Post-Test Questionnaire

It seems a little ridiculous when I'm writing about it, but there are so many times when I'm teaching that I assume my students already know the material. Maybe it's because I already know it. Or maybe it's that they have seen information like this in previous grades. But I'm always afraid I'm teaching them something they already know.

What happens then is I begin to think, "We should move quickly through the material so that I don't bore them." So I begin going faster, working through fewer examples, and going over less of the simple problems.

Of course, my students don't know the material. So my faster pace is too much for them, and since I'm doing fewer examples they have less idea about how to use the information given to them. They become confused and frustrated and begin to ignore me, and that's when my discipline problems pop up.

I think that was the biggest problem with my block 4. How do I know? Because after their test yesterday I had them fill out a questionnaire telling me how I could improve as a teacher. I was surprised that the students were as nice as they were. (I had been preparing to read about how horrible I am.) But it turns out that all they really wanted me to do is slow down, explain things more thoroughly, and do more examples. It was nice to read.

I think they appreciated being a part of my learning process as well. Today we had a pretty good class - in part because I didn't assume they knew anything. (I gave them a pre-assessment for the triangles unit along with the questionnaire.) It made me feel good to know that I was actually reaching their needs.

The other piece on the questionnaire was about their participation in the class. They answered honestly (mostly-I think-because they didn't have to put their names on the paper), and came up with good ways of solving their participation problems. Perhaps that reflective piece is what made today so much better than usual.