do I even know now?  Am I able to offer the correct advice to make work actually great or is the guidance I give simply my own perceptions which may ultimately be incorrect?  Do we inadvertently teach them the wrong things when work gets to a certain level? 

When a student produces what in my eyes is a fantastic piece of work, would my colleagues (or even the exam board) agree?  If two students produced what seemed on the surface to be a very high level work, could I accurately distinguish why one piece was better than the other and what I could do to move it forward still?

Another point that passed through my mind was as a teacher, do we spend more time giving feedback to correct misconceptions?  What sorts of comments do we give those in the class who have suitably mastered the content we have provided?  Do we breeze past excellent pieces of work with a few ticks and a complimentary ‘well done’?  Is an A* piece of student work the end of the road where we can happily tick off ‘another student who will pass the course’ and not provide anything constructive in terms of advice?  Would we even know what to say to make it better?

My colleague also talked about the feeling of isolation in our rooms as we teach lesson after lesson.  Back in his early years he felt unsupported by his Head of Department and therefore muddled along himself, realising now that he was probably doing things wrong.  Did he at that stage know the depth of knowledge in his subject well enough to be able to guide students through to excellence?  Did he know how far he was expected to teach?  On his own with minimal guidance, did he know what a high standard in all aspects of his subject was?  No one had ever told him so he wasn't so sure.

All of these considerations had been ones that I probably had on a daily basis.  As the years pass on the experience and understanding of our subject probably covers over some of these as we learn what we should actually be doing.   Some of these probably still surface from time to time though.  I know I still have moments where a student asks me for advice on an excellent piece of writing and I have to take a minute.  And even then I worry that my advice would be nothing compared to say, an English teacher, for example.

So even now as what might be deemed as an experienced teacher, am I certain that I have the knowledge to know what a high standard of work looks like in every topic I teach?  Have I fallen into the monotony of teaching what is required to pass the course?  And do I have the ability to stretch even the most able students in my class?  Can I be that little bit better at knowing what high quality work looks like?

Examples of excellence – students

In the spirit of Ron Berger, keeping copies of excellent work from past students can be an absolute goldmine for future lessons.  We all know when we have come across a beautifully written piece of work that meets the highest criteria.  At this time, instead of filing away for moderation or assessment, keep a copy to use with other students.  These pieces of work can be used in many ways during lessons ranging from modelling, scaffolding and critiquing.  Demonstrating the depth of knowledge and necessary skills to produce work of this high standard can be an excellent teaching opportunity.  It sets the aspirational level and requirements needed to reach it.

Examples of excellence – teachers and experts

How many times as teachers have we attempted to complete one of the tasks we set our students?  Ultimately I know that time amongst other things rarely allows us the opportunity to do so.  Using student examples therefore bridges this gap and creates a resource.  The problem here though is that students themselves are not as ‘expert’ in the subject as we are.  Their knowledge isn't as in depth as ours so the level of work they are producing reaches a peak.  Finding time or even an opportunity to complete the task ourselves provides an example of excellence that (I hope!) goes beyond the level required.  I know of teachers who actually do the same task as students in class at the same time.  Brilliant!  This higher standard of work again can be used in a multitude of ways in lessons to further stretch and challenge the work students will attempt.  And it doesn't have to end there.  In fact I think we can go further still and actually look for real experts.  If attempting to write a newspaper article, isn't it possible to gather a bank of actual articles from real journalists that cover a range of writing styles.  Just as used in ‘An Ethic of Excellence’, these pieces of work can be unpicked and help students go well beyond the limits of subject specific criteria.  We can use these to see what actual great work looks like. 

Teach beyond the curriculum

There are times when the curriculum or exams feel like they mould what and how we teach.  Worrying about meeting the ‘required course content’ set out by governing bodies or exam boards means that we sometimes focus on what is in front of us.  The numerous conversations I have heard where a teacher tells a student ‘You don’t need to know that, that’s college stuff’ do have elements of sense.  If grades and performance are ultimately how we are being judged by, why risk going off of the beaten track to teach something extra.  But surely we should be looking beyond our curriculum at relevant times.  Being aware of what the A/S or A level syllabus contains is a starting point.  What is the leap between GCSE and beyond and can we reach out and grab elements of it in our lessons?  Knowing what the higher level courses contain can help us understand the level of ‘great work’ students in our subject should be producing.  Can we go further still and pull in richer examples from the world of work?  Are there various sectors that tie into your subject that could push the learning further?  It is a brave thing to look at the curriculum as baseline of what should be covered, something which is seen as the minimum requirement.  It is a brave thing to use that as the foundation which can be built upon further to create a great curriculum which ultimately leads to great work.

