Online assignment (s3)
ONLINE ASSIGNMENT(S3)
TOPIC: SELF REFLECTION : PEER EVALUATION -ASSESSING STUDENT'S PERFORMANCE AS FEEDBACK FOR STUDENT'SPROGRESS- TEACHER'S PROFICIENCY - PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
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Self-reflection
Self-reflection is a simple way to dig deeper into your feelings and find out why you were doing something or feeling a certain way.
With a profession as challenging as teaching, self-reflection offers teachers an opportunity to think about what works and what doesn’t in their classroom. We teachers can use reflective teaching as a way to analyze and evaluate our own practices so we can focus on what works.
Importance of Self-Reflection
Effective teachers are first to admit that no matter how good a lesson is, our teaching strategies can always be improved—oftentimes it’s why we seek out our colleagues’ opinions.
However, we run the risk of our audience making snap judgments about our instruction without truly having the context to support it—especially in regard to why a student didn’t understand it or why something happened amidst your instruction.
Self-reflection is important because it’s a process that makes you collect, record, and analyze everything that happened in the lesson so you can make improvements in your teaching strategies where necessary.
The Process of Reflection
Connecting self-reflection to effective teaching is a process. The first step is to figure out what you want to reflect upon—are you looking at a particular feature of your teaching or is this reflection in response to a specific problem in your classroom? Whatever the case may be, you should start by collecting information.
Here are a few ways that you can do this:
Self-Reflective Journal: A journal is an easy way to reflect upon what just happened during your instruction. After each lesson, simply jot down a few notes describing your reactions and feelings and then follow up with any observations you have about your students. If it helps, you can break up your journal into concrete sections, such lesson objective, materials, classroom management, students, teacher, etc. In this way, you can be consistent with how you measure your assessments time after time. You can find specific questions to ask yourself below.
Video Recording: A video recording of your teaching is valuable because it provides an unaltered and unbiased vantage point for how effective your lesson may be from both a teacher and student perspective. Additionally, a video may act as an additional set of eyes to catch errant behavior that you hadn’t spotted at the time. Many colleges actually use this method to teach up and coming teachers the value of self-reflection.
Student Observation: Students are very observant and love to give feedback. You can hand out a simple survey or questionnaire after your lesson to get students’ perspectives about how the lesson went. Think critically about what questions you’d like to ask and encourage your children to express their thoughts thoroughly. It’ll not only be a learning experience for you, but also an indirect exercise in writing for them.
Peer Observation: Invite a colleague to come into your classroom and observe your teaching. Now this is much different than when you have your principal come in and watch you—it’s much more casual and devoid of darting eyes. As a result, you’ll be able to teach more naturally and give your colleague an honest perspective of your instruction methods. To help him frame your lesson critique more clearly, create a questionnaire (you can use some of the questions below) for your colleague to fill out as they observe. Afterward, make some time to sit down with him so he can more accurately convey what he saw.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Whether you’re using a self-reflective journal or trying to get feedback from your students and peers, perhaps the hardest part is actually coming up with the right questions to ask. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Lesson Objectives
Was the lesson too easy or too difficult for the students?
Did the students understand what was being taught?
What problems arose?
Materials
Did the materials keep the students engaged in the lesson?
What materials did we use that worked in the lesson?
What materials did we use that didn’t work in the lesson?
Are there any resources or techniques that you’d like to see used instead?
Students
Were students on task?
With what parts of the lesson did the students seem most engaged?
With what parts of the lesson did students seem least engaged with?
Classroom Management
Where my instructions clear?
Was the lesson taught at a reasonable pace?
Did all students participate in the lesson?
Teacher
How effective was the overall lesson?
How can I do it better next time?
Did I meet all of my objectives?
How did I deal with any problems that came up during instruction?
Was I perceptive and sensitive to each of my students’ needs?
How was my overall attitude and delivery throughout class?
Analyze and Implement Effective Techniques
Now that you have collected the information, it’s time to analyze it. The first thing you should look for is any recurring patterns. If you video recorded your lesson, did you find anything that kept happening over and over?
Look at your student feedback forms. Is there anything that students kept talking about?
Now that you have figured out what needs to be changed, the easy part is finding a solution. There are a few avenues I would encourage you to explore:
Talk to your colleagues about your findings and ask them for advice. They may have the same issue in their classroom and can offer you some ideas on how do things differently.
Go online and read up on effective techniques that can help remedy your situation. As an age-old profession, there are bound to be resources that exist for the problems you’re experiencing.
Interact with other teachers on blogs and on social media sites. Posting questions on popular forums and blogs may open up new perspectives and techniques that you hadn’t considered before. These avenues may also have insight for any new questions that you should include on future surveys.
The ultimate goal of self-reflection is to improve the way you teach. Through the findings you gather, you may gain the insight you need to take your instruction to the proverbial next level, or you may find that you’re already doing a stellar job. In either case, self-reflection is a technique that can gauge your standing honestly and you should strive to implement it throughout the year. By the time the next new class rolls around, you’ll have a much better wider toolkit to pull from when it’s time to teach that lesson once again.
10 Reasons Why Self-Reflection in the Classroom is Important
Taking the time to reflect about one’s own teaching is one of the most effective ways to make positive changes in the classroom. Reflection is deliberate and structured thinking about choices. It is an integral step to improving practice. Through reflection, teachers and trainers can look clearly at their successes and struggles and consider options for change that greatly impact student learning. Self-reflection can allow one to:
* Develop a rationale for practice.
* Assess student learning and understanding of concepts.
* Identify strengths and weaknesses in a lesson plan.
