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Flash Feedback: Responding to Student Writing Better and Faster – Without Burning Out
Beat Burnout with Time-saving Best Practices for Feedback For ELA teachers, the danger of burnout is all too real. Inundated with seemingly insurmountable piles of papers to read, respond to, and grade, many teachers often find themselves struggling to balance differentiated, individualized feedback with the one resource they are already overextended on―time. Flash Feedback seeks to alleviate these struggles by taking teachers to the next level of strategic feedback by
176 pages, Paperback
Published March 20, 2020
52 people are currently reading
238 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Johnson
230 books13 followersLibrarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Matthew 2^ Johnson: GR Author, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic Realism
Matthew 3^ Johnson: GR Author, Fantasy
Matthew 4^ Johnson: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories
Matthew 5^ Johnson: Organic Life
Matthew 6^ Johnson: Biography for Children, History
Matthew 2^ Johnson: GR Author, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic Realism
Matthew 3^ Johnson: GR Author, Fantasy
Matthew 4^ Johnson: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories
Matthew 5^ Johnson: Organic Life
Matthew 6^ Johnson: Biography for Children, History
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
August 2, 2020
Loved it!! Can’t wait to keep learning from Matthew as part of Indiana State Literacy Association 2020 Virtual Conference in September. A great investment to own.
August 10, 2023
This was a quick read with lots of valuable tips and suggestions that will hopefully make my feedback and grading a little more efficient this year.
July 10, 2023
While this book was mainly aimed at English/ELA teachers, I found several of Johnson's suggestions to be worthwhile for my History class and I could see their application for other humanities classes too. I appreciated Johnson's grounded approach, giving useful, practical suggestions and screenshots from the trenches without claiming silver bullets or miracles.
In particular, I took away suggestions like 1) permission not to grade grammar each and every time writing is turned in to me, 2) to assign more writing than I grade, 3) to make fewer comments that are deeper and more personal, 4) to use canned responses and rubrics only if they make sense to students, 5) to use focus areas to improve specific areas of writing while allowing teachers to respond to fewer parts of a paper/writing, 6) have students do reflection and self-feedback even before turning in writing (or conferencing), 7) use the Describe-Evaluate-Success model (this was my favorite suggestion) to make comments and paths to improvement much clearer, 8) make the students do the majority of the fixing after we've pointed other the error or place for growth, and 9) to use mentor texts of varying quality to see both how to potentially improve and how to use skills taught in a practical piece of writing. None of that is revolutionary or necessarily even new, but this was a great summer reminder to teach writing better and more effectively without burying myself under lots of new grading.
In particular, I took away suggestions like 1) permission not to grade grammar each and every time writing is turned in to me, 2) to assign more writing than I grade, 3) to make fewer comments that are deeper and more personal, 4) to use canned responses and rubrics only if they make sense to students, 5) to use focus areas to improve specific areas of writing while allowing teachers to respond to fewer parts of a paper/writing, 6) have students do reflection and self-feedback even before turning in writing (or conferencing), 7) use the Describe-Evaluate-Success model (this was my favorite suggestion) to make comments and paths to improvement much clearer, 8) make the students do the majority of the fixing after we've pointed other the error or place for growth, and 9) to use mentor texts of varying quality to see both how to potentially improve and how to use skills taught in a practical piece of writing. None of that is revolutionary or necessarily even new, but this was a great summer reminder to teach writing better and more effectively without burying myself under lots of new grading.
June 28, 2023
I thought Flash Feedback was okay. I was hoping for some groundbreaking information to help me save time and provide better feedback, but there isn’t really a lot of new information here. I already do most of what he says. There was some useful information, so it wasn’t a waste of time but just not what I had hoped for.
I also was not a fan of how he would constantly mention how his class is so different from all the teachers the students have had before. Maybe it is true, but the implication that he is the best was a little off putting.
I also was not a fan of how he would constantly mention how his class is so different from all the teachers the students have had before. Maybe it is true, but the implication that he is the best was a little off putting.
February 6, 2021
This book solidified my understanding of the challenges of feedback cycles and some realistic ways to overcome those challenges. Many of the recommendations are already in my toolkit, but I have a few fresh insights for revisiting my practices based on Johnson's work.
