I like to interact with my wife, friends, and parents of past and present students. This gives me an outside opinion on the things I do in class. Often times you can get unbiased opinions and insight on how students think. I find this to be very helpful, especially if I am thinking about trying something new in my classroom. Using this feedback, I can adjust my lessons to be more effective and flow better.
On of the most valuable ways for a teacher to assess the job they are doing in the classroom, is to ask their students. When students are given specific writing prompts, they can produce some of the best constructive criticism or praise for the job you are doing in the class. Teachers have to remember that not every student will take this seriously and given to open of a question, students will not give you anything productive. Things like no homework or a new teacher. I tell students that I will not read any comment that doesn't explain why they feel the way they do.
I try to ask students in different ways throughout the year. I like to start out by finding out what qualities students like in a teacher. After the first month or so, I ask students what they like and don't like about the class. I make sure to ask them to be specific. I also ask them to make suggestions on changes they would like to see to make them more successful in the class. Throughout the year, I continually try to get a "temperature" reading from students by asking them how the class is going for them. At the end of the year, I give ask them a few questions on what they liked most, what they liked least, and what they would change about the class in order to make it better for learning. I look around to see what students are doing multiple times throughout the period. I try to read students body and facial expressions. This lets me know if students are understanding and/or engaged in the lesson. By using this effectively, I am able to adjust my lessons and help individuals who normally would not ask for help.
This year I started using Google classroom to post what happened in class everyday and to attach an assignments. I have found this to be both beneficial for me and my students. I used to try to keep a hand written calendar and extra copies of worksheets. It was hard to keep up with and students could never find what they needed.. This has also been great for me to reflect on what we are doing in class and to help plan for the future.
I have also started blogging about new ideas and technology as I discover them. This gives me one spot to go to for all of my ideas. Before I would have to search multiple places and rediscover things because I was not organized. I like the organization that blogging creates. I like that I can go back and re-read past post when I want to try something different in my classroom. My department relies heavily on chat. We normally chat with each other throughout the entire day. In the mornings, we talk about our daily plans and adjust those plans based on our conversations. During passing periods, we talk about how our lessons are going. We try to help each other adjust plans before they teach the same subject. At the end of the day we talk to each other about how the day went and future planning. I have a lot of chat at the last school I was at. I find this to be very helpful and I am thankful that I work with such great and willing teachers.
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