We Care About Your Privacy
By clicking “Accept all”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy.
Feedback is the buzz-word and, as with most things, it is not being reinvented, but constantly readapted. In recent years, we see more formal national approach. One can become overwhelmed with the copious elements that need to be considered when feeding back to learners.
The key is to be clear a on what exactly you are feeding back on and how the ultimate goal will improve the individual child's learning. Feedback provides students with an evaluation of their work, either written or oral. It can be descriptive, but needs a clear layout in order to channel learners to focus on specific areas. It is important for students to establish clear goals in order to feed forward (use these evaluations to inform next steps). Feed forward gives learners a clearer idea of areas in need of development, which is crucial in goal setting. This is central to successful learning.
The attached template provides a useful tool for use with students to create an individualised learning chart. It includes visuals to understanding, important for EAL learners. The student is able to see areas that have improved and the learning goals to be worked on.
Lea Forest, my school in Birmingham, has been using the Learning Village for over three years. It has proved a highly effective learning and teaching resource, with the children making strong progress. The Learning Village asked us to pilot its newest feature: the Sentence Analyser!
We were seeking a resource that would help us teach the average 75,000 words needed for the children’s language to flourish and to deepen their morphology skills. We thought the Sentence Analyser may be a useful resource.
Moving to and joining a new school is daunting for any child. It is essential that schools have procedures in place to support new arrivals with this transition (discussed in detail in our article here). However, it is important to consider that their parents may also be experiencing a similar transition, without necessarily having a network of support. If support is not provided, there is the potential for parents to struggle to access education, find employment and be part of the school or wider community.
I will never forget the ‘feelings’ I experienced during my EAL teacher training, when I sat in a class with a tutor who entered the room with a basket of goodies and greeted us in Swedish. My immediate reaction was one of confusion, which then led to frustration and finally a sense of hopelessness, before I even realised that I was actually expected to experience learning some Swedish without a single word of English allowed in the classroom.