Should Students Evaluate Their Teachers

“I don’t like history. I never will. But I liked this class.”

“You’re loud (in a good way).”

“Too much lecturing.”

“The homework was too hard. Took too much time.”

The above comments came from the student evaluations from my last year of teaching.

As I poured over the results and comments, I felt a sense of satisfaction. The complements reaffirmed why I entered teaching. 

Their criticisms made me think. How could I improve my teaching? How can I become a better teacher? Not only did I find their criticisms legitimate, they indeed were areas of weakness. Most importantly their opinions shaped how I planned for the future (less lecturing, better homework assignments, relate the class to their lives).

On Monday’s #vachat, the question was asked, “Should students be involved in the evaluation of teachers?”

Unanimously respondents agreed that students should evaluate teachers.

Joe Posick @posickj

Students are in front of teacher more than we are so they see them at their best and worst.

Michael Craddock @mpcraddock

Why wouldn’t you ask students? Besides, the teacher, how many other people really know what goes on in the classroom day to day?

Jessica Cromer@BuffVeeP

Student voice should be heard; it’s all about the way it is presented and worded.

Rob Donatelli @NL_MrD

Absolutely. They are our clients. Don’t we in bus. ask our customers to rate/review us?

Brian Kayser @bkayser11

Students definitely need to be involved, any teacher that says no already knows what their students will say, and it’s probably bad.

Of course, student evaluations should only be part of the whole picture. Critics of student evaluations claim that anonymous student evaluations enable students to settle personal grievances against teachers. While this indeed may be the case, the best teachers usually don’t make enemies. Most students respect their teachers and appreciate their efforts and commitment.

Critics also believe that knowing students will be evaluating them, teachers would inflate grades. From my own teaching experiences—I was known for being relatively difficult—I consistently earned excellent marks on classroom environment and personality. Even when asked, “Does the teacher grades fairly?”  students responded favorably (although not as high as other questions). 

The benefits of student evaluations of teachers far outweigh any potential problems. So much so, that teachers should constantly be seeking student input, not just at the end of the year. The best teachers constantly reflect on their performance. Student evaluations facilitate reflection by soliciting feedback. Feedback need not be formal, but can instead be done informally at the end of every class or every unit.

• How could I have done a better job?
• What did you find most difficult?
• What are you most confused about?
• As a teacher, what could I have done better today?

Seeking constant feedback sends a message to  students that teachers value their opinions; that we are not above them. Seeking input opens teachers' eyes to strategies for improvement. Imagine how students would respond when they see their teachers making adjustments based on their feedback! Imagine how this would improve teaching and learning! 

I've shared a couple of my year-end evaluations through google drive. 

Monday's #vachat 

Creativity Matters and What We Can Do About It

Yesterday, Eric Sheninger posted a blog entitled Creativity and Why it Matters. The Adobe Education study suggests creative thinking should be made a higher priority  in education. Based on a survey of 1,000 college-educated adults, 85% agree creative thinking is critical for problem solving in their careers.

Some other survey findings:

• 82% wish they had more exposure to creative thinking as students
• 91% agree that there is more to success in school than focusing on course material
• 71% say creative thinking should be taught as a stand-alone class

In my 20 years as an educator, I can honestly say I’ve seen a deterioration of higher-level skills or creative thinking. While standardized tests don’t deserve all of the blame, it’s not purely coincidental that the increase in standardization correlates with decreased creativity.

I know standardized tests are here to stay—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing—so what can be done to expose more students to creative thinking?

• We must recognize that standards are just a framework and we must not limit our teachings because of them.
• Creativity should be taught in all classes
• When possible adopt project-based learning
• Limit lectures and talking to the students
• Increase student accessibility to fine art and career-technical education classes
• Ask questions that don’t have answers 
• Embrace 21^st-century skills

What should we do to increase creative thinking? 

In addition to the study's press release Adobe released an infographic summarizing the study's findings.  

My 2012 Edublog Nominations

After much deliberation here are my edublog nominations. My professional life has been greatly influenced by all of these amazing teachers, administrators, and bloggers. 

