What's the point with feedback?

Feedback is always a unique challenge - how much do we give? What do we prioritize? I'm always stuck at a crossroads when it's time to give feedback because I never know how much is the right amount. If I give too little, the student won't make any progress and may feel even more lost than they already were. If I give too much, the student might finish the task, but will they learn anything meaningful from it? It's tricky, for sure.

While it's always hard to know exactly how much feedback feels right and will help students, it's always reassuring to me to know that this is a work in progress for many teachers, not just me. Many of my colleagues have pointed out to me that they still struggle with feedback themselves, even after years of teaching. Maybe sometimes some feedback is better than others, but everybody's still working on it! Somehow, that's reassuring to me.

In the meantime, maybe it's good to focus feedback on getting students un-stuck, encouraging their work when need be, and helping see students see a connection they may have overlooked. Something great (or at least undeniable) about STEM is the benefit of having multiple pairs of eyes looking over work, and sometimes all it takes is a third party pointing out a rounding error, or subtraction instead of addition, for a student to feel like the power is once again in their hands. We don't need to be perfect, we just need to be honest, patient, and empowering!