I'll be reading and rereading this in prep. for facilitating a book study for Maine ELA teachers in March and April. Here's to honing our craft!
I'll be reading and rereading this in prep. for facilitating a book study for Maine ELA teachers in March and April. Here's to honing our craft!
October 7, 2021
I have no doubt I'll be keeping this one close & will re-read it this summer when I have more time to absorb it. Matthew M. Johnson lays out a clear path to offering more frequent and more productive feedback to writers without making it take more time. I've already been sort of bushwhacking my way towards this philosophy even before I took my 6 year stay-at-home-mom hiatus from teaching, but I'm really grateful for his clear, concise, effective instructions for how to make my writing feedback more focused and effective. He has the right idea.
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September 18, 2022Meh. Some practical tips in early chapters. Redundant and preachy as chapters progress.
August 22, 2025
This book was great! I saw Matthew Johnson a few years ago during my time in the MAT program through the Ohio Writing Project at Miami University. Like the program, Johnson's work and sessions were useful, practical, and inspiring in their own necessary way.
If you're a teacher and wondering how to do it all with fewer resources and less time--this book is for you. I have a feeling it will only become more timely as the world turns.
If you're a teacher and wondering how to do it all with fewer resources and less time--this book is for you. I have a feeling it will only become more timely as the world turns.
February 28, 2021
Every English teacher should read this book! Wow! Johnson shares exact thoughts I have had about my workload and grading, and calls teachers (read: me) out for their ineffective feedback practices. I am thankful I read this; I have a whole new understanding of the role of feedback in the classroom and a new list of strategies that will help both me and my students moving forward. I loved this so much that I am creating a one-pager with the key takeaways that I can send to my department. I can’t wait to give some of this a whirl! Yay for growth!
May 28, 2024
The title of the book doesn’t accurately reflect all of the information provided in it; it’s about much more than how to provide effective and efficient feedback. It’s about building relationships with our students and cultivating a safe space for our students to make mistakes and grow as human beings.
Matthew Johnson begins with an empathetic position on what it feels like to be an overwhelmed English teacher who must grade countless writing assignments. He continues with practical, pedagogical advice that I can’t wait to implement into my classroom in the fall: offer targeted writing practices, encourage visual outlines, and promote student engagement through class collaboration and communication. I’ve tabbed several of his rubrics, writing assignments, and reflection questions to use in my 10th grade English classroom come August. I was feeling pretty burnt out at the end of the previous school year, but Johnson’s encouragement and obvious passion for teaching writing left me feeling eager to make some much-needed changes to the way I teach writing.
However, I have a few grumbles about the impracticality of *some* of Johnson’s ideas. For one, the idea of co-constructing rubrics with students is a little too idealistic for me. While I appreciate the sentiment of community building and empowering student voice and choice, the reality is that creating varied rubrics across class periods and assignments would not only be discouraged if not disallowed in many school districts—including my own—they would also cause many headaches with students and parents who would have many questions about how/why a student in 1st period is being evaluated using a rubric different from what was created in 4th period. I don’t know about y’all, but I certainly don’t have enough time on my hands to conference with parents to explain the pedagogical reasoning behind using different rubrics for each class period. I think this strategy would be best implemented at the college level. Using varied, unique-to-each-class rubrics in secondary English classrooms just doesn’t work in the face of curriculum requirements and parent perceptions.
Additionally, I find myself frustrated at Johnson’s lack of acknowledgment of standardized writing assessments. I truly wish I could implement all of his ideas because I believe they would result in a safe, equitable, and productive learning environment for students. I also believe that real writing doesn’t come from formulaic outlines. However, many students—at least those in 9th and 10th grade in the state of Texas where I live and work—have a standardized STAAR exam waiting for them at the end of the year. Without those stifling (because yes, I do believe they are stifling in more ways than one) formulas, many students would feel unprepared to face such an intimidating test that determines their ability to graduate high school. Also, now that students’ writing on STAAR exams is being graded by AI, formulas are going to become all the more encouraged in English classrooms to ensure our students can pass the writing assessments that are graded by computers.
