Just before the Thanksgiving holiday (which feels like forever ago!), our school sat down together to work on what we call our “Professional Growth Process,” which was designed as a way for us to work together with others in our community to foster our growth as teachers.  The professional growth process was carefully and thoughtfully designed by a committee of administrators and teachers that have worked together over the course of many years.  We all work using the essential question, “How can I most significantly improve teaching and learning in my classroom?” as a guide for the goals we set as teachers.  Part of my love for this essential question for my craft is that it is so open-ended.  Our school recognizes that there is a myriad of ways to measure teaching and learning and that there are many paths a teacher can take to continue to hone her craft.

Without sharing all the nitty-gritty details of the professional growth process, one very important component of answering the essential question of improving teaching and learning in my classroom is the student survey each of us is required to give to students.  These surveys, which are entirely generated by the classroom teacher, give us direction and allow us to see ourselves and our classes through the students’ eyes.  In the past, using student feedback has allowed me to adjust my instruction and seek out teachers to observe and professional development opportunities that are specific to areas in which I could use a little help.  No teacher is perfect, and with a bit of humility and grace, we can all become better.

To guide us in creating our surveys, our school provides us with a question bank that is completely optional to use.  I like to take some questions out of the bank each year because I want to make sure the way I word my survey is as clear as possible.  To clarify, the “questions” are statements with which students can agree or disagree to varying degrees.  Any question or statement I give to students is specific to a goal I would like to achieve.  In the past, I’ve asked them for feedback about assessments, student participation, the variety of learning experiences, and level of safety during difficult conversations.  Some years my student survey has simply asked students to draw what it is like to learn in my classroom.  I’ve given them blank paper, posted the prompt “What does learning look like in Mrs. Amendola’s classroom?” and they’ve gone to town drawing.  I learned that the drawing surveys have to be much more scaffolded for students so that they understand the nature of the task you are giving to them.

This year, I designed my survey to have statements and drawing.  I thought that starting with questions could prime the pump of student thinking so that when they get to the point in the survey where I ask them to draw they know a little more about the feedback I am seeking from them.  My focus is my relationship with them.  I need to know if I’m doing a good job connecting with my students and if they feel safe in my classroom since as a social studies teacher controversial or hot-button topics come up often.  The last “question” before asking students to draw is for them to tell me something they wish I knew about them.  I’m anxious to see what students will say.  I’ll distribute the survey prior to our winter break that begins on December 21, and I look forward to sharing the results

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