Common First-Use Mistakes
Video coming soon.
Walkthrough
Three things commonly go wrong on a first run. None of them are complicated; all of them are easy to fix once you recognize them.
1. Sending feedback without reviewing it.
The system generates drafts, not finished feedback. Every piece of output is meant to be read, evaluated, and adjusted before it reaches a student. If your first run went straight from Generate to Send without opening any student's feedback, the most important step was skipped. The review is where teacher judgment enters the process. Without it, the feedback is unfinished.
Fix: Open every student's feedback, even briefly. Adapt where needed. Only then post.
2. Running a vague rubric and expecting specific feedback.
If the rubric says "uses evidence effectively" without specifying what effective evidence looks like, the feedback will usually reflect that vagueness. The system works from what the rubric says, not from what you meant.
Fix: Run the rubric through the Optimizer. Tighten the criteria. Regenerate the feedback and compare. The difference is usually immediate.
3. Using a default template and expecting feedback to sound personal.
A template without custom instructions will produce competent but generic output. It will follow the rubric, but it will not carry your voice.
Fix: Add custom instructions — how feedback should open, how critique should be framed, what kind of encouragement to include. Those details are what make the difference between feedback that is technically correct and feedback that sounds like it came from a real teacher.
Three mistakes, three fixes. Most first-run issues come back to one of these:
- Review before sending.
- Tighten the rubric.
- Shape the template.
If the output still feels generic after tightening the rubric, the troubleshooting guide Output Feels Generic (T.1) goes deeper. If the feedback is accurate but doesn't sound right, Feedback Doesn't Sound Like Me (T.2) does the same for voice.
What to read or watch next
You've finished Layer 2. The natural next step is Layer 3: PD Foundations, beginning with From Good Enough to Clear and Fair (Module A: Rubric Mastery). Layer 3 is self-paced and modular — work through it across a few weeks.