I know this book was published in 2020 before AI programs like ChatGPT were made commonplace, and I’m sure Johnson would have much to say about these things now. However, it’s so important to acknowledge how the increasing use of AI is going to affect our ability to teach writing. Some of the ideas in this book will have to be reassessed and reimagined as AI continues developing and changing education.
Matthew Johnson begins with an empathetic position on what it feels like to be an overwhelmed English teacher who must grade countless writing assignments. He continues with practical, pedagogical advice that I can’t wait to implement into my classroom in the fall: offer targeted writing practices, encourage visual outlines, and promote student engagement through class collaboration and communication. I’ve tabbed several of his rubrics, writing assignments, and reflection questions to use in my 10th grade English classroom come August. I was feeling pretty burnt out at the end of the previous school year, but Johnson’s encouragement and obvious passion for teaching writing left me feeling eager to make some much-needed changes to the way I teach writing.
However, I have a few grumbles about the impracticality of *some* of Johnson’s ideas. For one, the idea of co-constructing rubrics with students is a little too idealistic for me. While I appreciate the sentiment of community building and empowering student voice and choice, the reality is that creating varied rubrics across class periods and assignments would not only be discouraged if not disallowed in many school districts—including my own—they would also cause many headaches with students and parents who would have many questions about how/why a student in 1st period is being evaluated using a rubric different from what was created in 4th period. I don’t know about y’all, but I certainly don’t have enough time on my hands to conference with parents to explain the pedagogical reasoning behind using different rubrics for each class period. I think this strategy would be best implemented at the college level. Using varied, unique-to-each-class rubrics in secondary English classrooms just doesn’t work in the face of curriculum requirements and parent perceptions.
Additionally, I find myself frustrated at Johnson’s lack of acknowledgment of standardized writing assessments. I truly wish I could implement all of his ideas because I believe they would result in a safe, equitable, and productive learning environment for students. I also believe that real writing doesn’t come from formulaic outlines. However, many students—at least those in 9th and 10th grade in the state of Texas where I live and work—have a standardized STAAR exam waiting for them at the end of the year. Without those stifling (because yes, I do believe they are stifling in more ways than one) formulas, many students would feel unprepared to face such an intimidating test that determines their ability to graduate high school. Also, now that students’ writing on STAAR exams is being graded by AI, formulas are going to become all the more encouraged in English classrooms to ensure our students can pass the writing assessments that are graded by computers.
I know this book was published in 2020 before AI programs like ChatGPT were made commonplace, and I’m sure Johnson would have much to say about these things now. However, it’s so important to acknowledge how the increasing use of AI is going to affect our ability to teach writing. Some of the ideas in this book will have to be reassessed and reimagined as AI continues developing and changing education.
March 24, 2023
This is a very worthy book to read. So many notes in my copy. Lots of "Steal this!" Johnson has a ton of good ideas and practical educational philosophy in here that will most assuredly make anyone's classroom better.
Yes, if you have been reading the PD space of ELA, you might be familiar with a lot of the sources Matthew Johnson uses for this book, but his own journey and thoughts are very much worth the read. There are great things to ponder and use for one's own classrooms.
Another small criticism is the title. There are ways to make feedback more efficient in this book, but Johnson does a wonderful job arguing for considered authenticity. I know the title was probably chosen for its "flashiness," but a more descriptive title would have been something like: "Authentic Feedback That Works with a Teacher Schedule and Helps Students Become Better Writers." You can see right there the problem with that title. Anyhoo: the title did totally worked for me. All ELA teachers know what it is like to be so gung-ho about helping our students that we don't realize how much work we have put into reading and the value students are getting out of it. (So much more to say on that!)
Great book. Great writing. I will most assuredly read the next thing Johnson writes. He has proven himself to be a very, very creative and thoughtful educator who clearly wants what is best for his students.
Yes, if you have been reading the PD space of ELA, you might be familiar with a lot of the sources Matthew Johnson uses for this book, but his own journey and thoughts are very much worth the read. There are great things to ponder and use for one's own classrooms.
