For those that have read my articles you would see that my first draft is usually full of typing and grammatical mistakes which over a few days and my re-reading become able to be read without cringing. This need for self correction was drummed into me as an adult by a colleague and it has stuck with me through teaching.
All too often I receive work from students that is clearly a first draft. This is clearly not acceptable as first draft work is incomplete - next year I intend on informing students that I will be handing such work back as 'not being finished within the deadline' and thus invoking non-completion of assignment consequences.
In mathematics, the trend to assess outcomes has drawn attention away from mathematical technique - such as one equals sign to a line and recording working such that patterns of thought can be read within answers. I intend on looking at this more closely next term, making clearer my expectations and then ensuring that these expectations are adhered to. I will need to investigate further for my next topic what is commonly accepted as good notation (as my notation may not be perfect) and clearly communicate this to students.
Furthermore, I have noticed a worrying trend of students not using notes and worked examples as the first point of query during classwork, nor are they effectively questioning peers when they have a question. All too often I feel I am being used as an instant repository of information (perhaps as a ready replacement for internet instant answers). I need to discourage to some degree questioning of the teacher, prepare better modelled lessons and encourage independent and collaborative learning.
I have noticed that students are not delaying rounding to the last calculation. In many cases the rounding operation itself is also being completed incorrectly. This is poor technique and I need to address this with many of my top students.
I did a lot of work with my students to ensure that all work was self-checked for accuracy and correctness (eg. self marking from the back of the book). Many thought that looking at answers was "cheating" rather than a necessary indicator that an error was occurring. I had to show students that investigation into the cause of an error was also necessary. I need to further encourage students to investigate their errors and help them feel rewarded when investigating and solving their own issues independently.