Best Individual Blog: Learning in Burlington by Patrick Larkin  

Best Group Blog: Connected Principals
 
Best Ed Tech/Resource Sharing Blog: Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers
 
Best Administrator Blog: George Couros' The Principal of Change
 
Most Influential Blog Post: http://www.angelamaiers.com/2012/02/12-things-kids-want-from-their-teachers.html  

Best Individual Tweeter: @ShellTerrell
 
Best Twitter Hashtag: #ptchat 
 
Best Free Web Tool: Evernote
 
Best Educational Use of Audio/Video/Visual/Podcast: Teachercast 
 
Best Open PD/Unconference/Webinar: Edcamp
 
Best Mobile App: Remind101 
 

Making Homework Purposeful

Homework’s value and purpose has spawned several personal conversations/debates in the last couple of months—too many to count. Some of the notable ones: #vachat conversation, a great post by Patrick Larkin (there are several articles in links to hw in his must-read blog), and my own conversations with staff, parents, and students. My first blog post was even about the issue. But, the issue of homework is worth revisiting as my opinions have been shaped by these recent conversations.

First, let me get my get this out of the way. In high school, homework can serve a valuable academic purpose. Homework should never be assigned just for the sake of assigning something, and I’m not even sure it’s effective to assign homework to teach responsibility, self-discipline, and time management. 

So how can teachers make homework purposeful?

1.     Homework should be started in class. This ensures that the students are capable of completing it successfully. Additionally, beginning the assignment in class enables the teacher to explain the purpose of the assignment to the students.

2.     Students must understand the value of the homework. Homework can serve different purposes: pre-assessing, checking for understanding, or practicing. Regardless of the purpose, students must see the value in it.

3.     If homework is assigned as practice, it’s important that students practice correctly.
As a basketball coach, I know the most difficult coaching task was to re-teach/correct a player whose shooting form was incorrect. Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it can make permanent. The same applies with homework. This is especially important in math classes, so why not provide the students with the answers—even the steps—for each question (not just the odd-numbered). By providing the students with answers, feedback is instantaneous and learning is reinforced.  

4.     Returning to the basketball analogy; one of the reasons so many players developed bad shooting techniques was because as youngsters they were forced to heave the ball at a ten-foot rim. A task too hard for little kids. I’m sure many children, like my daughter, became frustrated with their inability to get the ball to the rim and simply give up, while those who experienced initial success continued playing. Quality homework assignments must be doable so students can feel positive about their learning and themselves.

5.     Students should be held accountable for homework. If it’s worth assigning, it should be worth doing. If the student has already mastered the concept, why give them an assignment that will be seen—rightfully so—as busy work? In cases like this, we have an opportunity to differentiate our assignments. Failing students for not completing homework, despite their mastery of the material, is unfair. 

      Accountability doesn’t necessarily mean attaching a grade to the assignment, and it doesn’t mean that late work shouldn’t be accepted.

How can students be held accountable without coercing them with grades?

·      Provide students choices

·      Require students to self-assess and check for their own understanding

·      Check instead of grade.

·      Use homework for formative assessment purposes.

·      Ensure students see the value of the homework to their learning success.

 We've been fortunate to have conversations at our school about our homework policies. I look forward to hearing your opinions.  

 

Edcamp Baltimore: A Great Day of Sharing and Learning

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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending my 3^rd edcamp; this one in Baltimore. Approximately, 70 educators from as far south as Virginia and as far north as New York (maybe even New Hampshire) attended the unconference at Digital Harbor High School. As with all edcamps, the passion and energy were high—as one would expected when 70 committed educators come together on a Saturday.

Of the attendees, several I regularly communicate with on twitter. Despite being limited to 140 characters, I felt as if I knew these people already, but I relished the opportunity to have in-person conversations with them.

Conversation and ideas flowed from the initial gathering through the morning sessions, through lunch and until I left for the trip back to Virginia. I attended 4 great sessions.