* Identify the degree to which instructional goals and objectives were met.
* Assess how effectively one is performing.
* Obtain information about class participation and student responses.
* Assess pacing of the class and amount of student engagement.
* Observe on-task behavior of students.
* Identify one’s own delivery and presentation strengths, and areas for improvement.
* Take informed actions about what is being done in the classroom and why it is being done.
Developing a habit of self-reflecting will lead to a natural process of evaluation. Self-reflection is not about focusing solely on the negative; it also enables you to think about what one does well. Self-reflection provides a structured method for also considering what is positive about one’s teaching.
Peer evaluation
Peer evaluation is a process of collegial feedback on quality of teaching. It is a purposeful process of gathering information and evidence about the effectiveness of teaching processes and the educational environment with a view to subjecting it to constructive critical scrutiny. It usually begins with people identifying what areas they would like feedback on, and works best where the process is reciprocal between peers. A key component of peer evaluation is peer review of current practice often based on peer observation of teaching interactions. It should always be viewed as an opportunity not a threat for both parties.
The peer evaluation process is outlined in brief below:
Why do you need to participate in peer evaluation?
Evaluation of an instructor by their peers has become an integral part of teaching at a university. This results from several sources. Motivations can be intrinsic as instructors seek to improve their teaching, but they can also be extrinsic. Peer evaluation can be beneficial for your long term teaching goals and a necessity to your professional advancement. Similarly, service as an observer is important for the professional participation of faculty and allows the faculty to maintain ownership of the quality and content of the curriculum.
What is Peer Evaluation of Teaching?
Peer Evaluation of Teaching consists of the review of teaching performance by colleagues, usually in the same or a similar discipline, with the purpose of assessing and improving the quality of teaching.
Peer review puts faculty in charge of the quality of their teaching. Peer collaboration and review enables instructors to actively improve the quality of teaching in their own classroom and in their department. “Excellent teachers ...set out to inquire into their own practice, identifying key issues they want to pursue, posing questions for themselves, exploring alternatives and taking risks, and doing all of this in the company of peers who can offer critique and support. These are the habits of mind we expect, after all, in scholarly work, and we should expect them in teaching as much as in research.” [England 1996] It is the responsibility of professional teachers to monitor the quality of the teaching in their departments and institutions.
Peer Evaluation of Teaching is used in many contexts.
General teaching improvement for current instructors (e.g. delivery, student engagement, content organization)
Hiring (e.g. teaching presentations/ job talks).
Mentoring of junior instructors (new faculty, adjuncts, graduate assistants).
Promotion or advancement decisions
Award of sabbaticals
Merit awards (e.g. Excellence in Teaching, Merit Awards)
What is the purpose of Peer Evaluation of Teaching?
Review of a faculty member’s teaching by his/her peers has two distinct purposes.
Formative reviews are intended to develop or improve teaching. Formative reviews should be intended for the personal use of the observed instructor. Regular conversation among colleagues about teaching should be a hallmark of every department or school’s culture, and formative peer review processes for pre-tenure, non-tenure-track, and tenured faculty should be designed in every department or school to suit that culture
Summative, or evaluative, reviews are intended for judgments in increment, contract renewal, or promotion processes.
What are the components of Evaluation of Teaching?
Peer Evaluation - Peer evaluation has multiple components
In-class Observation (link to information on in-class observation)
Course Material Review (link to something)
Student evaluation - Student evaluations are often reviewed as evidence of teaching, but they should not be viewed in isolation. Student evaluation can often be useful for information of how students respond personally to their instructor, but students are not qualified to assess content knowledge or modality of instruction.
Ongoing evaluation - Peer review of teaching should not be considered to be a single visitation to a course, but rather a longitudinal process in which there is a repeated conversation and reflection by the instructor with input from peers and students.
ASSESSING STUDENT PERFORMANCE AS FEEDBACJ FOR STUDENT'S PROGRESS
Feedback is an essential part of effective learning. It helps students understand the subject being Edited textstudied and gives them clear guidance on how to improve their learning. Bellon et al.1state 'academic feedback is more strongly and consistently related to achievement than any other teaching behaviour...this relationship is consistent regardless of grade, socioeconomic status, race, or school setting.' Feedback can improve a student's confidence, self-awareness and enthusiasm for learning. Effective feedback during the first year in university can aid the transition to higher education and may support student retention.2 Providing students engage with feedback, it should enhance learning and improve assessment performance.
Giving students feedback in the classroom during the learning process has been proven to increase learning and improve student outcomes. When given correctly, feedback guides the student in their learning process and gives them the direction they need to reach the target or goal of the lesson. Feedback sends a message to the student that the instructor cares about the learning taking place. It also allows the student to become more engaged and involved in the classroom.
Instructors typically collect information about student progress through various formative assessment strategies (see the CIRT module on formative assessment for more information). Formative assessment is done in the classroom during the learning process and it allows instructor to collect data regarding where the students are relative to the goal of the lesson. Instructors can then use this information to provide feedback to each student in a way that is specific to that student. Thus the feedback is individualized, relevant, and appropriate for where the student currently is in their learning.
There are several variables that must be considered by instructors when preparing to give students feedback. These are strategic choices that impact the effectiveness of the feedback. Some of the most important variables include the following:
Timing
Students need to receive the feedback so there is still time for them to use it towards the target goal.
Most effective if the student is still engaged in the subject matter because it will be more meaningful and relevant
Examples- returning tests, quizzes and homework promptly
Amount
Feedback should correct major issues and misconceptions.
Feedback should provide students a guide on where to go next and what to focus on.
