The evidence I provided for focus area 5.2 are images of students’ completed summative assessment tasks where I have provided written feedback. I consulted my supervising teacher about what is the best way to write the feedback on students’ sheets. She recommended indication of how many instructions were followed in the summative task, followed by a short comment about their learning/performance. When writing the feedback to the students, I made sure that it was about their work and how they could improve, as Black and Wiliam suggests, ‘feedback to any pupil should be about the qualities of their work, with advice on what they can do to improve, avoiding comparisons with other pupils’ (2010, p. 85). Feedback is to help students close any gaps in their performance (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 2017), so I truly believe that comparison to other students is unnecessary. Prior to the assessment, the learning intentions and success criteria were shared with the students, giving them an idea of what is expected. This will also allow them to set goals for themselves, as they work towards these to optimise learning (Ewing et al. 2019, p. 212).

It is important to note that I have also used timely verbal feedback to students throughout my placement, such as when they were staying on task, or when they were showing me their finished work. I made sure to use positive and encouraging language when providing verbal feedback, especially when letting students know what they need to improve on.

References:

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) 2017, Spotlight: Reframing feedback to improve teaching and learning, Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Black, P & Williams, D 2010, ‘Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment’, Phi Delta Kappan, vol, 92, no. 1, pp. 81-90.

Ewing, R, Kervin, L, Glass, C, Gobby, B, Le Cornu, R & Groundwater-Smith, S 2019, Teaching: Dilemmas, challenges and opportunities, 6th edn, Cengage Learning Australia, South Melbourne, Australia.