Examiners’ report

Readily available after exams are the various qualification providers and provide a wealth of information.  They summarise the quality of answers from the previous examination which can help teachers work out what is missing from a high quality piece of work (at least in the examiners eyes).  The reports show various misconceptions and provide guidance of how to improve.  As a starting point for looking at what at least a full mark answer looks like, this can provide an excellent insight.

Collaboratively planning

There are too many times that teachers can feel isolated in their classroom.  With 5 period days, responding to emails, marking, assessments and so on, some teachers rarely find time to leave their four walls.  But if we are looking to see what a high quality standard of work looks like, using colleagues can be an essential resource.  When planning a task, think about what the outcome will be.  Using a colleague to unpick the criteria to meet this outcome can help immensely.  Collaborating to work out the set standard and truly identify what an excellent standard really looks like can be invaluable.  Having that extra piece of experience and knowledge can help you understand the requirements of what great work really looks like.

Dedicated departmental time

How often in departmental meetings do you spend actually looking at what high quality work in the current or upcoming topics is.  Do you spend time as a team working out what an A* (and even beyond) piece of work in this unit will be?  Do you bring along previous pieces of work from last year’s students and collaboratively critique it so all staff know what level we are aiming for?   Do you answer some of the higher level questions or tasks as a team, taking note of what content is essential to meet it?  Do you collaboratively analyse the various materials like the syllabus and examiners’ report to see how to develop students work further?  Meetings like these in the run up to new units can be a life line to both new and experienced teachers.  Are you confident that everyone in the department is knowledgeable, and fully supported, to know what high quality student work should look like?

Subject specific reading

I have probably spent the majority of my time this year reading about general teaching and learning and less about my subject.  Although in the pedagogical sense I haven’t plateaued, have I allowed my subject specific knowledge to do so?  Keeping up to date on your subject should be essential.  What are the new developments?  What has changed?  What new literature could be used with students?  How have businesses, jobs and the real world developed in your subject?  Keeping up to date in our areas of expertise is essential in helping us incorporate stronger and more challenging learning in our subject.

Cross moderation

Whether this is a set annual process as a department or a more flexible opportunity between colleagues, comparing and cross referencing students work can be incredibly helpful.  How easy can it be to pop to another teacher’s room with a couple of students books to quickly analyse?  Or even compare marking or assessment of a piece of work?  On paper it seems very easy.  In reality it means finding time.  But I believe it is time well spent.  Many schools create the culture where doors are open and observers welcomed.  But how about creating a culture where we can openly analyse the work of each other’s classes.  There is always a sense of nervousness and worry that pride/reputation may be at stake.  What if the work my students are producing is not as good as a colleague?  This shouldn’t be the case though.  If we can have people analyse what we as teachers do in a judgemental way in observations, surely the supportive analysis of your students’ books by a colleague should be a welcome opportunity.

Can I be that little bit better at ......using methods to make feedbackstick?

In my previous post I looked at reasons why feedback might not stick.  It focused on whether it was the way in which we as teachers approached it, or was it simply the way that students perceived feedback that was the issue.  Whatever or however we approach it, we probably have methods that we use on a regular basis with students.  These methods are used day in day out and vary from subject to subject, student to student.  In the same theme as my last post, is it the methods that we use with students that causes feedback not to stick?  If we look at what the key principles from the last post are, can we design strategies in our lessons that are efficient for teachers as well as effective for students?

What makes a good method?

Now this isn't a criteria or a magic tick list that we should use every time we give feedback.  In fact there are lots of things that I haven't covered such as it needs to be timely, works best if its formative, targeted and regular (but we know this already).  Instead it is a list of common themes or important points that have stood out to me when reflecting on the feedback process that I hadn't fully considered before.  The practical methods that follow after try in some way use all, most or at least one of the key components that makes feedback effective.  So when we plan to give feedback to students, can we use these points (and those from my last post) to make the process have more impact?

Have we got a plan? - Before we give students feedback, do we know why we are giving it?  Do we know how we are giving it?  Do we have a plan?  If we are just using it as a tick box exercise then I'd urge you to think again.  Maybe the following cycles or flow chart will help you make a more effective plan for the feedback process.  The method you use can be as you see fit, but the core principles stay the same:

From top left: Diagrams by Tom Sherrington, David Fawcett, Shaun Allsion and David Didau

Be less work for you and more for students - Whatever method you choose should make more work for students to act upon it than it does for you providing it.  As Wiliam (2011) states "feedback should be more work for the recipient than the donor".  If you find that you're spending hours providing it for little or nothing to be done by students in return, I'd rethink the method you are using.