Instructors must realize that 100% mastery of the subject matter is not realistic for most.
Takes time and experience to learn to gauge the appropriate amount of feedback for each student. It will vary by student and lesson content.
It is critical that students are not overwhelmed by feedback that tries to correct everything so prioritization by the instruction is important.
Examples - select two or three points in a paper to comment on and be sure to comment on strengths as well as weaknesses.
Mode
Feedback can be delivered in several modes. It can be oral, written, visual, or done through demonstration.
Use written when the student needs to be able to refer to the feedback later.
Use oral when there is too much too much information for the student to read or if the student does not read well.
Interactive feedback in person is best because it allows the student to ask questions.
Use visuals or demonstrations for visual learners and how-to types of material.
Audience
Feedback can be given to individual students, groups of students, or the entire class.
Give feedback to individuals when needed to address their own performance or learning. Individual feedback makes students feel valued and is motivating.
Feedback to groups or the whole class is appropriate when most of the class is missing a concept or needs reinforcement.
Content
Feedback content may vary in focus, function, clarity, specificity, and tone.
It is important that feedback is descriptive and specific enough to be valuable to the student and provide them direction.
At the same time, feedback should not be "overly nitpicky" and correct every single error.
Feedback should always be delivered in a nonjudgmental and positive way. Instructors should choose words that convey support and respect.
Feedback should be clear and instructors should verify that the student understands the feedback.
Best feedback is criterion referenced - that is, it references a specific concept or skill and tells the student where they stand in relation to mastery of that concept or skill. It does compare them other students. Rubrics are often an effective way to let students know where they stand in regards to mastery of content.
TEACHER'S PROFICIENCY
Teaching proficiency means the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes which teachers need to have in order to promote learning processes and design lessons. It refers to a combination of expert and didactical knowledge, practical teaching experience, skills that have been learnt and practised, insights and attitudes, above all with respect to interaction with students and the teacher’s own role. What counts are the attitudes a teacher has towards teaching, the stance he or she adopts towards students, and their willingness to adapt lessons to the conditions, abilities and expectations of the students.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
The best predictor of student success is the extent to which families encourage learning at home and involve themselves in their child’s education.
When parents are engaged in their children’s school lives, students have the home support and knowledge they need to not only finish their assignments, but also develop a lifelong love of learning.
Teachers who focus on parent engagement often see a profound change in their classrooms. The more parents involved in their children’s education, the better their entire class’s motivation, behavior, and grades become.
Encouraging parent engagement is more than common courtesy. It’s one of the best ways to create a positive learning environment for every student. To create a community built on parent-teacher relationships in your school, find out what parent engagement is and how to nurture it.
What is Parent Engagement?
According to experts, the definition of parent engagement is parents and teachers sharing a responsibility to help their children learn and meet educational goals. Parent engagement happens when teachers involve parents in school meetings or events, and parents volunteer their support at home and at school. In this way, they make a commitment. Parents commit to prioritizing their child’s educational goals, and teachers commit to listening and providing a space for collaboration with parents.
Parent engagement in schools is different from parent involvement, though both are useful. Parent involvement is when parents participate in school events or activities, and teachers provide learning resources or information about their student’s grades. Unlike in parent engagement, teachers hold the primary responsibility to set educational goals. They relate to parents not as a partner but an advisor who guides them through academic support for their child.
It helps to think of parent involvement as the first step to parent engagement. While teachers can advise parents on some things, parents also have important information about their child that teachers might not know. Both can bring perspectives to the table that enrich a student’s learning experience. Neither is complete without the other. As noted by Larry Ferlazzo in his article “Involvement or Engagement?”: “A school striving for family involvement often leads with its mouth—identifying projects, needs, and goals and then telling parents how they can contribute. A school striving for parent engagement, on the other hand, tends to lead with its ears—listening to what parents think, dream, and worry about.”[2]
After the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB), our focus as educators shifted from parent involvement to engagement. We begin by giving parents resources, inviting them to activities, and helping them monitor their children’s progress. Then, we partner with them to set goals for their students and find ways to strengthen our classrooms. When we engage parents in the learning process, our school communities are all the more enriched for it.
Why Parent Involvement is Important
Parental involvement and engagement in education matters now more than ever because it’s in decline. In 2016, research showed a drop in parents who believe that intimate parent-teacher communication is effective.[3] Parents now prefer remote methods of communication, like online student portals, and they are less likely to attend parent-teacher conferences or school activities. This shift is sudden and concerning due to what it means for parent engagement. While digital tools can help families stay informed, students are missing out when parents don’t offer their time and support.
The factors behind this change in parent involvement at school are multi-faceted. Some parents have scheduling or transportation issues that make volunteering or attending parent-teacher conferences tough. Others, like low-income or minority families, feel that staff makes them uncomfortable or shows a lack of cultural awareness.[4] If a parent-teacher relationship wasn’t established early in the year, parents also may not know whether they’re welcome at school. Some groups, however, are more at-risk for low parent engagement. Parent involvement is lowest in families below the poverty line or with older children, as well as parents who do not speak the area’s primary language or did not graduate high school.[5]
Parent involvement in schools is the first step to parent engagement and, ultimately, parent partnership. When parents and teachers work together to establish a thriving classroom, the effect on their students is profound. Students with engaged parents don’t just have high test scores: their attendance, self-esteem, and graduation rate rise, too. Parent-teacher relationships are more than an optional classroom benefit. They are key for helping students on a personal and classroom level reach their academic potential. If we as educators don’t make a space for parent partnerships in our schools, we’re limiting our classroom’s capacity for growth.
