Bill Gates on Teacher Feedback

I just finished watching Bill Gate's TED talk about teachers needing feedback. The Gates Foundation is funding the MET project (Measures in Effective Teaching) in order to provide teachers with the tools to improve. I know that written text cannot compare to a video but I will share with you a few of the things I noted down while watching it. Though I may not agree with everything that is said there were many points in this talk that I totally agree with.

- In almost every profession people receive systematic feedback. Teachers, however, do not.

- The only feedback they get is "satisfactory'

- How are teachers supposed to know who is the best, what they do differently...

- Teachers deserve better and so do their students

- The MET project will help teachers get all the tools they want and deserve.

- Feedback is very important because there is so much variation in the teaching profession.

- During the MET project research students were asked to fill in surveys answering questions such as "Does the teacher know when the class understands the lesson?" and "Do you know how to correct mistakes?". Teachers were rated by their peers on a variety of aspects.If,  for example, they asked students challenging questions or if they could find multiple ways to explain an idea. 

- The benefit of this project is that it leads to a path where all students can get a better education, find a career that is fulfilling and rewarding and have a chance to live out their dreams. 

Turn video clips into quizzes

ESL Video is a great site for creating video quizzes. Follow these simple steps to create a video quiz out of your (or your students') favourite song.

1. Register at http://eslvideo.com
2. Select "Create a Quiz" and fill in the details.You will need the embed code of the videoclip and a thumbnail image of the video. Youtube is the most popular source for videos.
3. Now you can start creating questions. Add the transcript and notes if you wish and you're ready. You can edit the quiz at any time by accessing your account.
4. Copy the embed code to embed in on your blog or website (a great idea for moodle users) or create a class within the eslvideo.com  site to access your students' scores.

Take a look at two video quizzes created for our students.