Brandon, thank you for sharing your practice. I also ride the line between theory and practice and experiment a lot inside of the classroom. I teach high school students. (I apologise that this comment ran a little long.)
It sounds like you're trying several different things but running into time and effort constraints. One approach to this which has worked well for me is to reduce the scope of my activities. In my writing class, none of my assignments are ever more than a page. This constraint forces revision while still allowing for creativity, and limits my workload for marking/feedback. Do the same things but do less of it. Maybe, rather than a letter, students design Notes for you (like in Substack but in your own software); one developed thought, rather than a letter.
Not all work needs to be submitted. Create some tension between work that is submitted, and therefor receives feedback, and that which is only intended for practicing new concepts.
Student conferences may happen once or twice a term but they are a huge investment of time to be out of the classroom. Much of the feedback is common across students. If you provide good written feedback, and then walk through examples of common mistakes with the whole class, then you arrive at the same point much more quickly. With a quick question for students of concern during breaks (for example), 'What did you think of my written feedback', I can see if they've taken it in. Most of the problems from feedback isn't that they don't understand, but that they don't read it.
For grading, all my assignments are out of 10, regardless of the task, except end-of-term submissions are worth 15. In part, this is to detach marks from perceived importance. As the only marks awarded are from submitted work, there are no fuzzy marking assessments for 'behaviour' and other intangibles. Good behaviour is a minimum expectation. My submission rate is close to 100%, without applying force.
Should you experiment? Yes, you must; the alternative is mind-numbing senselessness. When you experiment, you should optimise for both yourself and your students effort, where your life should get much easier and your students' experiences should feel more fun. I always try to, 'Do less but make it mean more'.
Ryan, thank you for the helpful comments. You give a lot of helpful advice. I’ve implemented some of these things in varying degrees, but my consistency at each of them sometimes wanes.
I put out a small survey to my students to see if they preferred in-person conferences as opposed to the forms we’ve done in the past. Half said they preferred the in-person chats. The other half said they didn’t have a preference between the options. We’ll see what I do moving forward.
Once again, thanks for the comment. I look forward to learning more!
I like hearing about your experiments! Something I miss about teaching high school is being able to structure my class around repeating weekly patterns. By contrast, middle school is all play by ear and adjusting day to day.
I don't have answers for the important questions you raise at the end of this thoughtful post. It is a problem, isn't it? Teaching is not a job like driving a bus. We don't necessarily risk our students' lives if our classroom "experiments" fail in the same way that a doctor might risk a patient's life. But just as a doctor might risk a patient's health, we risk our students' education, a risk that any caring teacher loathes taking. The care you show for your students comes across loud and clear. I suspect even your failed experiments are furthering their education.
You're right--"this wrangling of theory into practice" IS difficult. Especially in a "profession of balancing, never a profession of balance." Hang in there.
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comment. At the end of the day, I do think my students know that I care about them, and I hope that makes up for my mistakes. Teaching is such a tricky thing, but feels well worth it.
Brandon, thank you for sharing your practice. I also ride the line between theory and practice and experiment a lot inside of the classroom. I teach high school students. (I apologise that this comment ran a little long.)
It sounds like you're trying several different things but running into time and effort constraints. One approach to this which has worked well for me is to reduce the scope of my activities. In my writing class, none of my assignments are ever more than a page. This constraint forces revision while still allowing for creativity, and limits my workload for marking/feedback. Do the same things but do less of it. Maybe, rather than a letter, students design Notes for you (like in Substack but in your own software); one developed thought, rather than a letter.
Not all work needs to be submitted. Create some tension between work that is submitted, and therefor receives feedback, and that which is only intended for practicing new concepts.
Student conferences may happen once or twice a term but they are a huge investment of time to be out of the classroom. Much of the feedback is common across students. If you provide good written feedback, and then walk through examples of common mistakes with the whole class, then you arrive at the same point much more quickly. With a quick question for students of concern during breaks (for example), 'What did you think of my written feedback', I can see if they've taken it in. Most of the problems from feedback isn't that they don't understand, but that they don't read it.
For grading, all my assignments are out of 10, regardless of the task, except end-of-term submissions are worth 15. In part, this is to detach marks from perceived importance. As the only marks awarded are from submitted work, there are no fuzzy marking assessments for 'behaviour' and other intangibles. Good behaviour is a minimum expectation. My submission rate is close to 100%, without applying force.
Should you experiment? Yes, you must; the alternative is mind-numbing senselessness. When you experiment, you should optimise for both yourself and your students effort, where your life should get much easier and your students' experiences should feel more fun. I always try to, 'Do less but make it mean more'.
Ryan, thank you for the helpful comments. You give a lot of helpful advice. I’ve implemented some of these things in varying degrees, but my consistency at each of them sometimes wanes.
I put out a small survey to my students to see if they preferred in-person conferences as opposed to the forms we’ve done in the past. Half said they preferred the in-person chats. The other half said they didn’t have a preference between the options. We’ll see what I do moving forward.
Once again, thanks for the comment. I look forward to learning more!
I like hearing about your experiments! Something I miss about teaching high school is being able to structure my class around repeating weekly patterns. By contrast, middle school is all play by ear and adjusting day to day.
Thanks, Adam! I feel lucky to have a department, admin, and parents that are supportive of what I’m doing.
It’s so good to hear of Mary Oliver (a favorite!) and your classroom—all the luck, my friend.
Thanks, Braxton! I hope all is well with your work!
I don't have answers for the important questions you raise at the end of this thoughtful post. It is a problem, isn't it? Teaching is not a job like driving a bus. We don't necessarily risk our students' lives if our classroom "experiments" fail in the same way that a doctor might risk a patient's life. But just as a doctor might risk a patient's health, we risk our students' education, a risk that any caring teacher loathes taking. The care you show for your students comes across loud and clear. I suspect even your failed experiments are furthering their education.
You're right--"this wrangling of theory into practice" IS difficult. Especially in a "profession of balancing, never a profession of balance." Hang in there.
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comment. At the end of the day, I do think my students know that I care about them, and I hope that makes up for my mistakes. Teaching is such a tricky thing, but feels well worth it.