Parent Engagement and Student Success
Children with engaged parents are more likely to:
Earn higher grades or test scores
Graduate from high school and attend post-secondary education
Develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom
Have better social skills and classroom behavior
They are also less likely to:
Have low self-esteem
Need redirection in the classroom
Develop behavioral issues
Across fifty different studies on parental engagement, educational researchers found a connection between family involvement and academic achievement.[6] And the earlier educators establish parent engagement, the more effective they are in raising student performance. Parent partnerships formed during elementary school years build a strong foundation for student success and future engagement opportunities.[7]
Students aren’t the only ones who benefit from family engagement: parents and teachers do, too. Teachers can prepare parents to help with homework or academic concepts. And engaged parents tend to think highly of teachers, which improves teacher morale. Knowing more about a student’s family life can also help teachers prepare lessons that better fit that student’s needs or interact more efficiently with families. And because students receive more support, classrooms with engaged parents perform better as a whole.[14] When parents and teachers team up, everyone wins!
How to Increase Parent Engagement
It’s never too late to build the foundations for parent-teacher communication in schools. But the sooner you do, the more equipped your students will be to reach their academic potential.
Try these parent engagement strategies to transform involvement into parent partnerships:
Give parents your contact information and get to know them early in the school year. That way, when they have questions, they’ll feel comfortable reaching out
Provide opportunities for parents to connect with the school. Volunteer shifts, class activities, or parent-teacher committees are all great engagement opportunities
Share your classroom goals or expectations openly with parents, and ask them to do the same
Connect with parents in-person as much as possible. Use emails, texts, or apps to keep parents up-to-date on upcoming class events
Address common challenges that inhibit parent engagement like scheduling conflicts or an intimidating atmosphere
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Self-reflection
Self-reflection is a simple way to dig deeper into your feelings and find out why you were doing something or feeling a certain way.
With a profession as challenging as teaching, self-reflection offers teachers an opportunity to think about what works and what doesn’t in their classroom. We teachers can use reflective teaching as a way to analyze and evaluate our own practices so we can focus on what works.
Importance of Self-Reflection
Effective teachers are first to admit that no matter how good a lesson is, our teaching strategies can always be improved—oftentimes it’s why we seek out our colleagues’ opinions.
However, we run the risk of our audience making snap judgments about our instruction without truly having the context to support it—especially in regard to why a student didn’t understand it or why something happened amidst your instruction.
Self-reflection is important because it’s a process that makes you collect, record, and analyze everything that happened in the lesson so you can make improvements in your teaching strategies where necessary.
The Process of Reflection
Connecting self-reflection to effective teaching is a process. The first step is to figure out what you want to reflect upon—are you looking at a particular feature of your teaching or is this reflection in response to a specific problem in your classroom? Whatever the case may be, you should start by collecting information.
Here are a few ways that you can do this:
Self-Reflective Journal: A journal is an easy way to reflect upon what just happened during your instruction. After each lesson, simply jot down a few notes describing your reactions and feelings and then follow up with any observations you have about your students. If it helps, you can break up your journal into concrete sections, such lesson objective, materials, classroom management, students, teacher, etc. In this way, you can be consistent with how you measure your assessments time after time. You can find specific questions to ask yourself below.
Video Recording: A video recording of your teaching is valuable because it provides an unaltered and unbiased vantage point for how effective your lesson may be from both a teacher and student perspective. Additionally, a video may act as an additional set of eyes to catch errant behavior that you hadn’t spotted at the time. Many colleges actually use this method to teach up and coming teachers the value of self-reflection.
Student Observation: Students are very observant and love to give feedback. You can hand out a simple survey or questionnaire after your lesson to get students’ perspectives about how the lesson went. Think critically about what questions you’d like to ask and encourage your children to express their thoughts thoroughly. It’ll not only be a learning experience for you, but also an indirect exercise in writing for them.
Peer Observation: Invite a colleague to come into your classroom and observe your teaching. Now this is much different than when you have your principal come in and watch you—it’s much more casual and devoid of darting eyes. As a result, you’ll be able to teach more naturally and give your colleague an honest perspective of your instruction methods. To help him frame your lesson critique more clearly, create a questionnaire (you can use some of the questions below) for your colleague to fill out as they observe. Afterward, make some time to sit down with him so he can more accurately convey what he saw.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Whether you’re using a self-reflective journal or trying to get feedback from your students and peers, perhaps the hardest part is actually coming up with the right questions to ask. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Lesson Objectives
Was the lesson too easy or too difficult for the students?
Did the students understand what was being taught?
What problems arose?
Materials
Did the materials keep the students engaged in the lesson?
What materials did we use that worked in the lesson?
What materials did we use that didn’t work in the lesson?
Are there any resources or techniques that you’d like to see used instead?
Students
Were students on task?
With what parts of the lesson did the students seem most engaged?
With what parts of the lesson did students seem least engaged with?
Classroom Management
Where my instructions clear?
Was the lesson taught at a reasonable pace?
Did all students participate in the lesson?
Teacher
How effective was the overall lesson?
How can I do it better next time?
Did I meet all of my objectives?
How did I deal with any problems that came up during instruction?
Was I perceptive and sensitive to each of my students’ needs?
How was my overall attitude and delivery throughout class?
Analyze and Implement Effective Techniques
Now that you have collected the information, it’s time to analyze it. The first thing you should look for is any recurring patterns. If you video recorded your lesson, did you find anything that kept happening over and over?
Look at your student feedback forms. Is there anything that students kept talking about?