Feedback should cause thinking - Out of all of the reading, in all of the books, in all of the research papers and from all of the blog posts, the key message that has stuck with me about how I use feedback comes from Dylan Wiliam (2011):

"If I had to reduce all of the research on feedback into one simple overarching idea, at least for academic subjects in school, it would be this: feedback should cause thinking"

Now this is a simple and powerful message, but one I never thought of before.  For years I simply thought feedback was me telling students what they got wrong and what they should have done.  We know as adults how demoralising that must be if that is all we ever hear.  There were even times when I simply attached a grade or score, occasionally with a "check the marking criteria" added in for extra fun.  Now I have worked on my methods for a few years now in an effort to make them better.  But they still haven't involved students as best as they probably could.  And now with this simple Wiliam quote, I've probably been missing a trick.

When students receive feedback it should make them question or reflect about what they have just done.  It should force them to think about what they know and what gaps they still have.  It should force them to think about how to act upon the feedback in an effort to move their learning.  Did my previous comments and grade do that?  Definitely not.  So can future methods do this?  I'm confident they can.  So look at how you give feedback to your students.  If they can simply read it and dismiss it then it probably won't work.  If though it forces students to think, before taking future action, it is heading towards being a method that may just have a positive impact.

Do our methods answer the three questions - In Hattie and Timperley's paper titled  'The Power of Feedback', it was put forward that effective methods of feedback revolve around three key questions.  Now these three question crop up time and time again in other material.  But do I ever use them every time I give out feedback.  If you've never seen them before, the questions we should be addressing in feedback are:

• Where am I going?
• How am I going?
• Where to next?

In a summary, they also addressed these as:

• Feed up
• Feedback
• Feedforward

As Hattie points out in most of his literature, in an ideal environment, the comments we provide addresses these questions with the students.  The use of these questions in our structure ensures that we don't merely provide feedback, but instead link directly to the learning and then look forward in helping students make progress.

"Where am I going?" or feed up addresses the intention, goal or aim of the piece of work/learning.  As Black and Wiliam (1998) explained, “the provision of challenging assignments and extensive feedback lead to greater student engagement and higher achievement”.  It is therefore important for the feedback to have maximum effect, the goal is specific and challenging, with the task complexity low.  This goal may be the learning objective of the lesson, the core question of the task or even a target for which the student needs to work on (from previous feedback).  The important key component in this question though is we provide clear success criteria for meeting this aim.  Too often our comments are specific and accurate, but don't clearly link to the goal or learning taking place.  It is essential that we talk about this criteria so students can see where they are in the process and how far away they are from getting to the desired goal.

"How am I going?" or feedback provides reference to how that student is doing in relation to the goal or objective.  It's what we do most frequently and made up a lot of the comments I used to provide.  It is normally in this section that we highlight misconceptions or brilliant pieces of learning.  If we link it back to the previous question, this element can help show students where they are in their journey and what's been happening so far.

"Where to next?" or Feedforward - This last year was the biggest revelation in my teaching.  Why I hadn't used this word before I simply don't know.  As Hattie (2011) states "This feedforward question can have some of the most powerful impacts on learning".  A simple change in terminology with students can be a powerful thing.  When we talk about feedback, we are doing just that: looking back at what was.  This is a great starting point but students also need to know how to move forward.  This question ensures that we as teachers provide comments that help students take the next step in the learning process.  We've talked about the goal and where they are at, now we look at what is the next step to move this learning on.  It is vital here that we spend most of our time sharing this with students if we want them to progress.  As Sadler (1989) talks about in his work, it is this part of the feedback process that helps 'close the gap'.

So when we provide our comments to students, do we answer these three questions every time?  Maybe that is one of the reasons that it doesn't have the impact it should?

Less is more - As I talked about in my last post, sometimes the less we say has the most impact.  One thing that came up time and again in both literature and in my survey was that students struggle with a large amount of comments.  Too much feedback and the comments get ignored, give the impression the work must be bad or become too specific that the students doesn't know what to do with it.  Are our methods to much for our students to actually understand?

