Learners need time in which to implement their targets.

Without this the targets may disappear into the ether, never to be used in the way you intended.

While some conscientious learners can be relied on to implement their targets without additional support or specific time in which to do so, many learners do not have the skills or disposition to do this.

The problem is particularly acute when the demands of the curriculum encourage the teacher to move from unit to unit without affording time for reflection or target implementation.

A common scenario sees books being marked at the end of a unit, returned at the start of the next, replete with feedback, and the teacher then starting the new unit without giving learners any dedicated time in which to act on the feedback they’ve received.

Ideally, we want techniques we can use to help learners implement their targets and think carefully about the feedback they receive.

As the teacher, we need to consider how and when learners will have an opportunity to implement their targets.

And we need to think about this as part of our planning.

Here, we can remind ourselves of the D.I.R.T. technique, used widely to ensure implementation happens.

But you also might like to think about other ways in which you can weave target implementation into lessons.

For example, by circulating through the class during activities and reminding learners of their targets.

Or by planning lessons in which you work intensively with small groups of learners, helping them to implement their targets while the rest of the class work independently.

Or by having a class pot and giving every learner a token. When a learner has successfully applied their target, or spent time thinking about it, they put their token in the pot. When the pot is full, you know that everyone has acted on their target in some way or another.

Let’s now turn to D.I.R.T. and see how it works.

D.I.R.T. – Directed Improvement and Reflection Time

The idea is simple.

We set aside time in lessons, in which everyone’s focus is on reviewing feedback, reflecting on feedback and trying to implement feedback.

It doesn’t have to be every lesson. In fact, it may well not be.

But, for maximum impact, it’s a technique we want to use regularly.

For example, a primary school teacher might decide to have D.I.R.T. once a day for twenty minutes.

This time would then have a red box around it in the teacher’s planning, making it sacrosanct.

Every iteration would see the teacher and their learners focussing on reviewing, reflecting on and implementing feedback.

The teacher might circulate during this time, offering support to different learners.

Or they might work closely with one or two learners, helping them to understand what their targets mean and how to make effective changes in their work.

Another option would see the teacher working closely with a small group of learners who have all received feedback of a similar type.

However D.I.R.T. is used, it ensures that dedicated time is provided during which feedback and targets are everyone’s top priority.

This stops targets getting lost, being forgotten or being ignored.

Here are two examples, for illustration.

Example 1: An English teacher in a secondary school sees their Year 9 class four times a week

They decide to give over the first twenty minutes of every fourth lesson to D.I.R.T.

During this time, no new content is taught.

The only focus is on existing feedback and the targets learners are trying to implement.

The teacher explains what they are doing, and why, so that learners are on board with the process.

In addition, they decide in advance how their time will be best used – whether it involves circulating, scaffolding and modelling, or working with specific learners.

This changes from week to week in line with the needs of the class.

Over time, learners come to expect D.I.R.T. every fourth lesson.

They see it as part of their routine and, because of this, assume that reviewing, reflecting on and trying to implement targets is the norm – exactly what the teacher wants them to think.

Example 2: A PE teacher in a primary school turns the first ten minutes of their lessons over to D.I.R.T.

Because they don’t see their learners that often, they don’t always have time to give detailed individual feedback.

To overcome this, they create a list of ten targets for each D.I.R.T. session.

They print this off and bring it with them to the lesson.

As soon as D.I.R.T. begins, the teacher brings out the target list and invites learners to select one target to focus on trying to implement in the first ten minutes of the session.

The target lists are informed by the work learners have been doing in previous lessons, as well as the longer-term progress they are making.

This way, the teacher knows that each list has something for everyone.

While learners are trying to implement their chosen targets, the teacher moves around, offering advice and further feedback.

As with the previous example, learners get used to this over time, until they expect it to happen and therefore see it as the norm.