Now that you have figured out what needs to be changed, the easy part is finding a solution. There are a few avenues I would encourage you to explore:
Talk to your colleagues about your findings and ask them for advice. They may have the same issue in their classroom and can offer you some ideas on how do things differently.
Go online and read up on effective techniques that can help remedy your situation. As an age-old profession, there are bound to be resources that exist for the problems you’re experiencing.
Interact with other teachers on blogs and on social media sites. Posting questions on popular forums and blogs may open up new perspectives and techniques that you hadn’t considered before. These avenues may also have insight for any new questions that you should include on future surveys.
The ultimate goal of self-reflection is to improve the way you teach. Through the findings you gather, you may gain the insight you need to take your instruction to the proverbial next level, or you may find that you’re already doing a stellar job. In either case, self-reflection is a technique that can gauge your standing honestly and you should strive to implement it throughout the year. By the time the next new class rolls around, you’ll have a much better wider toolkit to pull from when it’s time to teach that lesson once again.
10 Reasons Why Self-Reflection in the Classroom is Important
Taking the time to reflect about one’s own teaching is one of the most effective ways to make positive changes in the classroom. Reflection is deliberate and structured thinking about choices. It is an integral step to improving practice. Through reflection, teachers and trainers can look clearly at their successes and struggles and consider options for change that greatly impact student learning. Self-reflection can allow one to:
* Develop a rationale for practice.
* Assess student learning and understanding of concepts.
* Identify strengths and weaknesses in a lesson plan.
* Identify the degree to which instructional goals and objectives were met.
* Assess how effectively one is performing.
* Obtain information about class participation and student responses.
* Assess pacing of the class and amount of student engagement.
* Observe on-task behavior of students.
* Identify one’s own delivery and presentation strengths, and areas for improvement.
* Take informed actions about what is being done in the classroom and why it is being done.
Developing a habit of self-reflecting will lead to a natural process of evaluation. Self-reflection is not about focusing solely on the negative; it also enables you to think about what one does well. Self-reflection provides a structured method for also considering what is positive about one’s teaching.
Peer evaluation
Peer evaluation is a process of collegial feedback on quality of teaching. It is a purposeful process of gathering information and evidence about the effectiveness of teaching processes and the educational environment with a view to subjecting it to constructive critical scrutiny. It usually begins with people identifying what areas they would like feedback on, and works best where the process is reciprocal between peers. A key component of peer evaluation is peer review of current practice often based on peer observation of teaching interactions. It should always be viewed as an opportunity not a threat for both parties.
The peer evaluation process is outlined in brief below:
Why do you need to participate in peer evaluation?
Evaluation of an instructor by their peers has become an integral part of teaching at a university. This results from several sources. Motivations can be intrinsic as instructors seek to improve their teaching, but they can also be extrinsic. Peer evaluation can be beneficial for your long term teaching goals and a necessity to your professional advancement. Similarly, service as an observer is important for the professional participation of faculty and allows the faculty to maintain ownership of the quality and content of the curriculum.
What is Peer Evaluation of Teaching?
Peer Evaluation of Teaching consists of the review of teaching performance by colleagues, usually in the same or a similar discipline, with the purpose of assessing and improving the quality of teaching.
Peer review puts faculty in charge of the quality of their teaching. Peer collaboration and review enables instructors to actively improve the quality of teaching in their own classroom and in their department. “Excellent teachers ...set out to inquire into their own practice, identifying key issues they want to pursue, posing questions for themselves, exploring alternatives and taking risks, and doing all of this in the company of peers who can offer critique and support. These are the habits of mind we expect, after all, in scholarly work, and we should expect them in teaching as much as in research.” [England 1996] It is the responsibility of professional teachers to monitor the quality of the teaching in their departments and institutions.
Peer Evaluation of Teaching is used in many contexts.
General teaching improvement for current instructors (e.g. delivery, student engagement, content organization)
Hiring (e.g. teaching presentations/ job talks).
Mentoring of junior instructors (new faculty, adjuncts, graduate assistants).
Promotion or advancement decisions
Award of sabbaticals
Merit awards (e.g. Excellence in Teaching, Merit Awards)
What is the purpose of Peer Evaluation of Teaching?
Review of a faculty member’s teaching by his/her peers has two distinct purposes.
Formative reviews are intended to develop or improve teaching. Formative reviews should be intended for the personal use of the observed instructor. Regular conversation among colleagues about teaching should be a hallmark of every department or school’s culture, and formative peer review processes for pre-tenure, non-tenure-track, and tenured faculty should be designed in every department or school to suit that culture
Summative, or evaluative, reviews are intended for judgments in increment, contract renewal, or promotion processes.
What are the components of Evaluation of Teaching?
Peer Evaluation - Peer evaluation has multiple components
In-class Observation (link to information on in-class observation)
Course Material Review (link to something)
Student evaluation - Student evaluations are often reviewed as evidence of teaching, but they should not be viewed in isolation. Student evaluation can often be useful for information of how students respond personally to their instructor, but students are not qualified to assess content knowledge or modality of instruction.
Ongoing evaluation - Peer review of teaching should not be considered to be a single visitation to a course, but rather a longitudinal process in which there is a repeated conversation and reflection by the instructor with input from peers and students.
ASSESSING STUDENT PERFORMANCE AS FEEDBACJ FOR STUDENT'S PROGRESS
Feedback is an essential part of effective learning. It helps students understand the subject being Edited textstudied and gives them clear guidance on how to improve their learning. Bellon et al.1state 'academic feedback is more strongly and consistently related to achievement than any other teaching behaviour...this relationship is consistent regardless of grade, socioeconomic status, race, or school setting.' Feedback can improve a student's confidence, self-awareness and enthusiasm for learning. Effective feedback during the first year in university can aid the transition to higher education and may support student retention.2 Providing students engage with feedback, it should enhance learning and improve assessment performance.
