Feedback is an exceptionally important part of the learning process. While it can take many different forms, feedback may include learning conversations between teacher and student which encourage the student to own their learning and to find ways to move forward. Throughout these conversations the following three questions provide opportunities for self-reflection – a critical part of the feedback process. 

1. Where am I going?
2. How am I going there?
3. Where to next?

Recently my Year 12 students wrote a reflection on learning thus far in their English Advanced course. Below is one student’s – Gabriel Garcia’s – self-assessment.

 I am pleased with my improvement in creative writing this term. I have found myself more confident and alert to the features of good writing through the study of texts and I feel that my close reading skills have become more specified, so that I can pick up on specific linguistic techniques related to conceptual preoccupations within texts with greater ease. To develop my writing skills, I would like to experiment further with my writing to incorporate more complex and nuanced stylistic decisions in my writing. I would also like to demonstrate dexterity and an awareness of writing as a ‘craft’ more clearly by adapting my writing to various unseen prompts. I find that my creative writing can often meander and become overtly philosophical and too focused on the internal/mental experience. I would like to broaden my repertoire of stories to ensure that I can write to a broad range of stimuli with confidence and approach my writing with a less restrictive lens. I aim to do this by engaging with different writers who would not necessarily interest me, to learn of their unique writing styles and adopt some features into my own writing as a form of experimentation. I think this will be more fulfilling for me as a writer and student over the next term as I prepare for the HSC exams.

Over the next term I would like to continue ensuring that my writing is as clear, succinct, and precise as possible. I will also continue to make time to write across various forms and using different conceptual ideas to experiment and grow as a writer myself. I am seeking a little bit more discomfort in my writing process in the hopes of continuously improving and becoming more skilful in my use of language to effectively convey my ideas. I would also like to practise more reflective writing to ensure that I can link my knowledge of the ‘craft’ with conceptual and linguistic concerns from across the texts studied in the course and my own knowledge. Furthermore, I enjoy discursive writing and would like to discuss and share conceptual ideas with others and receive feedback on my own work from peers/others.

Mrs Clare Murphy

English Coordinator & Literacy Instructional Coach