Planning for Fast Feedback

Fast Feedback in the English Classroom

Effective feedback is essential for student growth in English. The feedback cycle should be included in classroom routines to help students understand the significance of feedback and the steps they need to take to move forward. Fast Feedback makes it possible to quickly give feedback to your entire class on a specific skill, learning goal, or behavior, so that you can make student learning and growth the focus of the classroom.

Here are three practical ways to integrate Fast Feedback into your English classroom, regardless of the discipline.

1. Give Feedback on Skill Acquisition

Give feedback on a specific academic skill each time your students complete an activity or assignment that requires them to practice or demonstrate that skill. 

Example: Students will work with challenging texts throughout a unit focused on 19th century American literature. The unit covers several distinct learning goals or standards, but students will need to consistently practice annotation skills in order to meet those learning goals.  

• Criterion: text annotation 
• Criterion description: Annotation of the text demonstrates close reading and deep engagement with the material.
• Insights: Use the Feedback Forward data insights to plan for instruction like a mini-lesson on annotation with an example text or scaffolded resources and targeted support for students who are struggling with using annotation to understand and analyze a text.

2. Elicit Evidence of Standards Mastery

Elicit evidence of standards mastery when students complete smaller, formative in class assignments or activities that are tied to the same standard, but are not graded. 

Example: Students will spend several weeks working on a literary commentary, practicing the following standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1. Use Fast Feedback to give students feedback on their progress toward this standard and their development of the skill of citing strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis as they draft their essays. 

• Criterion: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1
• Criterion description: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 
• Insights: Use Feedback Forward data insights to plan for academic intervention (mini conferences, peer review, workshops, scaffolded and targeted student support with extra practice) before providing feedback on their final product.

3. Give Feedback on Executive Functioning Skills

Provide feedback on executive functioning skills as students work individually and collaboratively to complete class assignments.

Example: During an independent novel study unit, students will practice planning and self-management as they set appropriate reading goals and meet them without direct teacher supervision. Give students feedback on these skills as they work towards their goals and unit milestones. 

• Criterion: planning and self-management 
• Criterion description: Student sets appropriate reading goals and meets them with little to no direct teacher supervision.
  
• Insights: Use Feedback Forward data insights to identify which students will need support or intervention to successfully complete the unit requirements. Discuss your feedback during check-ins with students and collaborate on steps to help students develop these skills.