[HANASHIR:5652] year-end evaluation / teacher appreciation

[Wendy Goldberg <wendy.goldberg...>]

I've thought a lot about feedback and I get it as often as possible in the 
following ways.  I generally ask these two questions:

1.  What went well?
2.  What could have been better?

Both are open ended questions that generate helpful feedback that somehow 
doesn't seem like criticism.  There is always SOMETHING that could have 
been better, even if it is: the windows could have been open for fresh air. 
Yet the question is purposely not, "What went WRONG?" or anything that 
negative. By beginning with "What went well?"  you get the positive 
feedback first, which usually makes the other stuff easier to hear.  I'd 
ask the teachers and also the students, since they are an important part of 
the equation.

I also think that surveys become cumbersome.  Who has time to fill them 
out?  Getting the feedback immediately keeps it fresh and honest.

Furthermore, I think it is very important for teachers to get appreciated 
(parents, too).  Whenever we have a guest teaching in our class, after they 
finish their teaching (or story or song . . .)  I always end with, "I'll 
take five volunteers to tell us what they loved about that 
story/song/lesson."  The kids come up with amazing things and people have 
melted with the compliments.

By the way, we end our year ( I teach third grade in a day school) by 
writing "appreciations" to every other student, every teacher, the 
prinicipal, the custodians, and our parents.  I have a form that I 
distribute and the kids get a packet of them to complete over the course of 
the last few weeks of school.  The form reads:  "What I appreciate about 
__________is: "  then we collate them into booklets for each child and each 
teacher.  It is our class gift at the end of the year to everyone involved 
in our classroom community.  People LOVE them (the parents and the 
students).  The teachers love getting them too.

I know that might be a stretch from the original question about feedback, 
but I feel passionate about giving positive appreciation and I love having 
the chance to share the beauty of what we've developed.

Wendy  Goldberg

Wendy(dot)goldberg (at) prodigy(dot)net

p.s.  See you at HN!

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