Feed Forward Assessment

The concept of  “Feed Forward” is incredible in terms of education, and yet so fundamentally basic. Why haven’t we thought of this before? Where did we get lost in the mundane tasks of educating? I love this concept. I actually love the whole idea of evaluating myself as a teacher in the process of evaluating my students.  Where would I get if I just give feedback to my students without closing the loop? Their mistakes are my mistakes. 

This guy’s got it right. Although, he teaches middle school math, his whole process is what I wish to emulate. First, having the DRIVE and the PASSION to change the world (by teaching the younger generations).  Second, understanding the idea that teaching isn’t a one-way type of thing. It’s this crazy back and forth and back again of learning from each other. 

Being able to “feed forward” means to be flexible and humble; Level out with the students. Step away from the podium and engage.  Use their mistakes and opportunities to learn and use their mistakes as opportunities for THEM to learn.

I like Joe Hirsch’s concept of Description not Prescription, found here. Instead of the prescribed method correcting the wrong and moving on, we should be figuring out what we did wrong, how to fix it and how we’ve grown from it.

Basically, it’s about giving up the perception of Teacher Says, Students Do and joining their circle. As an educator, I bring the experience and opportunity and students bring everything else. I mean, they ARE the reason we teach, aren’t they!?

Explore the basics of assessment here. This webpage couldn't be more simple. It's bookmarkable. (ya like that?) Something I'd definitely reference in the future.