Then & Now...Mid-Semester Success!

What a difference a couples months can make and celebration is in order! Prior to Make & Take Technology Days, only 8.3% of teacher surveyed were completely comfortable using technology in the classroom and now 62.5% use technology daily in their classrooms. The use of Google Classroom prior to training was a mere 36.1%. Now 54.2% of teachers are using Google Classroom daily with 16.7% more who have not yet started but are planning to use the learning management system. One of the biggest celebrations is in the SAMR data. At the end of last school year, 86.1% had never heard of the SAMR Model and now 62.5% of teachers report either being at augmentation or modification in terms of overall integration.

As teachers of students, we always wonder if we have a solid grasp of what our students’ need, if they find our lessons engaging, and what they would like to learn more about (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education). Teachers collect feedback from students through exit tickets, discussions, and written reflections. As a technology coach, I am responsible for teacher learning and often ask myself the same questions everyday and always yearn feedback. I use Google Forms as a survey method and it is always anonymous but leave an optional name answer for the participant to complete if they desire. I usually ask short questions with a quick multiple choice answer because I know how busy teachers are. Viki Davis, blogger for Edutopia (2015), takes a different approach. She asks open-ended questions such as what were the things we learned that you liked the most/least and was there anything you wish we would have done more of? With those responses, she copies and pastes each response into a text file to create a word cloud to find trends in responses. I love this idea! My only concern is that teachers will be hesitate to answer open-ended questions because it takes time and is voluntary but I’m certainly willing to give it a try.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides a list of how to use staff and student feedback. The list begins by listening to feedback with an open mind. As the recipient of responses, keeping a positive outlook is necessary in order to modify practices based on the feedback that is given. It is also important to celebrate strengths. These strengths are those of participants and the facilitator. All parties should share their successes and support one another and in turn, learning will improve for all. Feedback should also reflect on areas of growth as well. Reflection identifies targeted areas of focus to reach a goal. Just as important as reflection, feedback should be shared with all parties, including administrators and supervisors. Finally act upon the feedback that is given. Feedback can be used in many ways. It can be used as a self-assessment, to develop a new professional practice, create new goals, and use the information to design lessons.

It’s always a little scary getting survey results back but I have a wonderful group of teachers to work with and I appreciate their willingness to participate and learn with me each month. I’m excited to see what the rest of the year brings.

References

Davis, V. (2015, July 21). 3 Ways of Getting Student Feedback to Improve Your Teaching. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-feedback-improves-your-teaching-vicki-davis

ImprovePractice.pdf. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.doe.

mass.edu/edeval/feedback/ImprovePractice.pdf