Engaging with Student Feedback

Nobody is happy with distance learning, as far as if all other options were available. They aren't. I believe it is responsible for personal and public health safety that, if an option, schools operate at 100% online learning. Nobody said it's a great option, but it is the best under the given circumstances. I understand parents are worried about the social-emotional development of their children by being separated by their peers (I do, too). 

Parents, remember that you are their teachers, too, and it's not just the sole responsibility of schools to provide that service to children's development. Aside from the possible threat of their peers becoming infected and/or dying from COVID-19 (or feeling their parents are gambling with their lives) and that affecting student development , I also consider instability and uncertainty of where learning is happening to be a significant variable in the overall development of children.

In schools, we thrive on schedules and routines. Some teachers even delight in marking students tardy if students do not have their materials are not prepared AND aren't sitting in their seats when the bell rings (as a student and teacher, I always found this rule to be unreasonable). Having to learn the beginning of the year procedures AND switch back-and-forth between home and school for learning AND hoping to not feel like this school year will be an academic throw-away is a lot of pressure to put on every one. Students. Educators. Families. Every one. I believe it is more conducive to learning, development and health to maintain as much certainty as we are able to provide, and be conservative as to how fast we reopen our institutions for the sake and comfort of normalcy.

I know that's not an actual reality or possibility for all people or communities. The loudest voices I have seen in the news in favor of fully opening schools come off to me as being the ones with the least scientific literacy or genuine interest in the well-being of others. If you have the resources, infrastructure and/or physical safety to do school from home (educators usually work without a full basket of eggs, so you can figure it out at home, too), please lift your voice in support. Err on the side of caution and evidence as we entrust our leaders to coordinate efforts on this very real pandemic. 

Teachers are resilient and resourceful. We will do what we can with what we are given, and all we ask for in return is support and cooperation from the community. This is not a time to pretend we are living in normal times, nor should we strive toward an immediate return to normalcy. Let's take on this opportunity and adapt. 

Yellow cells indicate feedback I have not yet received. Red text indicates possible areas for improvement and/or follow-through.

One thing I miss about being in the classroom is the infinite amount of feedback I am constantly receiving from my students, and how I use that to inform and modify my instruction. Teaching while surrounded by my students inside boxed-in videos of my students removes a lot of the cues and non-verbal communication I normally receive from them (are they bored, distracted, or just teenagers). It takes away those first awkward days of presenting to a new group of students and getting to know each other on an individual level. So many things happen in the first weeks of school that establish the tone for the rest of the year. Want to change it? You better be willing to work hard, then.

While they are independently working from home, I am grateful they are learning to be more autonomous in their learning; on the other hand, they cannot impulsively call me over to ask a question and then I can learn more about their individual learning needs. As educators, we need to be more proactive with eliciting feedback from our students during online learning. Check out my vlog about the tools and strategies I use to elicit and engage with student feedback. Parents, please watch this vlog, too, so you can identify ways you can meaningfully collaborate with your child's teacher(s) in the feedback process.

You're Asking For It!

• To read more about this strategy, as well as see an example of what feedback I receive from my students, click on this link: You're Asking For It!
• I contact a sample of my students the same question during the week, via DM through Google Hangouts. Students can respond at any point they see the message
• This provides student voice and immediate feedback on whether your instruction, class materials, assessments, etc. are effective or not.

• Considerations

• Be specific in what you are eliciting feedback about. If you keep it too open-ended, you will not receive what you are expecting. You could ask for or provide feedback on clarity of instructions, difficulty of material, length of time spent on assignments, variety of assignments, coherence of lesson objectives to activities and assessments, etc.
• All students need the opportunity to provide feedback. If not, it will appear you are playing favorites. However, sample the population to get a representative idea how things are going.
• You need to be open to receiving feedback. If you take critiques personally (or fear receiving actual personal comments), this might not be the strategy or profession for you.
• You need to read and apply feedback. It not, it looks like you are providing lip-service and will have a negative impact on your relationship with the class. Following through allows you to model how students can receive and use feedback.
• Don't feel pressure to instantly make changes. Wait until you have more responses (wider set of data) to establish whether it might be an individual you need to work with or a change in your instruction that would benefit the whole group.

Checking-In With Students

• To read more about this strategy, as well as see live-updated data and how I use that to inform my instruction, click on this link: Checking-In With Students
• I encourage my students to complete the Check-In Form each class period. I use this as my warm-up for every class period, as students enter the virtual classroom and I record attendance. 
  
• I post the link to my Check-In Form everywhere. It is in included in the every entry of our daily agenda, in the Classwork section of Google Classroom, in the course syllabus... everywhere. I make it convenient for students to find and open.
• This is a great way to model and develop prosocial behaviors in our students, including empathy.

• Considerations

• Include questions that are relevant for you as well as what you teach. As a science teacher, I rely on online computer models (simulations) and videos to enrich my curriculum. If a student is having technology problems, that impacts what kind of assignments and assessments I can expect them to complete. If you do not have interest or intentions on calling a student 1-on-1 to talk about their agenda, don't include that as an option.
• You need to review the responses regularly. If a student is giving themself a 1/5 or wants you to call them and you don't, then you are breaking trust and respect. 
• Plan how to use the data. I track the mood/feeling of the group and the individual. How do I plan to address the entire class being stressed, overwhelmed or under-motivated? How will I ensure that individuals who are at-risk receive the support and services they need.
• You gotta be willing to get vulnerable. This does not mean making a fool of yourself or sharing intimate details of your life with students. Rather, it is being honest and revealing your humanity to our students. If we can be conscious of our own humanity, it can help us be aware and more understanding of our students' humanities, as well.

These are just two of the strategies I am using to build community and relationships with my students. Every person needs to figure what works for them. I hope that this provides some inspiration for you to think about how you can build feedback into your classroom, and how you can engage with student feedback.

What questions or comments do you have? Leave them below.