Thing 18: Student Assessment & Feedback Tools

Many of our professional development meetings are focusing on providing meaningful feedback for students.  My school recently purchased copies of the book Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan Wiliam.  I thought that the "chatroom" venue of TodaysMeet would be a good way to provide feedback to a quiet and thoughtful "discussion" of concepts.

We all know those students who have great things to say but never say them.  With TodaysMeet, some of those students feel more inclined to participate in meaningful discussion.  Creating a nickname helps.  For credit, I insist the student email me his/her nickname via our Google Classroom account.

I like to provide instant feedback to students' thoughts, suggestions, and questions and TodaysMeet allows me to do that.  It is sometimes easier, however, to have a few different rooms open with groups of students.  I can switch between "rooms"  to see how discussions have developed and then provide feedback.  With a large class participating at once, it can be quite overwhelming for both teacher and students.

One thing I find is that students like it.  Even in the most talkative classes I see students engaging in the quieter form of discussion and feedback.  Also, the "written" format allows for accountability.  For example, students are less likely to type derogatory comments to one another as I can review the conversations when filling out rubrics for grading.  Additionally, it cuts out the possibility of students interrupting one another.  ;)

What I like most about written discussions is that it allows my students to deeply process what they want to say.  Research has shown that when we are forced to put our ideas into written words it helps us to know the material better because we have to communicate the ideas to others in an understandable way.  

Anyway, back to the feedback point. :P  TodaysMeet is one way to directly embed feedback to students in "real time".  What a beautiful thing it is that I read and type much faster than my students and hence, I need to send shout-out to my typing teacher from high school.  Thank you Mrs. Geoca!!