Will they do anything with it? - As I said in my last post, if students can't act upon the feedback to move the work or learning forward, you might not have bothered.  Students need the opportunity to both read and do something with your feedback.  It normally works best when students can act on it there and then.  Leave comments idle for lessons on end and the feedback loses its impact.  Two students in my survey specifically found that some teachers had given comments over 30 days ago and the students still hadn't improved that piece of work.  Now it's slipped from their memory and they can't remember the context it was in.  When giving feedback, ensure there is either an immediate opportunity for improvement, or one very soon.  Use a cycle as the basis for our methods is a really great reminder.  Do we always plan in time to do this?

Comments first! (Grades later) - Nothing more to really say on this.  As I detailed in my last post, as soon as we add grades or praise, the impact of feedback reduces and in some cases actually has a negative effect.  We need to break the grades culture or at least use them in a more constructive way.

Do our methods promote a Growth Mindset? - We need to ensure that the methods we use help students see that reading or listening to feedback is important, that mistakes are good for learning, that good habits can be learnt and should be repeated, and it's effort that is the key to making them improve.  John Tomsett has written a lovely post that encapsulates this message as a shift in culture here.  Some students really find feedback (and especially poor performance or mistakes) dents their self esteem and confidence.  So can we ensure we create a culture it our classroom that challenges these beliefs and make feedback an integral component of what happens in it?




Do what Ron does! - If you have never read 'An Ethic of Excellence' by Ron Berger, or have never seen one of his videos online, I would strongly urge you to do so.  Ron Berger's book explains how he gets students to create work of excellence using some very key principles.  I have blogged about it here.  What is fantastic about this is that everything that Ron does puts the role of feedback (in his method called critique) right at the heart of the learning in the classroom.  Students are set challenging tasks, break down examples of excellence, create success criteria together, use a drafting process, critique each others work (after being trained to do so) and seek this feedback from all sources automatically.  No one book has changed my thinking of the power of a feedback culture and its role in exceptional work.  Students are fully involved in the process and work continuously gets reviewed and improved.  The whole process of feedback becomes visible!  Do we create a culture in our classrooms using similar protocols that makes feedback and its power sing from every corner?  And neither have I yet (but I am seriously working on it!).

Key components from Berger. Do we create this?

The students do it all the time! - Another great book I would urge you to read is 'The Hidden Lives of Learners' by Graham Nuthall.  The book looks at learning from the perspectives of students and reveals a number of things we were probably unaware of.  One of the main points is that students receive 80% of the feedback they receive from their peers, and most of this is wrong.  So much peer feedback takes place beyond our control and we need to ensure that we train students up to give this effectively.  Unless all students work in silence for an entire lesson, they will always ask a friend or peer for help, advice, guidance or feedback.  We need to ensure that we involve students in the process and teach them exactly what high quality looks like and how to give it.  We also need to involve students in the process of feedback if they are to engage in it.  Too many times feedback can seem a one way process.  As Nuthall explains in his book, unless they are part of the process and it includes them throughout, we are more likely to get them to act upon feedback.  Do the methods we use train students to give high quality feedback?  Does it teach them to spot high quality feedback?  Do our methods involve students?

So what methods help feedback stick?

It's probably very important to say straight away that these methods are not my own.  They are ideas that have been discussed in department meetings, chatted about in the staffroom, read about on Twitter or seen mentioned in research/books.  Some were even suggested by students during my in-house survey.  They're purely on the list because they in some way attempt to bring together all three topics I've raised over the last two posts: the teacher, the student and the methods.  They aim to make the feedback we give stick and encourage the comments to be acted upon.  So can I get a little bit better at making feedback stick?

Critique – “Drafting and crafting”.  My ultimate favourite method which we can draw key principles of effective feedback from.  Even if you don't do the full process, there are so many principles we can extract and adapt.  Here is a link to my post specifically on this method.

What:

A process where students are trained to give very clear and concise feedback in order to create work of excellence.

How:

As students are working towards a piece of work, they create a number of drafts versions of it.  These drafts are ‘critiqued’ by peers and the feedback that each piece is given is acted upon in the next draft.  The comments that are given must be kind, specific and helpful.  They must also be instructional and help make the work better.  The teacher usually focuses on one aspect of the work at a time to make the process as beneficial as possible.  The process of critique normally requires a full dedicated lesson and comes in the form of a public critique or gallery critique.  Students need to have the process modelled, and getting students to critique the critique in the early stages helps ensure that they comments they provide to peers are of a high enough standard.

