Feedback is essential for learning. Feedback from our
\nenvironment and peers enables us to walk, talk, read, and write. It\u2019s only
\nnatural that in our later years we still require feedback to learn. When it
\ncomes to English writing, teachers need to give effective feedback so students
\ncan learn from all the things they did right or wrong. <\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
Commenting on students writing does take a good chunk of
\ntime, but it will certainly do your students good down the road.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s downright impossible to give meaningful feedback
\nwithout a clear goal set in place. Students need to know which area to focus
\non. A vague directive such as \u201cWrite a
\ngood descriptive essay\u201d is meaningless. List down what \u201cgood\u201d means so students
\nunderstand what to include in their work. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s an example of clear directives when you ask students
\nto write a descriptive paragraph of a place:<\/p>\n
Praise is an excellent way to start constructive feedback on
\nstudents writing. It makes the students
\nmore open for our criticism later on. Go back to writing task directives and
\npoint out on which part the students did well. Let the students know what their
\nstrengths are so they can build upon them.<\/p>\n
Let say one student put too much focus on his sights when describing
\na place. Show him how to describe the place using his other senses. For
\nexample, in a restaurant, you can hear people ordering food and having
\nconversations. You can smell the food being cooked in the kitchen and the food
\nthe waiter is bringing to the table next to you.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
Please remember that it may not be possible to have the
\nstudents fix all their weaknesses right away. it\u2019s nothing to worry about. It\u2019s
\ngood enough when they can fix one thing at a time. And that brings us to the
\nnext step\u2026<\/p>\n
Your feedback is not something for the students to put in a
\nfar corner of their mind to gather dust. Ask them to use the feedback on their next
\nwriting task. And when should you ask them to write again? As soon as possible,
\nof course.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s always worth it to have weekly writing assignments
\nplanned out so students have ample chances to improve their writing skills. If
\nyou think weekly assignments are too much work, you can loosen the schedule a
\nbit to every other week.<\/p>\n
Since your feedback focuses on the criteria you\u2019ve set for
\nthe writing task, you may not have enough time to help them correct bad grammar
\nand spellings. Let your students know there are online tools that can help them
\nwith correcting misspellings and bad grammar. One such tool is the online-spellcheck.com. Teach them
\nto build the habit of checking their writing using the tool before submitting
\nthe piece to you.<\/p>\n