Students have much in their stake these days. School requirements, family matters, peer relations, and other stuff. They can be a responsible bunch of individuals who has a say on most things. As a teacher, you can only trust students’ feedback implicitly. I appreciatively listen, but with caution, to parents (who might be less likely to understand pedagogy), administrators (who are often too busy to really know the heart of our work), mentors (who many districts cannot afford), and colleagues (who have little time to observe and mentor. The students are there every day. They know what you did right, and wrong.
Here is an example of what I am trying to say from a teacher: At the end of 4th grade, on my self-imposed, annual, year-end survey, I got dinged by Gillian. My offense? Asking her to wait until 5th grade to test into reading level Z. A bazillion times I told her: it’s just increased mature content. The reading skills are identical. I made a choice she didn’t like. It’s an unintended consequence.
At first, this may sound absurd, immature, or whatever other mature professionals might call it. The fact remains however, that there might be something wrong with how one handles a specific situation, at least, in the eyes of your recipient, in this case, the student.
In considering your professional evaluation, there can be questions about the global application of student evaluation surveys. Like many new and exciting ideas in education, sometimes, a good intention will lose quality in execution. There could be questions where one might think, Do kids recognize what’s good for them? Do they know what they are talking about, like really? So, why trust why they say in evaluating their teachers?
At the end of the day, everybody involved should be listened to and put on the weigh if you really are after self-improvement.
By: Grace M. Ruiz | Teacher III | Balut Elementary School | Orion, Bataan