1.     Flipped classrooms. Flipping is about much more than just providing direct instruction through video. For a flipped classroom to be effective, what occurs in class is even more important.

2.     The power of collaboration. Most educators that attend edcamps are pretty connected and see the value of twitter and other means of being connected. We must do more to bring more teachers onboard to increase their PLNs.

3.     Social media in the classroom. As teachers, we have a responsibility to model safe use of social media to our students. Doing so, however, requires that students, parents, administrators, trust teachers to do what’s right.

4.     PD and meet. Seeing the power of edcamps, each participant in this session agreed that we must continue our learning and participation by involving more teachers and administrators in the edcamp philosophy.

Despite the nearly 2:30 hour trip home (Washington even has rush hour on Saturday afternoons), I returned home energized and wanting more. The committed and passionate professionals I met today inspired me and represent some of the best-and-brightest in education.

A special shout out to the great organizers and sponsors of Edcamp Baltimore.

What Students Want From Their Teachers

Inspired by Angela Maier’s posting on 12 Things Kids Wantfrom Their Teachers and her participation in a recent #ptchat  , I decided to see what students at my high school want from their teachers.

So over the course of several lunch periods, I went from table-to-table, asking, “What qualities do you look for in the best teachers? The best teachers (blank)…”

While my methodology will cause my college statistics professor to cringe, the students were remarkably honest. I interviewed about 200 students and fewer than 5 answered “no work” or “allows us to sleep in class.” The answers reaffirmed that students really do want to learn and be challenged. Not surprisingly, the answers didn’t differ much from Angela’s list either.

To the best of my abilities I grouped the answers together and they are listed by frequency of response.

We want teachers who make class engaging, interesting, captivating and fun.

This was the run-away winner with more than the next three responses combined.

Students used words like variety, creative, hands on, participation, fun, and real to describe the best lessons.

I want the subject to connect to my life.

I like the classes where we (students and teachers) are equals and share the responsibility for learning.

Allow us to participate in the learning.

Make the class fun. Allow us to move around and be active.

I like the classes where we play games that help us learn.

Let us use technology.

We want teachers who are chill and lenient

I was initially surprised by how many students used the word “chill” to describe their best teachers and I initially discounted the answer wrongly assuming that students meant teachers who allow them to sleep in class, don’t have high expectations, or are easy. After hearing chill mentioned several times by several different students, I pressed the students further for what they meant.

Teachers need to realize that we have our own lives and their class is not the only one we take.

Like, if we can’t complete a homework assignment for a good reason, the teacher should understand and not just give us a zero.

Ms. XYZ looks at her tests and if a bunch of students miss the same question, she doesn’t count it against us. She teaches it again. I wish all teachers did this.

Chill teachers work with us

We want teachers who are enthusiastic.

While this answer definitely correlates to the top answer, it seemed as if students were referring as much to the teacher’s personality as they were to the lesson.

Students used words like passionate, energetic, exciting and committed to describe enthusiastic teachers.

We can tell when a teacher doesn’t want to be here.

Teachers who love their subject.

Ms. XYZ meets us at the door with a smile. She’s excited to see us and teach us. 

We want teachers who relate to us

This differed from relating the subject to the students’ lives and instead focused on the relationship between students and teachers.

Personable

Understand who we are

Ask about me

Teachers who take the time to get to know who I am

We want teachers who make sure we learn

Students used words like helpful, clear, and feedback.

Teachers need to be patient.

Show us, take the time to explain and if necessary re-explain.

Make sure we get it before moving on.

Let us know how we’re doing

Wants us to do well and is willing to make sure we do well

Work with us

We want teachers who are respectful

Students referred to respectful teachers as those who listen, care, communicate, positive, approachable and nice.

We want teachers who are knowledgeable of the subject matter.

Teachers who have the knowledge bring the subject alive.

Ms. XYZ can explain it so well because she is so knowledgeable.

Ms. XYZ knows [her subject] inside-out

Several of the students who answered this answered it negatively, referring to teachers who do NOT know their subject matter. This answer surprised me. I guess I was naïve. 8 students mentioned it, so it’s not an insignificant number. I pressed the students on this one a little—without wanting to know whom the teachers were.