Another small criticism is the title. There are ways to make feedback more efficient in this book, but Johnson does a wonderful job arguing for considered authenticity. I know the title was probably chosen for its "flashiness," but a more descriptive title would have been something like: "Authentic Feedback That Works with a Teacher Schedule and Helps Students Become Better Writers." You can see right there the problem with that title. Anyhoo: the title did totally worked for me. All ELA teachers know what it is like to be so gung-ho about helping our students that we don't realize how much work we have put into reading and the value students are getting out of it. (So much more to say on that!)
Great book. Great writing. I will most assuredly read the next thing Johnson writes. He has proven himself to be a very, very creative and thoughtful educator who clearly wants what is best for his students.
July 29, 2021
Feedback should provide a path forward, not an autopsy.
Author Matthew Johnson referenced a study stating that the average writing teacher spends around 360 hours a year providing feedback to students. Yikes! At the same time, true! I am one of those teachers and so I took it upon myself to identify some ways to better the feedback I provide and shorten the amount of time it take me.
Flash Feedback is filled with great reminders, but not necessarily cutting-edge or never-thought-of-before suggestions. Most of the suggestions were logical and timely and will surface in my classroom in some capacity. Favorites included: 1) Highlighting key, repeated errors, but not fixing them (giving students a chance to address the needed changes themselves, 2) Increasing exploratory writing that is necessary, but not evaluated, especially at the beginning of the year, 3) Building comment banks for predictable struggle points, 4) Reminding myself to "teach the writer, not the writing," and 5) Adding a "your goals" section to graded rubrics.
There are many great texts out there for ELA teachers. This one is good, but not great; however, it may be worth a read. Recommended for teachers GR 6 and up.
Author Matthew Johnson referenced a study stating that the average writing teacher spends around 360 hours a year providing feedback to students. Yikes! At the same time, true! I am one of those teachers and so I took it upon myself to identify some ways to better the feedback I provide and shorten the amount of time it take me.
Flash Feedback is filled with great reminders, but not necessarily cutting-edge or never-thought-of-before suggestions. Most of the suggestions were logical and timely and will surface in my classroom in some capacity. Favorites included: 1) Highlighting key, repeated errors, but not fixing them (giving students a chance to address the needed changes themselves, 2) Increasing exploratory writing that is necessary, but not evaluated, especially at the beginning of the year, 3) Building comment banks for predictable struggle points, 4) Reminding myself to "teach the writer, not the writing," and 5) Adding a "your goals" section to graded rubrics.
There are many great texts out there for ELA teachers. This one is good, but not great; however, it may be worth a read. Recommended for teachers GR 6 and up.
July 9, 2021
Johnson draws heavily on Kelly Gallagher, Donald Graves, and other scholars in composition theory and pedagogy (particularly with the workshop model) in his book. This isn’t a complaint, and I’ve read some of what he referenced previously, or I have some of them in my tbr pile. I also bought a couple of his suggestions to read later. You don’t need to have read these scholars and teachers to get good benefits. For me, having read them, it help recall thoughts I’d had previously about things I wanted to implement, and seeing how he does things was really helpful. His writing is also approachable and clear.
I found his pedagogical approach very affirming, as I do several things he suggests in regards to structuring class and approaching writing and feedback in the classroom.
If you love Kittle and Gallagher, you’ll likely appreciate this book. If you haven’t read them yet, do! I do think it’ll add needed depth to your reading of his work that may be missing if you haven’t read or seen them in pd. It’s not necessary for you to read them at all, but like I said I got more out of it bc I could recall what I remembered of their work, in addition to what he said about it.
I found his pedagogical approach very affirming, as I do several things he suggests in regards to structuring class and approaching writing and feedback in the classroom.
If you love Kittle and Gallagher, you’ll likely appreciate this book. If you haven’t read them yet, do! I do think it’ll add needed depth to your reading of his work that may be missing if you haven’t read or seen them in pd. It’s not necessary for you to read them at all, but like I said I got more out of it bc I could recall what I remembered of their work, in addition to what he said about it.
June 29, 2021
If you’re an English teacher who finds yourself perpetually buried beneath a stack of papers, but desires to provide more targeted and effective feedback while also reclaiming your nights and weekends for your own life, read this book!
