As a teacher, you're well aware that grading student writing is no small task. MI Write can assist in this endeavor by offering trait-specific evaluation and feedback for each of the six writing traits. Additionally, MI Write provides inline spelling and grammar suggestions. However, it’s important to note that MI Write’s automated scores and feedback are not meant to replace teacher feedback. In this article, we will explore various strategies for providing constructive and timely feedback to help students improve their writing.
Effective feedback should clearly communicate the goals, the student's progress, and the steps they need to take to make better progress.
Here are some suggestions for providing high-quality feedback on student writing:
1. Focus Feedback on the Task
When offering feedback, concentrate on the writing itself rather than the student. Avoid drawing attention to the student’s identity and steer clear of making comparisons to other students. Ensure that your feedback remains unbiased and objective. Connect your feedback to the writing task’s objectives and the student’s current performance. Avoid giving general praise with little task-related information.
2. Provide Specific and Clear Feedback
Vague and unclear feedback can be frustrating for developing writers. Keep your feedback simple and focused. For instance, offer three or four suggestions for improving the writing, emphasizing higher-order concerns like organization and support. Encourage multiple revisions, allowing you to start with broader ideas and address sentence-level issues in subsequent revisions.
3. Provide Goal-Directed Feedback
Utilize the MI Write rubrics to clarify the goals and help students understand their current performance and what they need to achieve to meet the writing goals. Share the rubrics in advance and discuss examples and non-examples to reduce any uncertainty about the task’s standards and expectations. After students submit their essays, use the MI Write Score Report and Writing Analysis in conjunction with your feedback to examine strengths and areas that need improvement.
4. Consider Multiple Levels of Feedback
In addition to task-related feedback, support deeper learning by providing feedback on the processes underlying the task. This type of feedback helps students identify flawed assumptions and guides them on how to plan their strategies. Similarly, offer feedback related to self-regulation, which involves students’ ability to generate self-directed feedback and self-evaluate their writing. This feedback can include their willingness to dedicate effort to obtain and address feedback, their confidence in their writing quality, their interpretation of success or failure, and their proficiency in seeking assistance when needed. Feedback on students’ processing of the task and self-regulation will help them generalize feedback and apply it to other writing tasks.
To illustrate these different levels of feedback, consider the following examples:
Task Level: How well did the student understand and execute the task? To what extent did the student achieve the goals of the writing task?
Example: Your goal was to structure your essay in chronological order. You began with the first event, but the order becomes confusing afterward. Try numbering the events and revise to ensure clarity. You could use transition words like "First," "Next," "Then," or "Last."
Process Level: What processes are necessary to perform the task? Are there alternative processes that can be used?
Example: You're struggling with the spelling of a word. Consider what strategies you've used before when you faced similar challenges. Reflect on the strategies we've discussed in class for handling unfamiliar words.
Self-Regulation Level: How well is the student monitoring and directing their processes and the task? What conditional knowledge is required to understand their actions?
Example: In your essay, you've included a claim, supporting ideas, counter-claims, and a conclusion, which demonstrates effective planning. However, make sure to proofread more thoroughly to catch minor mistakes. Also, consider revising your essays multiple times to refine and enhance your writing.