Why:

Critique goes beyond typical peer assessment.  It is part of the process.  It very clearly shows students how to give specific feedback that the person receiving it can go away and act upon.  It addresses the "85% of the feedback...." issue identified by Nuthall.  By dedicating a whole lesson and using a drafting process, a culture of feedback develops within the classroom.  The use of drafts also help students see the progress that is being made from 1^st draft to final piece.

DIRT time – Acting upon that feedback

What:

First made aware to many teachers by the amazing Jackie Beere, this method gives allocated time to getting students to read their feedback and actually act upon it.

How:

Plan time within lessons or schemes where students act upon the comments and feedback that they receive.  This can come in the form or a starter activity, end of a lesson task or a dedicated lesson during a scheme.  In this time, students revisit feedback that they have been given and have that time to actually act upon it with the help of peers, teachers and resources.

Why:

Providing feedback in books can easily be forgotten about or simply not acted upon.  By creating dedicated time in lessons where students have to act upon it, the gap between where they are and where they should be can be closed.

Find and Fix – Getting students to think about their work (A Dylan Wiliam idea)

What:

Place a dot or mark in the margin of a piece of work near where a mistake is. Students have to locate the error independently.

How:

When marking a piece of work, place a symbol, dot or mark in the margin next to where a mistake has taken place.  At the end of the work, explain that there are x number of mistakes.  Don't indicate what these mistakes may be.  Students then have to 'find' and 'fix' them.  You can add a focus to the process.  For example, you could explain that the feedback focus is on SPaG and ask students to find and fix the x number of mistakes in their work.

Why:

The process involves students thinking about the work they are doing.  This is ideal for minor issues which can easily be found and fixed.  The method also means that students can quickly amend work themselves.  It is also time efficient for teachers.

Closing the gap lessons – Moving from where you are to where you should be

What:

A dedicated lesson or lessons at the start of a new unit that allow students to ‘tidy up their understanding’ from a previous unit.

How:

This is used in our department a lot.  At the end of a unit we carry out a unit test.  The two lessons after this (and prior to the next unit), students analyse how their understanding (from test results, homework….) and revisit weak topics once more.  Whilst doing this they act upon any feedback that they were given, improve their notes, redraft any work that they underperformed in, create concept maps or revision resources, answer exam questions and so on.  The aim is to then make that topic an area of strength.  Students try and improve at least two weak areas in this time.

Why:

Too often we finish a unit and move onto the next without ensuring students are confident in it.  Providing this structured time with well thought out tasks allows students to close the gap from where they were, to where they should have been.  Learning is reinforced and improve.

Closing the gap theme park writing from davidfawcett27

            An example of a 'Closing the Gap' lesson from English

Burning questions/requests – Can you check this for me?

What:

When students submit a piece of work, they have the opportunity to request a specific part is given closer inspection.

How:

When a piece of work is handed in, the student very clearly highlights on it a part of it that they didn’t quite understand.  This is not related to the task, but instead to the content.  If for instance they are still unsure about the functions of the skeleton during a physiology unit, they simply highlight that section in their work.  The teacher can then mark the other parts using a marking key, and then give specific time to the piece of understanding that the student is struggling with.  This section gets constructive comments and suggestions for moving the learning forward and hopefully ‘close the gap’.

Why:

Giving students that sense of ownership and responsibility engages them in the process.  They are highlighting a part of your subject that they are still not quite clear on and requesting some help with moving it forward.  This involvement means that the comments you give will have a higher chance of being acted upon.

Feedback key – Focusing your feedback

What:

A feedback key that all students are familiar with and used when marking pieces of work.

How:

Create a marking key and give students a copy to stick in their books.  The codes on this key could include B.O.D (Benefit of doubt), T.V (Too vague) or double ticks for very well answered pieces.  When marking work, leave the codes throughout the work where needed.  Students then check the codes upon receiving their work back and know what needs work (lack of detail etc).  The code means that students will have to think about what needs improving, and it is this thinking which will help progress learning further.  If they need more clarity over why they have a code they can come and seek further feedback.

Why:

This makes marking quicker on you as a teacher.  Also as Dylan Wiliam says, feedback should provoke thought.  This method highlights to the student areas where knowledge is competent, and areas where knowledge is lacking.  Students work out where the error is and can correct it.  The key is quick to use and provides you with time to actually write constructive comments where a student needs it most, rather than having to scribble all over a piece of work.  Less is more.

Feedback homework – DIRT time at home

What:

Students collect a 'homework task' that is specific to a common misconception they have demonstrated in a piece of work.  

