Why the Voice?

Why the Voice?

As teachers, we give our students feedback through the work they do in the classroom and when talking to them about their behaviors. Think back to when we were growing up; we would hear different types of feedback from our parents, grandparents, adults, friends, family, and siblings. Everyone had a voice and what was going on in our lives, but there was one thing in common: our response to the feedback given.

The word change illuminated in white and reflected on a tiled floor.
Photo by Nick Fewings / Unsplash

In education, we can see feedback as different types of information. Feedback can be shown from our student's voices, exit tickets, and the administration. Know Thy Impact says, "When we monitor how much academic feedback students receive in a typical class, it's a small amount. Students hear the social, management, and behavior feedback, but they hear little feedback about tasks and strategies." pg 2. When reading that, I was able to look back and realize I did as well when I caught myself trying to manage different things in the classroom when there was not another adult in the room that my students got enough feedback—looking through my capstone notes of where I was able to focus on the input and looking at the behaviors as well. I could only give feedback on the lesson and different strategies if they were in my small group or class setting.

From this, I like the idea of setting time in the class period for feedback that is about the task and different strategies for the students. I feel this would set more structure with the high schoolers and be able to set a schedule since they are always looking at the time of the class. Also, if their peers are providing feedback on how they understand, they are most likely to listen to their peers.