Providing immediate feedback during class allows dynamic learning to occur in real time. Here is one strategy teachers can use to address student needs immediately.
The 5-Minute Time-Out Strategy
During individual or collaborative work time, walk around with a clipboard for about 5–10 minutes. Sign off on acceptable work and look for
- What problem(s) or challenges seem to come up for most of the students? Where are they stuck? Are topic sentences still too basic? Are students forgetting to balance the equation? Are lab groups not measuring liquids properly?
- What examples of proficient, inspiring, innovative, or stellar work can you highlight? Highlights can and should help provide answers to student challenges. Have the student share during the time-out or ask the student if you can provide this highlight example for others to follow.
Do a mini-feedback session (using the 5-Minute Time-Out strategy) where you bring up one to three major challenges you've noticed, as well as highlight student work and examples of how to address those problems.
Point out a struggling student's good work in order to motivate the student to keep powering through the struggle. For a struggling student, this can be a game changer because too often teachers point out what these students can't do, reminding them that failure is just around the corner. Through something as simple as the 5-Minute Time-Out, we can change the story for many students and tell them success is just around the corner.
Have the students continue working in groups, individually, or in lab or workshop mode. Provide positive reinforcement for rewrites, continue signing off on completed work, and continue looking for patterns of student challenges. Continue highlighting great work.
Why This Works
By cycling this strategy during class time, students are able self-assess whether they need to edit their own work and address corrective feedback immediately. Make sure that your 5-Minute Time-Out is an official stop in the class; it's not a one-sentence reminder. Depending on how much time you allow in class, cycle this strategy and reassure students that "This. Is. Learning." By using the 5-Minute Time-Out on a regular basis, students understand that receiving feedback is all part of the learning process and that corrective feedback is not about attacking them personally.
Feedback Can Be Motivating
Knowlton (2017) highlights feedback that NBA coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors once gave to a struggling guard Stephen Curry during a 2-minute time-out:
"During the time-out, Kerr pulled Curry aside and showed him two figures on the stat sheet: his shooting totals, and his plus-minus number (or, how many points better or worse a team is with a given player on the floor). Although Curry's shooting was bad, Kerr wanted to show Curry that his plus-minus rating was still stellar. In other words, just having Curry on the court — even when his shots aren't falling — poses such a threat to the opposition that it inevitably makes the rest of the team better."
Kerr did two things:
- He was specific. He used two pieces of specific data as evidence when giving his feedback.
- He gave Curry an alternative way to look at his performance. Instead of focusing on the skill gap, he highlighted what his player was doing well in order to motivate him.
Modification 1
After you've incorporated the strategy above and students are accustomed to real-time feedback and what to do with it, have students share challenges. Strategically call on students you've seen struggle with a common problem you want to address. Strategically call on a proficient student who is struggling to show that struggle is normal. Address these challenges with teacher feedback and examples. Continue to workshop mode.
Modification 2
Collect your data on challenges and highlights as before, but only address proficient work or give kudos during the 5-Minute Time-Out. How does this positive spin on giving feedback help struggling students improve without directly referring to skill gap being addressed? Does this modification change your classroom climate? Are learners more willing to participate when the class and the teacher are focused on what students can do, versus what they can't do?
This modification has been tried and tested with a class of struggling students and a class of adult learners. It worked with both audiences; however, I found that pointing out the skill gap directly is often more effective with struggling learners.
Lighten Your Grading
Collecting patterns allows you to address student skill gaps without giving the same feedback to each student individually. With the 5-Minute Time-Out, students are able to address feedback immediately, and by the time students turn in the work, the class as a whole will have moved closer to achieving the expectation before handing out grades.