Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
I have recently been receiving and analysing feedback on my teaching provided by my last GCSE class. Using a GoogleForm I anonymously asked them several questions about my teaching. The questions focused around what they thought was good about my lessons and what I could do to improve them. This is a process I repeat at regular intervals and is something that I believe has real value. It provides me with some of the most useful and valuable feedback I have had as a teacher.
Clik here to view.
I have recently been receiving and analysing feedback on my teaching provided by my last GCSE class. Using a GoogleForm I anonymously asked them several questions about my teaching. The questions focused around what they thought was good about my lessons and what I could do to improve them. This is a process I repeat at regular intervals and is something that I believe has real value. It provides me with some of the most useful and valuable feedback I have had as a teacher.Why does this provide the best type of feedback?
• The feedback is real. Most feedback we are given as a teacher is based around short lesson observations which, for various reasons, do not always reflect the normal classroom practices. I had taught my GCSE history class over 150 times. Their experience was real and their feedback is based around that period as a whole. This means that it is not only fair but also allows the students to comment on a whole series of activities and lessons which are far more wide ranging than several 30 minute observations.
• The feedback is provided by experts. My GCSE class is a combination of Year 9, 10 and 11 students who have spent their whole lives in education. They know what works well and what needs to be improved because they live it everyday.
• The feedback is personal. The students in my class spoke only about my lessons and provided me with the kind of detailed focus that would be difficult to achieve without the GoogleForm.
• It profoundly alters the classroom dynamic. This is perhaps the most significant reason. I am a big believer in students co-constructing the lessons (see Co-Construction Blog) because it places greater responsibility on the students and allows them to 'own' the learning. When students see that they have the chance to influence what is taking place I believe they become much more engaged. When I explain to the students how the shape of the learning has been altered by the information they have given you can clearly see the impact of the process.
The class that filled in this GoogleForm are a group that I no longer teach. @Rossett we change the school timetable 4 weeks before the summer and begin teaching our new groups. I was keen to use the advice my former students provided to improve the learning for the new cohort.
What did I learn from this process?
• The Impact of my YouTube Channel. Nearly all the students referred to the videos I have made explaining how to answer exam questions. The vast majority said how useful they had found them and how the pause/fast-forward/rewind had individualised feedback. This is obviously something I will continue to do.
• The need to keep changing the seating plan. My students felt that they were stuck working with the same people too often. My new group have been constantly changing partners and groups. I have made use of the random pair generator and at least once a lesson the students are working with 'random' other students. In just the first 4 weeks I have seen the benefit of this. My class is mixed Year 9-11 and the constantly changing pairing's have really developed the class dynamic. I am grateful to the students who pointed this out. One of my students actually tweeted me to say he enjoyed an activity partly because it allowed him the chance to meet new people.
• The need to improve the revision sessions. In the run up to the exams I held a series of revision sessions after school. One of my class pointed out that most of the work that was completed in these sessions could have been done, by them, at home. They had attended but had not got the most out of the sessions. This led me to consider the work that was going on. For some of my students this was exactly the aim of the sessions because they were completing work that they would not otherwise have done at home. However, for a significant group, the sessions were not working. I have decided to develop my revision session around the principle of Solo Stations. Setting several activities that allow the students to select where they begin their revision journey. I am confident that this will improve the quality of the revision sessions and am pleased that the plight of this student (and doubtless others like them) has been brought to my attention.
I hope that you have found this blog interesting. I hope I have shown why I believe student reflections using GoogleForms is the best type of feedback. I also hope I have shown the type of quality outcomes that this kind of interaction can produce.