End of year survey – tapping the wisdom of your class/school/community

At the end of the school year it is a good idea to gather information from the students you are passing on.

Not only is this a chance for you to get some insight about your teaching but it is also a great way to value the ‘voice’ of your students.

What are your students’ attitudes towards areas of learning?

 You might also like to think about developing a similar survey for the beginning of next year to give some insight into student’s attitudes that they bring with them to your class. You could include the various learning areas, what they are expecting to gain from the year with you, and what questions they would like to find out more about. You might be able to work the later into a negotiated curriculum?  For each area chosen provide a 1 (don’t like at all) to 10 (love it) scale.

How much have their attitudes  changed?

If you had completed such an attitudinal survey of students’ attitudes at the beginning of the year the same survey at the end of the year will indicate positive or negative changes in the students attitudes to the various learning areas. Attitudes about an area of learning are as important as achievement.

 For the students at the end of the year:

 1. What have been the three best things you have done this year? Why?

 2. What would you have liked to have done more of this year?

 3. What didn’t we do that I wish we had?

 4. In what way have I changed this year? What areas have I improved in, or grown to like more?

 5. What were the things I didn’t like most this year?

 6. What would you change about how I teach so the class would be better?

 7. If you were giving advice for next year’s students of how to survive in style in my room, what would you say to them?

 Below are some interesting sentences for students to finish that will give you some idea of how they see schools, teachers and themselves? 

The students’ answers will provide insightful responses, similes, or metaphors for the class teacher to give attention to.

 A school is a place where……………..

Answers could range from: ….’You have to go’ to…. ‘A place where teachers help students learn’.

A teacher is a person who…………………

Answers could range from: …’tells me/kids what to do’ to…’A person who helps me/kids learn’.

A student is a person who………………

Answers could range from: ‘Does as he/she is told’ to…. Likes learning about new things’.

It is interesting to see what ideas/ metaphors students come up with and if they see themselves as learners or someone who is taught things.

 Try it. You might be surprised. You might even learn something!

Something similar could be devised by principals to gather ideas for their own professional development – or something devised by the Board of Trustees to get feedback from the parents/caregivers?

The responses to such questions show how the culture of the school or class is seen.

Culture Counts!