Giving students feedback in the classroom during the learning process has been proven to increase learning and improve student outcomes. When given correctly, feedback guides the student in their learning process and gives them the direction they need to reach the target or goal of the lesson. Feedback sends a message to the student that the instructor cares about the learning taking place. It also allows the student to become more engaged and involved in the classroom.
Instructors typically collect information about student progress through various formative assessment strategies (see the CIRT module on formative assessment for more information). Formative assessment is done in the classroom during the learning process and it allows instructor to collect data regarding where the students are relative to the goal of the lesson. Instructors can then use this information to provide feedback to each student in a way that is specific to that student. Thus the feedback is individualized, relevant, and appropriate for where the student currently is in their learning.
There are several variables that must be considered by instructors when preparing to give students feedback. These are strategic choices that impact the effectiveness of the feedback. Some of the most important variables include the following:
Timing
Students need to receive the feedback so there is still time for them to use it towards the target goal.
Most effective if the student is still engaged in the subject matter because it will be more meaningful and relevant
Examples- returning tests, quizzes and homework promptly
Amount
Feedback should correct major issues and misconceptions.
Feedback should provide students a guide on where to go next and what to focus on.
Instructors must realize that 100% mastery of the subject matter is not realistic for most.
Takes time and experience to learn to gauge the appropriate amount of feedback for each student. It will vary by student and lesson content.
It is critical that students are not overwhelmed by feedback that tries to correct everything so prioritization by the instruction is important.
Examples - select two or three points in a paper to comment on and be sure to comment on strengths as well as weaknesses.
Mode
Feedback can be delivered in several modes. It can be oral, written, visual, or done through demonstration.
Use written when the student needs to be able to refer to the feedback later.
Use oral when there is too much too much information for the student to read or if the student does not read well.
Interactive feedback in person is best because it allows the student to ask questions.
Use visuals or demonstrations for visual learners and how-to types of material.
Audience
Feedback can be given to individual students, groups of students, or the entire class.
Give feedback to individuals when needed to address their own performance or learning. Individual feedback makes students feel valued and is motivating.
Feedback to groups or the whole class is appropriate when most of the class is missing a concept or needs reinforcement.
Content
Feedback content may vary in focus, function, clarity, specificity, and tone.
It is important that feedback is descriptive and specific enough to be valuable to the student and provide them direction.
At the same time, feedback should not be "overly nitpicky" and correct every single error.
Feedback should always be delivered in a nonjudgmental and positive way. Instructors should choose words that convey support and respect.
Feedback should be clear and instructors should verify that the student understands the feedback.
Best feedback is criterion referenced - that is, it references a specific concept or skill and tells the student where they stand in relation to mastery of that concept or skill. It does compare them other students. Rubrics are often an effective way to let students know where they stand in regards to mastery of content.
TEACHER'S PROFICIENCY
Teaching proficiency means the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes which teachers need to have in order to promote learning processes and design lessons. It refers to a combination of expert and didactical knowledge, practical teaching experience, skills that have been learnt and practised, insights and attitudes, above all with respect to interaction with students and the teacher’s own role. What counts are the attitudes a teacher has towards teaching, the stance he or she adopts towards students, and their willingness to adapt lessons to the conditions, abilities and expectations of the students.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
The best predictor of student success is the extent to which families encourage learning at home and involve themselves in their child’s education.
When parents are engaged in their children’s school lives, students have the home support and knowledge they need to not only finish their assignments, but also develop a lifelong love of learning.
Teachers who focus on parent engagement often see a profound change in their classrooms. The more parents involved in their children’s education, the better their entire class’s motivation, behavior, and grades become.
Encouraging parent engagement is more than common courtesy. It’s one of the best ways to create a positive learning environment for every student. To create a community built on parent-teacher relationships in your school, find out what parent engagement is and how to nurture it.
What is Parent Engagement?
According to experts, the definition of parent engagement is parents and teachers sharing a responsibility to help their children learn and meet educational goals. Parent engagement happens when teachers involve parents in school meetings or events, and parents volunteer their support at home and at school. In this way, they make a commitment. Parents commit to prioritizing their child’s educational goals, and teachers commit to listening and providing a space for collaboration with parents.
Parent engagement in schools is different from parent involvement, though both are useful. Parent involvement is when parents participate in school events or activities, and teachers provide learning resources or information about their student’s grades. Unlike in parent engagement, teachers hold the primary responsibility to set educational goals. They relate to parents not as a partner but an advisor who guides them through academic support for their child.
It helps to think of parent involvement as the first step to parent engagement. While teachers can advise parents on some things, parents also have important information about their child that teachers might not know. Both can bring perspectives to the table that enrich a student’s learning experience. Neither is complete without the other. As noted by Larry Ferlazzo in his article “Involvement or Engagement?”: “A school striving for family involvement often leads with its mouth—identifying projects, needs, and goals and then telling parents how they can contribute. A school striving for parent engagement, on the other hand, tends to lead with its ears—listening to what parents think, dream, and worry about.”[2]
After the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB), our focus as educators shifted from parent involvement to engagement. We begin by giving parents resources, inviting them to activities, and helping them monitor their children’s progress. Then, we partner with them to set goals for their students and find ways to strengthen our classrooms. When we engage parents in the learning process, our school communities are all the more enriched for it.
