Why not structure your planning so that learners have the chance to implement their targets during the following lesson, and to do so through an appropriate activity?
For example, a graphic design teacher might give learners feedback about how to follow a design brief.
Every learner would receive a target, and the teacher would then plan a lesson in which learners receive a new brief to work on.
Their goal is to implement their targets while working on this new brief.
This is how activity-based implementation works.
We can sum it up in four steps:
- Learners produce a piece of work.
- Teacher gives feedback on this work.
- Teacher plans a lesson where the main activity gives learners a chance to implement their targets.
- Learners receive their feedback, review their targets, and try to implement them in the main activity.
You can use it in nearly any context, and it ensures learners have an immediate opportunity to act on their feedback.
This keeps targets fresh in their minds, avoids feedback disappearing into the ether, and allows for active practice.
The only downside of activity-based implementation is that you do need to think ahead.
This means planning in advance for the four-step process outlined above.
While this isn’t onerous, it does mean you need to be on the ball, otherwise you might find yourself struggling to plan an appropriate activity (step 3) through which learners can implement their targets.
With that said, it is a drawback easily overcome.
And one that often disappears once you are familiar with the technique.
Here are two examples to illustrate how the approach works.
Activity-Based Target Implementation – Example 1
A religious studies teacher takes in a set of essays learners have written about the relationship between religion and science.
They mark these and then plan a lesson in which learners have a new essay to write, focussing on the relationship between religion and politics.
The work is returned to learners at the start of the session.
The teacher gives time for learners to review their feedback and to think about what their targets mean.
They then lead a whole-class discussion briefly examining how best to implement targets when writing essays.
The remainder of the lesson sees learners researching, planning and writing their essays – all the time thinking about their targets and how they can implement these successfully.
Activity-Based Target Implementation – Example 2
An economics teacher sets learners a series of exam questions to answer.
They take these in, mark them and then plan a lesson in which learners must work through a set of similar questions, but focussing on different content.
The marked work is returned to learners, who read through their feedback and discuss it with a partner.
The teacher then invites learners to interview two further peers and to ask them what feedback they received, what their target suggests about their most recent efforts, and how they think they can best act on this.
It is a process that helps all learners to articulate, edit and refine their thinking.
The lesson then moves on, with the teacher introducing the new exam-style questions and inviting learners to attempt these while also trying to implement their targets.
