LearnGrokUse this workflow after you have marked an assessment and need to return written feedback that each learner can act on. It turns your marking notes, rubric and selected work extracts into one short feedback record per student.
You remain responsible for the grade, the evidence chosen and the final wording. The model helps you produce consistent drafts, not make marking decisions.
Key point
Write from evidence
Give the model the criterion, your mark and a short extract from the student’s work. Do not ask it to infer a judgement from a score alone.
1. Set up the feedback record
Create one row per learner in a spreadsheet, or one section per learner in a document. Use the same fields for every student:
- Student reference: initials, candidate number or another reference approved by your school.
- Assessment task: for example,
Persuasive letter, paragraph 2. - Criterion: the rubric statement or a shortened version of it.
- Marking notes: your factual notes on what the student did.
- Work extract: one or two short quotations, calculations or descriptions of the relevant answer.
- Strength: one specific thing achieved.
- Priority improvement: the single change that matters most.
- Next action: a task the student can complete before the next lesson.
Keep the raw evidence separate from the final feedback. This makes it easier to check that the draft has not added praise, errors or targets that you did not identify.
Watch out
Use approved student data
Follow your school’s rules on student work and personal data. Remove names and unnecessary personal details unless the service and account you use are approved for them.
2. Choose one priority per student
Read your marking notes before preparing any prompt. For each learner, decide the one improvement that will have the greatest effect on the next piece of work.
Do not send every correction as a target. A student who needs to structure paragraphs, use evidence and correct sentence boundaries should not receive three equally weighted priorities. Select the earliest or most important barrier to success.
Use this test: if the student completed the next action successfully, would their next submission improve in a visible way? If not, make the target narrower.
For example:
- Too broad:
Improve your analysis. - Better:
After each quotation, add one sentence explaining how the word choice supports your point. - Too broad:
Check your calculations. - Better:
For each ratio answer, write the units and simplify both sides before giving the final ratio.
3. Prepare a small batch of evidence
Work in a batch that you can review carefully, such as one class or one rubric criterion. Paste the rubric once, then add a clearly labelled block for each student.
Use only evidence relevant to the feedback. A useful input block looks like this:
TASK: Persuasive letter
CRITERION: Explain how language choices support the writer's viewpoint.
STUDENT: S14
MARKING NOTES: Identifies emotive language accurately. Names the effect as making the reader feel worried, but does not link this to the writer's purpose.
WORK EXTRACT: "Families will suffer if the library closes."
PRIORITY: Link the language choice to the writer's purpose.
If you are processing several students, label every block consistently. Do not combine notes from two learners in the same block. The model can confuse attribution when inputs are loosely separated.
For version-dependent handling of prompts, files and account features, check the xAI documentation overview before you start.
4. Ask for a fixed feedback format
Give the model a format that prevents generic comments and limits it to your evidence. Paste this instruction, then add the prepared student blocks below it.
Draft feedback for each student using only the marking notes and work extract provided.
For each student, write exactly three labelled sections:
Strength: one sentence. Name a specific success and refer to the work extract or marking note.
Priority improvement: one sentence. State the most important improvement only.
Next action: one short instruction the student can complete independently in 10 minutes or less.
Use clear language suitable for the class. Do not mention marks or grades. Do not invent errors, quotations, strengths or targets. If the evidence is insufficient, write: "Teacher review needed: evidence is insufficient."
Add a class-level instruction only if it is true for every learner, such as the age range or whether you want subject vocabulary retained. Do not use vague instructions such as make it encouraging. Instead, specify the behaviour you want: State one genuine strength before the improvement point.
Note
Keep feedback short enough to use
Three focused sections are easier to read and easier to act on than a paragraph listing every marking point. Keep your full annotations in the marked work if students need the detail.
5. Check every draft against the marked work
Read the draft beside your notes, not on its own. Start with the work extract. Check that the strength is supported by the extract or by a note you supplied. Then check that the improvement is your chosen priority and that the next action practises that improvement.
Use this table to deal with common failures.
| If you see this | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Praise that could apply to anyone | The input has too little evidence | Add a short work extract or a more precise marking note, then redraft. |
| An error you did not mark | The draft has inferred beyond the evidence | Delete it, or add verified evidence if it is genuinely relevant. |
| Two or more targets | The instruction or priority is too broad | Restate one priority and ask for one improvement sentence only. |
| A next action that is vague | The task is not observable | Rewrite it as a short action with a clear product, such as one revised sentence. |
| Different tone across students | Your input fields vary | Use the same labels and output format for the whole class. |
Check
The feedback passes when you can point to evidence
Each strength and improvement should link to a marking note, a rubric criterion or a visible feature of the student’s work. The next action should produce something you could check in the next lesson.
6. Make the handover useful
Paste the checked feedback into the format students will receive: your learning platform, a marked document or a feedback sheet. Keep the three labels visible. Students should not have to decode which sentence is praise and which sentence they need to act on.
Before returning work, scan the class set for balance. Check that no learner has a harsher tone because their notes were more detailed, and that students working at different levels still receive a realistic next action. Where appropriate, plan the first five minutes of the next lesson around the common next actions you have assigned.
Keep your original marking notes until the feedback has been returned and any queries are resolved. They are the record that supports your professional judgement.
When the workflow does not work
Stop using the draft if it repeatedly introduces claims not present in your notes, merges students’ evidence or gives targets you cannot support. Return to one student at a time and shorten the input to one criterion, one extract and one priority.
If the feedback is accurate but still unhelpful, revise the Next action field first. Ask for a smaller task with a visible result. If you cannot describe the result you expect the student to produce, the target is not ready to return.