Why Parent Involvement is Important
Parental involvement and engagement in education matters now more than ever because it’s in decline. In 2016, research showed a drop in parents who believe that intimate parent-teacher communication is effective.[3] Parents now prefer remote methods of communication, like online student portals, and they are less likely to attend parent-teacher conferences or school activities. This shift is sudden and concerning due to what it means for parent engagement. While digital tools can help families stay informed, students are missing out when parents don’t offer their time and support.
The factors behind this change in parent involvement at school are multi-faceted. Some parents have scheduling or transportation issues that make volunteering or attending parent-teacher conferences tough. Others, like low-income or minority families, feel that staff makes them uncomfortable or shows a lack of cultural awareness.[4] If a parent-teacher relationship wasn’t established early in the year, parents also may not know whether they’re welcome at school. Some groups, however, are more at-risk for low parent engagement. Parent involvement is lowest in families below the poverty line or with older children, as well as parents who do not speak the area’s primary language or did not graduate high school.[5]
Parent involvement in schools is the first step to parent engagement and, ultimately, parent partnership. When parents and teachers work together to establish a thriving classroom, the effect on their students is profound. Students with engaged parents don’t just have high test scores: their attendance, self-esteem, and graduation rate rise, too. Parent-teacher relationships are more than an optional classroom benefit. They are key for helping students on a personal and classroom level reach their academic potential. If we as educators don’t make a space for parent partnerships in our schools, we’re limiting our classroom’s capacity for growth.
Parent Engagement and Student Success
Children with engaged parents are more likely to:
Earn higher grades or test scores
Graduate from high school and attend post-secondary education
Develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom
Have better social skills and classroom behavior
They are also less likely to:
Have low self-esteem
Need redirection in the classroom
Develop behavioral issues
Across fifty different studies on parental engagement, educational researchers found a connection between family involvement and academic achievement.[6] And the earlier educators establish parent engagement, the more effective they are in raising student performance. Parent partnerships formed during elementary school years build a strong foundation for student success and future engagement opportunities.[7]
Students aren’t the only ones who benefit from family engagement: parents and teachers do, too. Teachers can prepare parents to help with homework or academic concepts. And engaged parents tend to think highly of teachers, which improves teacher morale. Knowing more about a student’s family life can also help teachers prepare lessons that better fit that student’s needs or interact more efficiently with families. And because students receive more support, classrooms with engaged parents perform better as a whole.[14] When parents and teachers team up, everyone wins!
How to Increase Parent Engagement
It’s never too late to build the foundations for parent-teacher communication in schools. But the sooner you do, the more equipped your students will be to reach their academic potential.
Try these parent engagement strategies to transform involvement into parent partnerships:
Give parents your contact information and get to know them early in the school year. That way, when they have questions, they’ll feel comfortable reaching out
Provide opportunities for parents to connect with the school. Volunteer shifts, class activities, or parent-teacher committees are all great engagement opportunities
Share your classroom goals or expectations openly with parents, and ask them to do the same
Connect with parents in-person as much as possible. Use emails, texts, or apps to keep parents up-to-date on upcoming class events
Address common challenges that inhibit parent engagement like scheduling conflicts or an intimidating atmosphere
TOPIC: SELF REFLECTION : PEER EVALUATION -ASSESSING STUDENT'S PERFORMANCE AS FEEDBACK FOR STUDENT'SPROGRESS- TEACHER'S PROFICIENCY - PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
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Self-reflection
Self-reflection is a simple way to dig deeper into your feelings and find out why you were doing something or feeling a certain way.
With a profession as challenging as teaching, self-reflection offers teachers an opportunity to think about what works and what doesn’t in their classroom. We teachers can use reflective teaching as a way to analyze and evaluate our own practices so we can focus on what works.
Importance of Self-Reflection
Effective teachers are first to admit that no matter how good a lesson is, our teaching strategies can always be improved—oftentimes it’s why we seek out our colleagues’ opinions.
However, we run the risk of our audience making snap judgments about our instruction without truly having the context to support it—especially in regard to why a student didn’t understand it or why something happened amidst your instruction.
Self-reflection is important because it’s a process that makes you collect, record, and analyze everything that happened in the lesson so you can make improvements in your teaching strategies where necessary.
The Process of Reflection
Connecting self-reflection to effective teaching is a process. The first step is to figure out what you want to reflect upon—are you looking at a particular feature of your teaching or is this reflection in response to a specific problem in your classroom? Whatever the case may be, you should start by collecting information.
Here are a few ways that you can do this:
Self-Reflective Journal: A journal is an easy way to reflect upon what just happened during your instruction. After each lesson, simply jot down a few notes describing your reactions and feelings and then follow up with any observations you have about your students. If it helps, you can break up your journal into concrete sections, such lesson objective, materials, classroom management, students, teacher, etc. In this way, you can be consistent with how you measure your assessments time after time. You can find specific questions to ask yourself below.
Video Recording: A video recording of your teaching is valuable because it provides an unaltered and unbiased vantage point for how effective your lesson may be from both a teacher and student perspective. Additionally, a video may act as an additional set of eyes to catch errant behavior that you hadn’t spotted at the time. Many colleges actually use this method to teach up and coming teachers the value of self-reflection.
Student Observation: Students are very observant and love to give feedback. You can hand out a simple survey or questionnaire after your lesson to get students’ perspectives about how the lesson went. Think critically about what questions you’d like to ask and encourage your children to express their thoughts thoroughly. It’ll not only be a learning experience for you, but also an indirect exercise in writing for them.