How:

Although feedback should be specific to that individual, there are times when a few different common errors throughout the class have taken place.  For the first part of the homework, students have to act on feedback that was personalised and specific to them.  For the second part, students also have to collect a 'feedback homework' task sheet from you.  Each task is different and relates to one of the common errors demonstrated in the pieces of work.  Students simply pick up the relevant task in relation to their feedback.

Why:

As well as specific feedback for every child, there are also some common mistakes that come up.  This encourages students to work on this feedback task at home, addressing the error/gap and improving the work that they submitted.  It is also efficient for the teacher.



Feedback questions – Doing something with your comments?

What:

A Dylan Wiliam idea - Give students questions as feedback to tackle misconceptions.

How:

Read through students work and place numbers against misconceptions.  The number links to questions posed by the teacher at the end of the piece of work.  Students have to respond to the questions and demonstrate that they have understood the information.

Why:

By asking questions students have to think about the error that they made.  By using questions students have to engage with the feedback and act upon it.

Triple impact marking – You, me, you

What:

Provide feedback to students.  They then provide feedback back to your comments.  You provide feedback again.

How:

Read students work and provide feedback where necessary.  Students then read the comments, react to them by writing their own comment and course of action (how they will improve).  They then improve and you then feedback on the work again, seeing if they have undertaken the steps they had identified.

Why:

Engages in a dialogue of feedback where the students must act upon your comments, and plan steps to improve.

Feedforward as a starting point – Using feedback as in future learning 

What:

Use previous feedback/feedforward as starting target for new work.

How:

Very obvious but actively get students to write their previous feedforward targets on new work.  Students therefore have the deficit from the last piece of work visible and in their mind when working on their new piece.

Why:

Students can easily forget or ignore feedback.  The same mistakes seem to keep creeping up again and again, making you wonder whether they have read the comments at all.  By having them as the starting point of the next piece, it is a clear criteria for which students work towards in their new piece.

Using grades/data – Using summative assessment and quantitative data effectively

What:

Using grades, test data and scores with students as a form of feedback to help close the gap.

How:

Break down a piece of work, coursework or test.  Display the separate components of the work in the form of a spreadsheet on the board and get students to pick the areas that they have answered poorly and they must act upon those areas.  Combine it with a 'Closing the gap' lesson or DIRT time to make it have more impact.  Use mark schemes to support where necessary.

Why:

Giving grades or test scores can be detrimental to feedback.  Going through an exam paper question by question can be quite laborious.  This method gives students an overview of each question and each sub section of it in one quick image.  Topics are colour co-ordinated so spotting patterns in weaknesses is easy to do.  With a break down of the marks, students can also see how far away they were from achieving the correct response.  Promotes responsibility and ownership as students identify areas themselves.

Modelling and examples – Showing what to aim for

What:

When providing feedback, use a model or example of excellence to help students reference what they need to be doing.

How:

When you are going over the main misconceptions (or even positives) of a piece of work or learning, use a model or example of excellence with the students.  This helps them understand and visualise what quality their work should be aiming for.

Why:

Students find that they have great feedback from teachers but they can't translate that into a mental image of what their work/learning should be.  Showing an example helps scaffold what the next steps actually look like and are more likely to get students to act upon the feedback.

Now these methods should be adapted and tweaked to suit the needs of your students.  Ultimately though, they encourage feedback to be acted upon, and hit many of the concerns and issues with the teacher approaches, students perceptions and pitfalls in methods I have identified.  If you haven't done so already, I would really encourage you to read my previous post to understand the student and teacher factors in this process.  So, knowing all of this now, can we be that little bit better at providing feedback methods that stick?

This is being submitted as part of Octobers #blogsync. Read the other entries here: http://blogsync.edutronic.net/

Links

My previous feedback posts: http://reflectionsofmyteaching.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Feedback

Creating a culture of critique - My favorite method of providing feedback (also full of links) http://reflectionsofmyteaching.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/creating-culture-of-critique.html

My #TLT13 and ResearchEd presentation on making feedback stick http://prezi.com/cy5bd7p2k1gl/making-feedback-stick/

My #TMSoton Making Feedback Stick presentation http://www.slideshare.net/davidfawcett27/feedback-23968730

Some excellent articles from numerous bloggers on Feedback collated via Edssential http://edssential.co.uk/feedback/

Some excellent articles from numerous bloggers on Marking collated via Edssential http://edssential.co.uk/marking/