Feedback Without the Weekend

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Teachers are very good at marking.

A page of comments. Three coloured pens. A carefully written target. Then the pupil looks at it for twelve seconds and closes the book.

Is the feedback causing pupils to think, or just causing me to write?

Good feedback should lead to action. That might mean whole-class feedback, live marking, a model answer, self-correction or pupils improving one section properly. The aim is not to mark less. It is to make the feedback work harder.

What could pupils do with feedback instead of simply receiving it?

Could they spot the mistake? Compare two answers? Rewrite a weak paragraph? Explain why one response is better? The more pupils do with feedback, the more useful it becomes.

What would the Lazy Teacher do?

Probably not spend Sunday evening writing “Explain this in more detail” thirty times. They might put three common problems on the board on Monday and make everyone fix them. The Lazy Teacher measures feedback by what pupils do next.