Useful feedback
With time at a premium in most schools, it is easy to overlook the importance of providing feedback for students. Only through understanding where missteps occurred can learning truly happen. However, this is the step that is most often skipped as we seek to cover the curriculum. Teachers must ensure that this vital step is not overlooked through intentional planning to include feedback throughout each and every unit. Otherwise, all that happens is kids plow forward through curriculum without mastering the skills.
The students of today are more receptive to feedback than ever before; however, teachers need to be savvy in their use of feedback. Today's student is part of the digital age where video games have prepped them for constant feedback streams in the hopes of getting to the next level. Working on the classic Pavlovian drives of rewards and punishments, "one reason behind the addictiveness of video games is the constant stream of feedback on performance they provide . . . therefore, it may be no coincidence that researchers have found that one of the most powerful strategies for unleashing student performance is real-time feedback on student performance" (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013). Teachers need to harness this phenomenon to good effect through feedback loops and blended learning models where kids receive a constant stream of feedback.
Several tools are at the modern educators disposal to tap into students' innate drive to "level-up":
The students of today are more receptive to feedback than ever before; however, teachers need to be savvy in their use of feedback. Today's student is part of the digital age where video games have prepped them for constant feedback streams in the hopes of getting to the next level. Working on the classic Pavlovian drives of rewards and punishments, "one reason behind the addictiveness of video games is the constant stream of feedback on performance they provide . . . therefore, it may be no coincidence that researchers have found that one of the most powerful strategies for unleashing student performance is real-time feedback on student performance" (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013). Teachers need to harness this phenomenon to good effect through feedback loops and blended learning models where kids receive a constant stream of feedback.
Several tools are at the modern educators disposal to tap into students' innate drive to "level-up":