I was so encouraged by the strategies in this book. It not only affirmed techniques I have already been experimenting with as a writing teacher over the last decade, but also, even more importantly, it provided both the tools students need to set and track their own writing goals and the nudge I needed to actually carve out time in my classroom for conferences all throughout the writing process. I’m so excited to integrate these strategies to create a true writing community going forward!
I was so encouraged by the strategies in this book. It not only affirmed techniques I have already been experimenting with as a writing teacher over the last decade, but also, even more importantly, it provided both the tools students need to set and track their own writing goals and the nudge I needed to actually carve out time in my classroom for conferences all throughout the writing process. I’m so excited to integrate these strategies to create a true writing community going forward!
August 18, 2020
A lot of books on pedagogy present good ideas that seem like they’ll take a lot of time to implement, or will only work under certain conditions. This is the rare book that had ideas I’ll be using this year. In fact, much of it will become the bedrock of my writing instruction this year. It won’t require huge shifts in what I already do. Instead, I’ll be doing more of things that actually work (meaningful peer feedback, drafting) and spending less time putting endless comments on papers that students will never read.
June 29, 2020
I am going into my fifth year as an ELA teacher in high school. I found every chapter of this book helpful and thorough. I look forward to improving the instruction in writing I give in part through strategic feedback. If you have had difficulty with peer response or self-assessment in the past, Johnson also addresses those areas. I appreciate the tone of this book as well.
July 28, 2020
This was an incredibly helpful read. As a high school English teacher, I get bogged down with paper grading because I want to provide good feedback. This book has easy and practical tips to improve student feedback while actually decreasing your own grading time. I found the book relevant and quickly applicable...I’m excited to reduce my grading time with these tips this year!
September 8, 2024
I've been working through this book for four years. I've implemented bits of it, but I'm convinced by all of it. So grateful to Matthew Johnson for taking the time to write his books and also his blogs that he offers free to teachers. Based on sound research and full of practical explanations, this book is a must read for any writing teacher.
July 29, 2020
This is an extremely useful book, packed with practical guidelines and suggestions, plus the research to back them up. Exactly what I wanted to be reading when I’m about to start a new teaching job in a month.
August 7, 2020
This was a very accessible professional read. I got exactly what I was looking for. Feeling rejuvenated and excited to dig into these feedback practices. And I'm very grateful for all of the free resources! Highly recommend to any educator (English teacher?) seeking to avoid burnout.
September 2, 2020
What a great book! I am using Matt Johnson's book as my playbook this year for writing instruction, the first book I've ever adopted in this way. I cannot recommend it enough for anyone who teaches and has students write essays. Highly, highly recommend.
November 26, 2020
This book was very repetitive. Don't get me wrong, it was very informational and I found a lot of good information. However, it felt like the author ran out of information to discuss and simply talked about the same thing with different wording.
June 4, 2021
This book doesn't have anything new for me, but it gave me some great reminders of the good stuff I've tried in the past and abandoned for some reason. I feel encouraged now to give these strategies another go.
July 10, 2021
I read this book as a book study for a credit and it is excellent! There are a lot of useable, practical, tips and strategies that will be easy to implement for this upcoming school year. This will help me save so much time giving feedback to my students!
December 23, 2021
In the Nation’s Report Card on Writing (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011), the single biggest predictor of a student’s writing score was how often he hit the backspace key, with over two thirds of students in the top quartile hitting delete over 500 times in a single timed essay.
February 6, 2025
One of the best books (top 3) on pedagogy I’ve ever read. Fantastic strategies, quick read, lots of easy-to-implement ideas. Some ideas that take more work to implement, but really great ideas from a real teacher who is still in the classroom.
June 27, 2020
A must for any middle school or high school ELA teacher who wants to grade less while at the same time providing more meaningful and authentic feedback to students!
July 23, 2020
Really excellent book. This, in combination with Kelly Gallagher’s Teaching Adolescent Writers, has made me feel prepared to teach writing for the first time in a long time.
August 2, 2021
Nothing really new--stuff I already learned.
September 14, 2021
There were some good nuggets in there, but overall it was burdened by sources.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews