Mid-activity feedback is perhaps the most common form of verbal feedback.

The one we use the most when teaching.

This is where we give learners feedback while they are engaged in activities, with the intention of helping them to perform better, think deeper and do things differently than would otherwise be the case.

Here are seven strategies you can use to finesse your practice:

Strategy One

Identify in advance a handful of students to whom you would like to give feedback. During the activity, call these students up to your desk, one at a time.

Spend a few minutes talking to them about their work and delivering the feedback you feel will best help them. 

Strategy Two

If students are working in groups, ask each group to appoint an envoy.

Explain that during the activity you will call up envoys from different groups.

They should come to the front of the room to discuss their group’s work with you, whereupon you will provide feedback for them to take back and deliver to their peers.

Strategy Three

Choose one thing you want to give feedback on. For example, misconceptions, sentence structure or use of line when drawing.

Circulate through the room and give feedback to as many students as you like, but always keeping to the topic you identified at the beginning.

Not only does this benefit the students through the provision of expert information, but it also lets you focus your mind on a single area of your expertise.

Strategy Four

Sometimes it is useful to stop the activity mid-flow and deliver feedback to the whole class.

Learners can take a moment to reflect on this before you set the activity running again.

You should then circulate and observe whether learners are acting on the feedback you gave.

This is particularly useful if an activity is proving more difficult than you anticipated or if many learners are making similar mistakes.

Strategy Five

Take a pen and mini-whiteboard with you as you circulate.

When you spot a learner who you think would benefit from your feedback, use these to help you communicate effectively.

This sees you supplementing your verbal feedback with written or visual information.

For example, a geography teacher might give a learner feedback on how to talk more analytically about migration flows, then draw them a quick diagram as a reminder.

Strategy Six

Create a class set of lollipop sticks.

Each stick should have a different student’s name on it.

During activities, draw out sticks at random and give feedback to the students you select.

This approach is a modification of an AfL technique.

It means you avoid unconscious biases.

For example, you might unwittingly find yourself giving feedback to students who sit in the middle of the room more than those on the edges.

The lollipop method can help avoid this happening.

Strategy Seven

Keep a list in your head of those learners who would most benefit from an increased level of challenge.

When the activity is up and running, visit each of these learners in turn and give them a piece of feedback that will stretch their thinking or abilities.

For example, an English teacher might set up a persuasive writing activity, let it run for a short while, and then visit five learners in turn, using feedback to increase the level of challenge for each one.