Making pinch pots
CONTEXT
- The teacher education student is in the first year of a Master of Teaching degree.
- The teacher education student is completing her second teaching placement.
- This school is a small, comprehensive co-educational secondary school in a suburban area.
- This Year 8 Visual Arts lesson focuses on students making a pinch pot out of clay.
- The students are making their own pinch pots out of clay, after watching a teacher demonstration of the process.
Demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of providing timely and appropriate feedback to students about their learning.
EVIDENCE ANNOTATION
The teacher education student demonstrates 5.2.1 ‘Working towards graduate’ through:
- Giving constructive general and individual feedback to Year 8 Visual Arts students about their learning progress to move towards successful completion of their pinch pots (e.g., “Keep moving it (the clay) around” and “When you do your pressure, you want it to be on that side”).
- Providing appropriate encouragement to students (e.g., “Yes, that’s really good”).
- Moving around the classroom to monitor students’ progress and provide feedback as necessary.
- Reminding students (occasionally) about the success criteria for making pinch pots that were established earlier in the lesson (e.g., “Remember we want a smooth outside” and “Remember we don’t want to go too thin on the walls”) although the teacher education student could make more explicit connections to the goals of the lesson and provide clearer feedback to inform future learning.
This example also demonstrates 4.2.1 at the ‘Working towards graduate’ level as the teacher education student uses some students’ names and gives time limits for finishing different parts of the task and the task overall.
G: The goal for this teacher education student is 5.2.1.
R: The teacher education student is working towards 5.2.1 at graduate level.
O: What specific mentoring strategies could you employ with this teacher education student to help her move towards ‘Graduate achieved’ for 5.2.1?
W: What is the next step you would negotiate as a goal for this teacher education student? What will you do as a Mentor to help her achieve this goal?
G: To demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of providing timely and appropriate feedback to students about their learning and to move up on the 5.2.1 graduate continuum.
R: Which level of the graduate continuum are you currently at for 5.2.1? Refer to recent feedback you have received.
O: What specific actions could you take to improve your understanding and use of timely and appropriate feedback to students about their learning?
- Could you give more constructive and purposeful feedback to your students about their learning progress?
- Could you provide more encouragement to your students about their learning?
- Could you explicitly refer to the success criteria or goals of the lesson/learning to inform the feedback you give during or after the lesson?
- Could you observe other teachers to see how feedback on learning is provided in different subject areas and class levels?
W: What is your next step in improving your understanding and use of timely and appropriate feedback to students about their learning? Try to formulate a specific goal.