Stepping on the Scale

There's an old saying along the lines of "you don't fatten up a pig by weighing it." Usually this is said in the context of standardized testing, making the point that we shouldn't sacrifice instructional time in favor of testing time, as we need to "feed" students knowledge for them to grow.

But if we extend this analogy, while we might give a pig food to eat, ultimately it has the choice whether to ingest it. Likewise, that food might not be what that pig needs to gain the weight it needs in a timely way. Just putting food in front of the pig doesn't guarantee a good outcome.

And to be clear, students are certainly NOT pigs. 

So, how do we recognize what is enticing, helpful, etc. for students? It is by continuously evaluating our actions and our students response to them, and having conversations around this evidence. This is in alignment with recent findings about the best way to boost teacher efficacy: seeing actual improvement in students’ learning as a result of specific classroom practices. In “The Past and Future of Teacher Efficacy”, Thomas Guskey describes a study showing positive results for those teachers who give frequent formative assessments and immediately follow up with students below mastery (80%). 

While assessment is not a goal unto itself and our students are certainly more than their numbers, frequent "weighing" coupled with immediate feedback is the way to help students AND teachers grow! The more frequently teachers receive targeted feedback on student performance in direct response to their lessons, and the more they provide targeted feedback to students in return, the better.

So, how can you do this easily? 

• A favorite strategy is to use "piles" for things like entry or exit tickets. Rather than spend time grading formative assessments, teachers sort the assignments into stacks--perhaps students who fully, kind of, or don't "get it"--and then plan to follow up with small groups based on which students need what supports. Using Google forms or even Kahoots can quickly provide this data too!
• If you feel the need to provide detailed feedback or examples, commit to a few things to share and reuse! You could use Mote to provide audio feedback--if you use Google Classroom, you can save detailed feedback in the comment bank--and quickly insert/reuse the file. Provide a few minutes in class for students to listen, reflect, and plan to implement the changes for maximum impact.