Whether you are new to teaching or have been at it for years, reflecting on your practice is an important part of growth. Giving your students the chance to complete a year-end evaluation of your teaching is a fun way to receive feedback. It also shows them that you are striving to be the best teacher that you can, while giving them a chance to have their voices heard!
Read on to hear the story behind this activity, why I believe it’s important, and a link to my downloadable version on Teachers Pay Teachers!
❀ Getting ready for the first day of a new school year? Check out my Meet the Teacher Activity instead! ❀
Teacher Evaluation Forms
During my student teaching placement, I had the opportunity to plan lessons and activities, practice essential teacher-skills like classroom and behaviour management, and of course had to complete student assessment! For many, I know that receiving assessment (and the grades that come with it) can be pretty stressful.
As a teacher, I try to sneak assessment in whenever I can, but in a way that is low-stress for the students. I used Exit Tickets, Google Forms, K-W-L charts, and elicited answers through discussion wherever possible. When assessing projects and activities, I used rubrics that I created and shared with the students prior to starting the activity.
Regardless, though, receiving feedback can be hard! To normalize that experience for myself and my students, I thought this was a fun low-stakes activity for my last day of student teaching at this school.
To introduce this last day of school activity, I told the students that I would like to hear their thoughts about my teaching. By telling them that this feedback was important to me and that it would influence the way I teach in the future, I hoped to empower their voices and give them a chance to vocalize their thoughts and feelings. This let them feel heard, valued, and reassured that their thoughts are important.
And let me tell you, I am so glad I did this activity! They seemed to enjoy it, and they gave me tons of thoughtful feedback that will guide me in my career. The pictures they drew and funny comments they made also had me giggling like crazy.
Why Feedback is Important
Being reflective in our practice allows us to continue growing as educators. Each year, too, our classrooms will be composed of different children with unique needs. In an effort to create a classroom that is truly inclusive, effective, and enjoyable for our little ones, I believe it is important we always check-in with our students throughout the year.
As a new teacher, this is especially important! Regardless of how hard I try to plan my lessons and facilitate them in a way that reaches each student in the way they need, there will always be room to improve. By asking my students how they felt about my approach to teaching, I can refine my practice to create a better student experience in my future classroom.
Teacher Feedback Template
Alright, friends! Here’s the worksheet I gave my students on the last day of my placement.
If you would like to give this activity a go in your own classroom, you can download it here! Also: The downloadable version is editable, so if you’re not a student teacher it’s easy to re-title this “Teacher Feedback” before printing.
