Outsider feedback

Recording

Recording your teaching sessions is highly valuable because it provides an unbiased outlook on how effective your lesson may be for your students. The video may act as an additional set of eyes to spot a behaviour that you hadn’t spotted at the time. In the USA, many colleges use this technique for the next generations of teachers, to teach them a valuable lesson of self-reflection.

Peer observation

Have a colleague come watch you when you teach your class. It’s different and more relaxed than having your principal come in and observe you. By doing this, you will be able to teach with more ease and your colleague will give you their honest feedback. But before starting, remember to give your colleague your instruction methods for evaluating your performance. To help them make a better picture when reviewing your lessons, create a questionnaire for your coworkers to fill out as they observe. After class, sit down with them and analyse their conclusion. See an example of such a questionnaire below.

Student observation

Students are a good source to get honest feedback. Hand out a simple survey after your lesson to get students’ perspective on how the lesson went. Carefully decide on what questions to ask and also encourage your students to express their opinions. It won’t be only a learning experience for you, but also an indirect exercise for them. But make sure your questionnaire is anonymous and that your students know it. Only by creating an environment in which students feel safe, you get answers as honest as possible.

The questionnaire

It’s useful to divide the survey into sections just like you did in your journal. That will help you to easily compare your observations with those of your students (or colleagues) and work on the areas that need to be improved the most. It is advised to always work on one area only. That way you can focus on it fully and slowly incorporate changes into your methods while maintaining the rest of your teaching in its original form. You will not get overwhelmed by change, but at the same time you will improve your work.

Example:

Lesson Objectives

• How difficult was the lesson?  Hard – Medium – Easy
• Did you understand what was being taught? Yes – Kind of – Not really
• Did you have problems? Many – A few – None

Materials

• Did the materials used in this lesson keep you interested? Yes – Kind of – Not really
• What materials did you like the most? Answer
• Do you have any suggestions for materials we could use in the future? Answer

Students

• Did you like the task? Yes – Kind of – Not really
• Which section was the most interesting for you? Answer
• Were you able to express yourself? Yes – Kind of – Not really

Classroom Management

• Were my instructions clear? Yes – Kind of – Not really
• Was the lesson taught slow/fast enough? Too fast – Just right – Too slow
• Did you feel comfortable? Yes – Kind of – Not really

Teacher (only for colleagues)

• How effective was the lesson? Very effective – Effective – Not so much
• How can I do it better next time? Answer
• How did I deal with problems that came up? Answer