Seven Things to Remember about Feedback

There are some very useful ideas here! Re: item 2, I personally don't think it's practical to separate praise from feedback (I'm more of a believer in Carol Dweck's notion of "process praise"), and re: item 6, I know students can learn to give excellent feedback (although that takes practice, too, like any kind of skill). Read through the items transcribed below and see what you think.

1. Feedback is not advice, praise, or evaluation. Feedback is information about how we are doing in our efforts to reach a goal. (Grant Wiggins, page 10)

2. If students know the classroom is a safe place to make mistakes, they are more likely to use feedback for learning. (Dylan Williams, page 30)

3. The feedback students give teachers can be more powerful than the feedback teachers give students. (Cris Tovani, page 48)

4. When we give a grade as part of our feedback, students routinely read only as far as the grade. (Peter Johnston, page 64)

5. Effective feedback occurs during the learning, while there is still time to act on it. (Jan Cappuis, page 36)

6. Most of the feedback that students receive about their classroom work is from other students - and much of that feedback is wrong. (John Hattie, page 18)

7. Students need to know their learning target - the specific skill they're supposed to learn - or else "feedback" is just someone telling them what to do. (Susan Brockhart, page 24)

Source. The collecdtive wisdom of authors published in September 2012 issue of Educational Leadership, "Feedback for Learning" (Volume 70, issue 1).