Reflecting on Teacher Needs Real Feedback by Bill Gates
I came across a sharing about the need for teachers to get real feedback by Bill Gates recently on the Ted Channel.
In the videoclip below, Bill Gates shared about the importance of teachers getting feedback for their professional development in effective teaching.
Without quality feedback, teachers may not see why they need to improve and which area they need improvement.
Even as fellow teachers, we do not often comment on other teachers’ lessons as we are concerned about offending them.
Lots of teachers take pride in the way they teach especially the experienced ones. They may often teach the way they think is the best and they feel confidence about the way they teach.
The fact is teachers should not teach the way they think is the best way but they should teach the way how students learn best. Very often, the way that our students want to be taught is the best way in teaching them.
Video feedback
This is the type of feedback that you can get through observation.
In the videoclip above, Bill Gates shared about how a teacher used her own video taken during lesson to evaluate her own effectiveness and areas for improvement.
The fact is most teachers will not feel comfortable with a video camera in the class to take down every detail of our lesson. We will be scared of making mistakes and students also react differently.
Nevertheless, it becomes a norm when everyone in the class including the teacher will get used to it when the video camera is placed daily in the classroom.
This is a good way to observe how well we have taught as well as how well our students have responded to your lesson.
We may not be able to observe our students’ reactions and responses well during lessons. Looking back at the video gives us an overview of areas we need to address. It can also let us know what we have done well and should continue doing them.
Having these videos can also help other teachers in their professional development especially for beginning teachers who want to see samples of real-life lessons.
Peer feedback
We can also get our peers to observe our lessons to get peer feedback.
Through peer feedback, we can get someone else to give suggestions on how we can improve.
Our observers also benefit as they can bring back good practices to use in their classrooms.
This will go back to the thought that every teacher can be a mentor and every teacher can be a mentee. With this mindset, there can be great improvement in the effectiveness of the way we teacher.
Student feedback
You can also get your students to write a reflective note about our lesson for the day before they can leave the classroom.
This gives us information about the learners’ point of view.
We can formulate simple questions like what they have learnt, what they still do not understand and what they dislike about the lesson.
We may not get honest feedback in the beginning of this student feedback at the early stage.
Purposeful acknowledgement of good critical feedback from students will encourage others to follow.
A culture that is not judgemental but a culture of learning to improve our teaching skills and strategies will definitely go a long way.
This is a good role model for students that their teachers are also learning how to teach them the way they can learn the best.
We can see that many students will appreciate us for having this openness to feedback and this also brings a conducive classroom environment for learners’ needs to be addressed.
Perception Survey
Perception survey is a simple feedback form to get an idea of the different aspects of the lesson depending on what you want to know.
You need to construct your questions purposefully to find out your students’ feedback about your lesson and areas you want to know how well you have done.
This allows you to see your own progress as well as areas you still need to address.
In conclusion
There are many ways to get feedback to enhance the way we teach in class that you can explore through books and professional articles in google scholars.
Improvement can only come if you choose to let go of your pride and ego regardless of how many years you may have taught.
A good reflective practitioner will provide rich learning experience for our students.
Learning to learn how a learner can learn best, by learning from learners through real critical feedback, can bring the best effective learning to happen.
Disclaimer: This is my personal reflection and I am not in any position to instruct anyone what they should do. I am not responsible for any action taken as a result of this post. My post can only be a reference for your further research and growth. By reading this post, you acknowledge and accept that. All images and pictures were taken from google images that are free from copyright under labelled for reuse.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://fun2learn.vornix.blog/2018/08/10/reflecting-on-teacher-needs-real-feedback-by-bill-gates/
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