You can tell when they don’t know because they can’t answer your questions and they just read from their textbook.

She always is correcting herself the next day.

Other answers mentioned by more than 4 students:

Stays focused

Admits their faults

Values our time

Organized

Good class management

We want teachers who don’t lecture.

Several students also answered with what the best teachers don’t do: lecture. As a matter of fact, avoid excessive lecturing would have been the 3^rd ranked answer. While the students recognized the role of direct instruction in learning, they differentiated between the good and the bad.

Teachers can lecture, but they can’t lecture for the entire class (our classes our 90 minutes) and expect us to learn.

We want to be taught. Don’t just worksheet and read off of a PowerPoint.

The worst is when a teacher just uses a pre-made PowerPoint.

Teacher X lectures a lot, but she involves us in the lecture. It’s lively and she uses lots of stories. She makes it real.

I hate the cookie-cutter lessons. Lecture, worksheet, read from the book, answer questions from the book. Repeat.

What would you add to the list?

Parent Engagement

As part of our Kettle Run edcamp (read: prior posts) , we created a hour-long parent-teacher roundtable. As the organizer of the roundtable, I tried to include a diverse parent panel. The roundtable was well-attended by approximately 2 dozen teachers. Although we only had an hour together, I learned a lot and I believe the others in attendance did as well.

Four Take-Aways


1. We all want what's best for the students/children. 
Teachers want their students to thrive in their classroom and beyond. Parents, of course, want the same. One teacher put it simply, "We're in this together. We need your support."

2. Communication is a shared responsibility. 
One parent sheepishly admitted she wasn't sure if it was OK to email teachers with comments and concerns. Reflecting the views of all the teachers present, a veteran teacher begged, "Please, please email us. We want to communicate with you."

Another remarked, "If you have a concern, please let us know. We [want an opportunity] to address your concern and fix it if necessary."

Expressing the delicate nature of the balance between communicating with parents and allowing students to learn on their own, a teacher commented, "I want my students to take responsibility for their actions. You (parents) won't always be there and it's important for students to learn on their own from their own failures."

3. We have the same concerns. 
While parents want what's best for their children, they also want what's best for all of the children. During the roundtable one parent brought up the widespread cheating that seems to occur, a sentiment shared by most of the teachers present. As a result, at least partially, cheating was brought up in later edcamp discussions and administratively we're looking at what actions we should take. Parents thanked us for creating a safe and nurturing environment and they expressed a concern/understanding over high stakes testing and their impact on learning. 

4. Parents want to be heard. 
Well over half of the parents I invited couldn't attend the parent-teacher roundtable because of prior commitments. Almost every parent who declined the invitation encouraged me to invite them to future parent-teacher roundtables and many took the time to email me their concerns and feelings.

Moving forward with the goal of increasing parent engagement
While none of the points above is earth-shattering, the conversation reaffirmed my beliefs that we must actively engage parents.

I'm hoping to offer future parent-teacher and parent-administrator roundtables in the future because this truly was a valuable experience for all involved. While much of communication between parents and school officials takes place informally (on the sidelines of children's games, at churches, at the grocery stores), we must find ways to ensure parents are heard.

Immediate ways to increase parent-school engagement:

• Expand our social media presence (Remind101, Twitter, school website)
• Friday Five: randomly call five parents on Friday to discuss school affairs 
• Offer parent/community trainings (in person and online) once a month on what we're doing at Kettle Run. Possible sessions include: AngelLearning (our course management software), Twitter, book clubs, bullying, cyber-citizenship. 
• Increase attendance at Parent-Teacher Conference nights by showcasing student work, staging live performances, etc.

Ideas for the future:

• Offer roundtables and gatherings in the community (coffee shop, local Pizza parlor, etc.)
• Create a school blog allowing parents to communicate with school officials
• Community service day involving students, parents and school staff

Parents, teachers, administrators, what are your ideas for increasing parent engagement?