Thursday, November 11, 2010

Feedback - improving student-teacher relationship

When I had my students (grade 8) reflect on the research project, each having an individual thread in a discussion forum in our class Moodle, I was really focusing on having them think more deeply about the process.  But what I discovered was that it also connected us more tightly - teacher and students. 

In the f2f classroom, I see 20 or 25 faces; I can talk to each of them during a class period, but it has to be fast, and there are always interruptions.  Online, responding to their reflections, I get to talk to each one, thinking about what each student needs right now.  And each one gets what they really want:  undivided personal attention.  That sibling-like jockeying for teacher attention drops away.  Wow.

Serendipity strikes again.

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