My driving question for Genius Hour was based around the topic of feedback in the classroom.

Key questions I considered when I began work on my Genius Hour investigations.

Feedback is a critical component to student learning and development. It is essential to know what it is, the different forms of feedback, how to use it in your classroom, and its full purpose. After reading, watching, and sharing my findings, I have come to a clear idea all of what true feedback is and how it improves learning in the classroom.

The basic definition known to mankind for the term "feedback"is, the information about how we are doing in our efforts to reach a goal.

Feedback can be broken into three parts. It is praise, advice, and evaluation. However, it is much more than those three words that will be revealed further.

Feedback needs to be consistent. Teachers need to provide feedback daily to their students. Students always need to have a goal to work with and how to work toward that goal with the praise, advice, and evaluation you offer to them.

Feedback needs to be ongoing. It never stops! Because learning never stops!

Feedback needs to be timely. It should be given immediately or as soon as possible. If teachers wait days, weeks, or months to deliver feedback all will have been lost, the purpose and meaning.

Feedback needs to progress towards a goal. Students need to know what to work toward. Some form of criteria needs to be offered for a student to have meaning and purpose to fulfill.

There are many types of feedback to give students. Some of these include: rubrics, 1 on 1 conferences with the teacher and the student, and check-ins.

Feedback needs to encourage and boost student confidence.

This is a technique used when talking with a student. It is a simple, yet meaningful approach to improve learning and boost confidence in students. Students will acknowledge a compliment initially, be corrected on what was done incorrectly by the teacher, and then is offered a finishing compliment by the teacher that will guide the student to continue to make changes in a positive direction.

How can you ensure students use the feedback you give them? After all, it takes quality time to grade and assess student work. So the big question for teachers is how is going to benefit my students? One way is to break apart assignments into stages that allow students to self reflect and evaluate their progress along the way. Second, it is important to let students be able to use the feedback you give them to talk with you about. It has the potential for a student to earn a higher grade if they can use their feedback to correct their mistakes. Lastly, it is important for students to be active participants in their learning. Therefore, students need to assess the feedback and make the changes they need to that will ultimately contribute to their learning.

The information I pulled together from my research contributed to this important message that is, if students feel it is a safe place to make mistakes, they are more likely to use feedback for learning. The classroom needs to feel safe and secure in order for students to be willing to make mistakes. If they aren't making mistakes, they aren't learning.

These are three questions teachers should be thinking that students would want an answer to. The first question is, Where am I going? What are the goals that the student is striving for. The second question is, How am I doing? What progress is being made to reach the goals of that student. The third and final question is, Where to next? What changes need to be made in order to reach that goal. If a teacher can help students answer these questions along the way, they will be more likely to use the feedback you give them that will benefit their learning and performance.

How to offer quality feedback can be a difficult feat for teachers. They want to be able to reach their students and help them learn and grow. However, how will they do that? One way is to clarify good performance on the criteria and goals that the students needs to meet. A second way is for students to self assess and reflect on their work. It is important for students AND teachers to evaluate their performance and make any changes that need to be made. A third way to offer quality feedback is through student and teacher dialogue. Students need to have a safe and secure relationship with teachers to share questions, concerns, problems, etc. that will help guide them in the right direction. Dialogue is a critical form of offering quality feedback and should be use more daily in the classroom. A fourth way to offer quality feedback is for students to act on the feedback that is given to them. Students need to hear feedback, act on it, and understand it for it to benefit them. If they can't use the feedback to make changes, it will have been meaningless.