The Power of Reflection

One thing I feel that we, as educators, never have time for is feedback.

Throughout the year there is an exponential flood of information, duties and assessments we are all trying to stay on top of. Sometimes I feel as if there is so much that I barely have time to grade and isn't this one of the most important things we provide for students?! Don't the children need feedback?! Well yes. BUT, this isn't the feedback I am focusing this post about. I am talking about feedback as educators.

I am sure there have been times we throw out the occasional, "So what did you think about this project?" We may get a half-hearted reply but nothing where the students really put thought and analyze all outcomes. I made it a point to focus on feedback last year and to put more thought into planning my curriculum for the current year.

I put together a class survey where I could get feedback on myself, the activities we did and their use of technology. The results I received were invaluable, and even going back through them now, I am picking out things that make me smile and things that I want to go back and look at closer. Here are some of the questions I used:

If you look at the first section, they are centered around the students general feelings about me. I take it to heart when I am not reaching my students on more than just a curriculum level. I try to build that rapport with them on a daily basis so I know when students are having an off day and even just their learning styles etc. So the first sections is for my use as a person. 

 

The technology piece was mainly due to my sudden increased use of technology. Overall, I felt like last year I was more about quantity... an app for this, a website for this, a program for this. I was all over the place. I think it showed in the more personal comments students used. Did the students feel that I know knowledgeable and could help them with technology? Yes. But I felt like I needed to choose a few, focus on those until students were experts, and then put that into our toolbox until we introduced a new one. That has been more of my approach this year. So to new teachers who feel that they need to do EVERYTHING.... you don't! Pick a couple you want to use for the first semester and embrace the beauty and nuances of them. Your kids will know what will work best for whatever project they are working on better than giving them a huge list all at once. 

 

Another thing that is important not to forget about... there are still students who learn best from YOU! Not every student is capable of picking up a computer and learning all of math from a computer, or chemistry from a video. My students let me know this as well. Some still loooove having a teacher presentation. This is where you can use this information to group kids and still provide this for them but maybe differently. Maybe in a small group. Maybe in a teacher webinar that they can pause and rewind. Thick outside the box. :)

 

So this last part was probably my favorite because you really get to see what students are thinking. One thing that really stood out to me was one student actually said that we used technology "too much" in class. This really made me take a step back and look at what I was doing and did I go too far. I say yes and no. Yes, because of the WAY I approached it and no because I just wasn't doing it the right way. For my class, and Science especially, I cannot take away the hands on things students need to experience. I needed to be able to incorporate it as a learning tool and not a learning objective. 

Okay, now to the moral of my post: Take time to reflect and get feedback from your students. Use it. Students are super honest and have very little filter. They will tell you like it is. Even if you construct a simple survey to give to students at the end of the year and then you don't open it until planning for school next year... that's okay!!! It takes effort to reflect... and I think more time should be spent on this part. #SBVanguard has been a great tool and a great gift of time for just this. Use this to your advantage! Thanks for reading. I can share this template if you want it.