This year my administrators asked me to present a breakout session at the conference. EEEK! I mean, I can talk in front of ten-year-olds all day long, but a room full of adults...completely terrifying. I've presented some small pieces of professional development on my campus here and there, but this was even beyond that...a room full of adults that I don't know!
Thank goodness I was able to convince my colleague and friend to present with me. (Thanks again, Hobbs!)
We wanted to focus on technology integration and how it can support our assessment work, particularly in the area of Strategy 3: Effective Feedback. We know that, in the world of assessment, quality feedback given during the learning cycle has a positive impact on learning outcomes. It makes perfect sense - we see where we are, we receive feedback on how to improve, we act on the feedback, we try again getting closer to our target. So, we wanted to give teachers some super-easy ways to use technology to give students more effective feedback more efficiently.
Now, keep in mind that we designed this session specifically for teachers that are just BEGINNING to think about the possibilities for technology and feedback in their classroom. So, if you are a Google Guru, there is probably little in the rest of this post for you. (However, you might be surprised!) You can access a copy of our presentation here if you want to see more screenshots and examples.
1. Google Classroom - Questions
In Google Classroom, your three basic post choices are announcements, assignments, or questions. I use the question tool frequently in my room. I can ask students to respond to a basic question. The example I used in my presentation was an Inference of the Day. Students cannot see any other responses until they answer the question themselves. I can then reply to their answer to provide them with quality feedback. Typing this reply out quickly as students finish or even after school is soooo much faster than handwriting the same amount of feedback. I never write as much when I do it by hand! It also gives students the ability to reply back with questions or easily give a second attempt at answering the original question.
I take this a step further, after several days of modeling effective feedback, and have students begin giving each other peer feedback. This takes some practice, but as students develop these skills they begin clearly demonstrating their understanding of the criteria. It also provides students with opportunities to practice digital citizenship and speaking to one another in an online forum for academic purposes. As our world only seems to become more and more digital, these are skills students will need for the rest of their lives!
2. Google Docs (And All Other GSuite Tools)
Using the Comment Tool on any Google application (Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drawings) is a fantastic way to provide feedback during the learning cycle. If you utilize Google Classroom to distribute assignments, then you have easy access to every student's document. And because of the magic that is live Google documents, you can see them BEFORE they get to the final product. So, as the teacher, you can go to the assignment folder, click on any student's document, and easily see exactly where they are in the process of the assignment.
Then, using this nifty button (it's the speech bubble with a plus sign, if you can't see it), you can add a comment to provide students with feedback. Comments appear on the side of the document and do not interfere in any way whatsoever with the students' final product. Students can also easily use the reply button on your comment to acknowledge it, ask for clarification, etc.
*Side Note* During this part of our presentation, in both of our sessions we discussed the use of Google Drawings thoroughly. I think Google Drawing is way undervalued as an EdTech tool. I used it last year for paperless sorts like fact and opinion or types of sentences (as pictured below). My friend talked about how useful it is for science sorts. What other ways have you utilized Google Drawing?
4. Google Forms
Google Forms is an obvious choice for the feedback cycle. From the built-in response charts to the newer quiz features, Google Forms allows for instant multiple-choice feedback and enables you to quickly disaggregate data, conduct class discussions, and intervene on misconceptions. If you have never tried a Google Form for assessment, please try it...just once! I promise it is life-changing! And, did I mention, ZERO grading for you?! Yes, please! Google recently added a feedback feature on quizzes. For each question, you can now provide feedback that would be given for the correct answer and different feedback for the incorrect answers. (Now, I will say that it appears at this time that the same feedback would be given for ALL incorrect answers...so that could be better, but still pretty awesome!) You can even add links or YouTube videos directly to this feedback. So, say you have a division question. Your feedback could be a YouTube video reviewing the strategy you've learned in class. Instant feedback, specifically for that student, to help him get closer to the target!5. Google Forms with Flubaroo Add-On
Ok, so this is one that I love! Now, the Flubaroo Add-On (available in the Chrome Webstore) has been around for quite a bit at this point. In fact, I'm pretty sure that when it was created Flubaroo was made to make Google Forms into quizzes before that was an option directly in Forms. But, here's why I still love it:
- Allows for the ability to hand-grade certain questions and give individualized feedback. (Again, typing is so much faster than hand-writing).
- It makes a beautiful tab that organizes your grades and questions providing you with information such as which questions were low-scoring.
- It sends each student a Google Doc either directly to their Drive or by email. This shows them as little or as much information as you want them to have along with your comments. I found this feature particularly helpful because my students would upload this directly to SeeSaw (a digital portfolio that teachers, students, AND parents can all access). This provided parents with more information about what students were doing in class. Without this document, there is not really any evidence for parents to be able to see. And though this session is really about feedback to and for kids, it is also important that parents are kept in the loop and able to see evidence of learning!
6. Go Formative!
This is a brand-new one for me! I had never heard of Go Formative until Hobbs and I were putting together this presentation. And though it's not a Google tool, it works seamlessly with Google Classroom to help you give students authentic feedback during their learning. Hobbs showed us how she utilizes the whiteboard feature in math to have students show their work. Using this, she can provide specific feedback on where a calculation went wrong instead of making assumptions about what happened based on the multiple-choice answer that was chosen. The website also has a tool that allows you to upload PDF documents that students can then mark on. You can insert questions based on the document. I have yet to use this in my personal classroom, but my mind is reeling with ideas for the possibilities. If you have any awesome uses for Go Formative, please share!
Using technology to give students more immediate, more effective feedback during the learning process enhances the feedback cycle for all involved. Now, do you need to give ALL of your feedback digitally? Certainly not! But, there is definitely a time and a place for it. I hope if you've never considered giving students digital feedback, there is at least one strategy you'd be willing to give a try!
All in all, I'd say my first shot at presenting PD at a conference was a success. I might even do it again... 😉
💗~K.
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