Day 21: One Tool That Improves My Teaching and Students' Engagement.

Foto de 愚木混株 cdd20 en Unsplash

The best way to improve your class is to solicit feedback.

The best way to enhance your students' engagement is to solicit their feedback. For the last 5 years, I used:

• Minutes cards

• Exit ticket 

to request anonymous student feedback and change my classes and lessons based on what they share. 

The techniques are fast to implement, and the results are excellent. Here is how I use them:

Minutes cards

You can use sticky notes as minute cards. Before each break, learners take a minute to write:

• one thing that they think will be useful or new in one sticky note.

• one thing, on the other note, that they found too fast, too slow, confusing, or irrelevant. Or one question they have. 

While they are enjoying their coffee or lunch, review their notes and look for patterns. It takes less than five minutes to see what learners in a 40-person class enjoy, what they are confused by, what problems they’re having, and what questions you have not yet answered.

When they return from the break, you choose one or two of those issues and address them before continuing with the lesson. 

Exit Ticket

You can also use sticky notes or a form that allows anonymous answers. You share this form at the end of each class. And ask for:

• one thing that went well and you should keep. 

• one thing you can improve.

These are short, text-free fields for your students to fill and are optional. After the class is over, you go through the answers and decide which suggestion to pick and try to change to improve the next class. You also made a small summary of the answers to both questions.

In the next class, you start with the summary and thank the students who answered the feedback survey. This shows them that you read their answers. 

Then, you explain the change that you will make in this class to address their suggestion. This shows your students that you listen and act on their opinions. 

These two techniques are fast and easy to implement and add a lot of value to you and your students.

When your learners understand you care, they engage. :-)