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"There are few things as important as establishing and nurturing a culture of feedback in our schools. I don't know about you, but I would say it's also the most challenging thing I attempt as a classroom teacher. This is not necessarily because embedded feedback is difficult in and of itself. Rather, the struggle often lies in the barriers we either have constructed or are inevitable in this thing we call schoolin"

"Kaizena voice feedback. To be clear, this isn't a Google project, but rather an app that integrate with Google Drive to work its magic. But what (simple) magic it allows: cloud-based, tablet-friendly voice feedback and commenting for documents, allowing you to provide thorough feedback and guidance for writers without making endless notes in tiny margins on papers that can get misinterpreted or lost."

When people perceive themselves as similar to others, greater liking and closer relationships typically result. In the first randomized field experiment that leverages actual similarities to improve real-world relationships, we examined the affiliations between 315 ninth grade students and their 25 teachers. Students in the treatment condition received feedback on five similarities that they shared with their teachers; each teacher received parallel feedback regarding about half of his/her ninth grade students. Five weeks after our intervention, those in the treatment conditions perceived greater similarity with their counterparts. Furthermore, when teachers received feedback about their similarities with specific students, they perceived better relationships with those students, and those students earned higher course grades. Exploratory analyses suggest that these effects are concentrated within relationships between teachers and their "underserved" students. This brief intervention appears to close the achievement gap at this school by over 60%.

"The first part of an assessment design is the most obvious; the student performance, or more simply referred to as the activity. This requires a student to show the teacher what they know or can do. The second part assessment design is often assumed or omitted; however, this part of the assessment is critical to optimizing alignment to the objectives, and provides valuable support towards student success. This critical component is the grading plan or better named the feedback criteria. As a teacher, we need to effectively communicate to our learners both a description of how they will perform an assessment activity as well as a description of how we will judge the quality of their performance. Are you planning and communicating your feedback criteria? The Blended and Online Assessment Taxonomy Infographic presents types of activities that suit various levels of assessment as well as grading and feedback criteria which will help you plan better assessments."

""If you give effective feedback to students you double the rate of learning," Almarode said. "So here's my argument: cut back on the volume of assignments and increase your feedback on those you grade and you will double the rate of learning.""

"Providing meaningful student feedback is a critical, yet often overlooked, part of teaching and learning in a digital world. "

Where did BlueHarvest come from? BlueHarvest is the experiment of a high school teacher in Iowa who was fed up with students valuing points and grades above learning. What does BlueHarvest do? BlueHarvest is a website that organizes the feedback that teachers give to students. BlueHarvest then keeps it organized by idea for future reference as the student progresses.

"These are some of my experiences, ideas and resources for using technology to provide meaningful feedback to students -- and making the process more streamlined for everyone. "

"Effective feedback helps students see what they know and what they need to keep working on."

Students give instant feedback about their understanding in private and real time Check for evidence of understanding with multiple choice or short answer responses

Assessment 3.0 involves replacing traditional grades with conversation, self-evaluation and narrative feedback using SE2R or a similar model.

"MathSquared is a prototype series of grid-based puzzles using basic math operations that help learners develop logical thinking and reasoning strategies. Puzzles have different levels of challenge and include embedded supports for solving, such as a Scratch Pad for recording information that supports problem solving and the option for immediate feedback on your progress. These puzzles were developed as part of the iSolveIt project at CAST (http://www.cast.org), an educational research & development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning (UDL). iSolveIt is a mobile digital learning environment that supports the development of logical thinking and reasoning skills, essential competencies for algebra and mathematics in general."

"MathScaled is a prototype series of puzzles based on a balance-scale format. The goal is to place different shapes with unknown weights on the scale so that it is balanced. Puzzles have embedded supports for solving, such as a Scratch Pad for recording information and the option for immediate feedback on your progress. Learners can also choose from different levels of puzzle challenge. These puzzles were developed as part of the iSolveIt project at CAST (http://www.cast.org), an educational research & development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning (UDL)."

"My students -- who I surveyed last week in an attempt to gather some feedback about the unit overview sheets that my learning team developed together -- really dig the tool that we're using to give them opportunities to reflect on what they're learning."

"Rick Wormeli, author of Fair Isn't Always Equal and Differentiation, explains the difference between the two and how formative assessment helps you offer better feedback to your students."

"Google Docs makes it possible to create and share documents digitally. This is great for the classroom, but it can also be a management challenge if you have lots of students and lots of docs. Learn the best ways to share docs, properly use folders, create dropboxes for students, make handout folders for teachers, use comments to provide feedback and help students revise work, make use of the template gallery, and more. The paperless classroom is possible!"

"Last year my colleagues in the Special Education department and I did a faculty training on differentiating instruction.  We were grateful for the positive feedback.  Here is the 12-page handout and the PowerPoint from that presentatio"

"Along with reading, science, and mathematics classes, every student here at Haut Gap Middle School takes a course in how to be a Haut Gap student. For most students, the class is 40 minutes a day for nine weeks-even for returning students. But it can last 18 weeks for students who need extra time to nail concepts such as how to own up to mistakes, accept feedback, and apologize appropriately."

Interesting how this relates to the 5 step process and formative assessment! "What is Flow? Csikszentmihalyi has identified three conditions necessary to achieve a state of flow: The goals are clear (i.e. design an experiment which demonstrates xyz, write a persuasive essay, paint the ceiling of the chapel) The goals are attainable and within one's skillset and ability; and the challenge level and skill level are both high You get clear and immediate feedback so you can adjust your course"

The Central Texas Student Futures Project - formerly known as the Central Texas High School Data Center - is a research partnership of the Ray Marshall Center and a growing number of Central Texas independent school districts (ISDs). The project documents and analyzes the progress of Central Texas high school students as they move onto colleges and careers. It relies on a combination of student surveys and linked administrative records to improve feedback and policy and program alignment for Central Texas ISDs in preparing students for the demands of adulthood and success in the workplace.