I provide feedback regularly, but the kind of feedback I provide now is mostly not the age-old score-and-star-on-a-paper feedback. In general, I use the following plan when it comes to feedback and family communication.
- Newsletters: Weekly newsletters provide families with information related to current projects, focus, events and enrichment.
- Learning Action Table: The weekly learning action table includes home-school assignments and enrichment.
- Assessments, Comments: Feedback via regular math assessment scores, comments on ePortfolios, conferences and coaching.
- Report Cards and Family Conferences: Twice-a-year report cards and two regular parent conferences. We also schedule conferences upon request.
- NING Discussions: Discussions that elicit feedback from students and families regularly on our classroom social network, NING.
- Email: Students and families email me with questions or concerns. I respond to those emails regularly.
During our upcoming parent conferences, I want to listen carefully to parents' thoughts about feedback. I want to think about the kinds of feedback that will help families support their children's acquisition of knowledge, concept and skill as they become life long learners in this ever changing education landscape.
How do you provide student feedback? Has your feedback process changed dramatically since you began employing greater technology in your classroom? What feedback supports student learning and family participation best? I look forward to your response as I further investigate this topic.
