How to improve feedback in the classroom

Giving and receiving feedback in the classroom creates an optimal learning experience for both students and teachers. Students need feedback about their performance and skills to continue to learn and grow, while teachers can use feedback to improve their lesson plans and curricula.

As a teacher, how are you integrating feedback into your teaching processes? Consider these tips to start a new feedback program or improve your current one.

Pro Tip

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Benefits of feedback for teachers and students

Feedback is an integral part of effective learning. Here are a few reasons why it’s essential for both students and teachers.

Students 

Students benefit from feedback because it

  • Gives clear direction on how to improve learning
  • Ensures they have a firm understanding of the subject matter
  • Supports their academic progress and success
  • Can improve their self-awareness and self-confidence

Giving students feedback provides them with insights that help them and their parents see opportunities for growth and improvement. A letter grade offers limited information about the student’s overall performance, which is why teachers should pair letter grades with an effective, detailed feedback system.

Teachers 

At the same time, teachers can use classroom feedback to improve their approach to teaching. Teacher feedback can come in the form of formal reviews by the school administration, but it can also be less formal and come from students and parents. 

Teacher feedback 

  • Helps teachers adjust and adapt lessons to a student’s immediate needs
  • Gives teachers a fuller sense of student progress to determine if the class is on track to meet annual goals
  • Helps identify areas where teachers can capitalize on learning opportunities
  • Provides a built-in opportunity for self-assessment and measuring personal career growth

Many teachers implement an ongoing student and parent feedback system to collect information throughout the year.

Types of feedback for the optimal classroom experience

Integrating different kinds of classroom feedback is helpful for students with unique learning styles and personalities. By incorporating the following feedback process into your classroom, you can create a positive, collaborative learning experience for your students:

  1. Appreciation. Before delivering feedback to a student, start by expressing gratitude for their participation in creating a positive environment. An appreciative comment helps the student feel respected, so they’re more open to other feedback they receive.
  2. Sayback. The next step is to validate the student’s work by restating comments they’ve made or referring to specific work they’ve done. Repeating student comments or concerns shows that you’re listening and helps to validate the suggestions you offer.
  3. Questions. Asking thoughtful questions engages students in a conversation and helps you learn more about their situation on a deeper level.
  4. Guidance. As you evaluate classroom feedback and share suggestions with each student, create a clear pathway forward. Outlining the next steps gives students a direction to follow and shows that you’re proactively working to support them.
  5. Encouragement. Ending an interaction with words of encouragement shows that you’re invested in your students’ success. Not only do you support the students in their efforts, but you also display your commitment through the steps you’re taking to improve the classroom environment overall.

Leveraging automation to collect classroom feedback

The benefits of giving and receiving feedback may be clear, but teachers often find it challenging to implement a feedback system when they’re already managing many other responsibilities each day.

You have a limited number of hours in each day, which is why time-consuming manual processes often fall to the bottom of the priority list. You might think that you don’t have the time or energy to implement a new classroom feedback program. But the process can be simple when you leverage automation.

Jotform offers a variety of online school forms to support teachers and educators. You can use these feedback forms and easily organize the information using Jotform Tables. You can also use digital forms for surveys, progress reports, evaluations, and other education workflows.

Choose a pre-designed template from the thousands of education forms available. Then customize the form to include your preferred fields and questions. Alternatively, you can design an education form from scratch with our user-friendly form-creation tools.

Online forms are a teacher’s best friend. Jotform offers no-code solutions at an affordable price, with a 50 percent discount for teachers and educators.

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