Peer Observation: Invite a colleague to come into your classroom and observe your teaching. Now this is much different than when you have your principal come in and watch you—it’s much more casual and devoid of darting eyes. As a result, you’ll be able to teach more naturally and give your colleague an honest perspective of your instruction methods. To help him frame your lesson critique more clearly, create a questionnaire (you can use some of the questions below) for your colleague to fill out as they observe. Afterward, make some time to sit down with him so he can more accurately convey what he saw.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Whether you’re using a self-reflective journal or trying to get feedback from your students and peers, perhaps the hardest part is actually coming up with the right questions to ask. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Lesson Objectives
Was the lesson too easy or too difficult for the students?
Did the students understand what was being taught?
What problems arose?
Materials
Did the materials keep the students engaged in the lesson?
What materials did we use that worked in the lesson?
What materials did we use that didn’t work in the lesson?
Are there any resources or techniques that you’d like to see used instead?
Students
Were students on task?
With what parts of the lesson did the students seem most engaged?
With what parts of the lesson did students seem least engaged with?
Classroom Management
Where my instructions clear?
Was the lesson taught at a reasonable pace?
Did all students participate in the lesson?
Teacher
How effective was the overall lesson?
How can I do it better next time?
Did I meet all of my objectives?
How did I deal with any problems that came up during instruction?
Was I perceptive and sensitive to each of my students’ needs?
How was my overall attitude and delivery throughout class?
Analyze and Implement Effective Techniques
Now that you have collected the information, it’s time to analyze it. The first thing you should look for is any recurring patterns. If you video recorded your lesson, did you find anything that kept happening over and over?
Look at your student feedback forms. Is there anything that students kept talking about?
Now that you have figured out what needs to be changed, the easy part is finding a solution. There are a few avenues I would encourage you to explore:
Talk to your colleagues about your findings and ask them for advice. They may have the same issue in their classroom and can offer you some ideas on how do things differently.
Go online and read up on effective techniques that can help remedy your situation. As an age-old profession, there are bound to be resources that exist for the problems you’re experiencing.
Interact with other teachers on blogs and on social media sites. Posting questions on popular forums and blogs may open up new perspectives and techniques that you hadn’t considered before. These avenues may also have insight for any new questions that you should include on future surveys.
The ultimate goal of self-reflection is to improve the way you teach. Through the findings you gather, you may gain the insight you need to take your instruction to the proverbial next level, or you may find that you’re already doing a stellar job. In either case, self-reflection is a technique that can gauge your standing honestly and you should strive to implement it throughout the year. By the time the next new class rolls around, you’ll have a much better wider toolkit to pull from when it’s time to teach that lesson once again.
10 Reasons Why Self-Reflection in the Classroom is Important
Taking the time to reflect about one’s own teaching is one of the most effective ways to make positive changes in the classroom. Reflection is deliberate and structured thinking about choices. It is an integral step to improving practice. Through reflection, teachers and trainers can look clearly at their successes and struggles and consider options for change that greatly impact student learning. Self-reflection can allow one to:
* Develop a rationale for practice.
* Assess student learning and understanding of concepts.
* Identify strengths and weaknesses in a lesson plan.
* Identify the degree to which instructional goals and objectives were met.
* Assess how effectively one is performing.
* Obtain information about class participation and student responses.
* Assess pacing of the class and amount of student engagement.
* Observe on-task behavior of students.
* Identify one’s own delivery and presentation strengths, and areas for improvement.
* Take informed actions about what is being done in the classroom and why it is being done.
Developing a habit of self-reflecting will lead to a natural process of evaluation. Self-reflection is not about focusing solely on the negative; it also enables you to think about what one does well. Self-reflection provides a structured method for also considering what is positive about one’s teaching.
Peer evaluation
Peer evaluation is a process of collegial feedback on quality of teaching. It is a purposeful process of gathering information and evidence about the effectiveness of teaching processes and the educational environment with a view to subjecting it to constructive critical scrutiny. It usually begins with people identifying what areas they would like feedback on, and works best where the process is reciprocal between peers. A key component of peer evaluation is peer review of current practice often based on peer observation of teaching interactions. It should always be viewed as an opportunity not a threat for both parties.
The peer evaluation process is outlined in brief below:
Why do you need to participate in peer evaluation?
Evaluation of an instructor by their peers has become an integral part of teaching at a university. This results from several sources. Motivations can be intrinsic as instructors seek to improve their teaching, but they can also be extrinsic. Peer evaluation can be beneficial for your long term teaching goals and a necessity to your professional advancement. Similarly, service as an observer is important for the professional participation of faculty and allows the faculty to maintain ownership of the quality and content of the curriculum.
What is Peer Evaluation of Teaching?
Peer Evaluation of Teaching consists of the review of teaching performance by colleagues, usually in the same or a similar discipline, with the purpose of assessing and improving the quality of teaching.
Peer review puts faculty in charge of the quality of their teaching. Peer collaboration and review enables instructors to actively improve the quality of teaching in their own classroom and in their department. “Excellent teachers ...set out to inquire into their own practice, identifying key issues they want to pursue, posing questions for themselves, exploring alternatives and taking risks, and doing all of this in the company of peers who can offer critique and support. These are the habits of mind we expect, after all, in scholarly work, and we should expect them in teaching as much as in research.” [England 1996] It is the responsibility of professional teachers to monitor the quality of the teaching in their departments and institutions.
Peer Evaluation of Teaching is used in many contexts.
General teaching improvement for current instructors (e.g. delivery, student engagement, content organization)
Hiring (e.g. teaching presentations/ job talks).
Mentoring of junior instructors (new faculty, adjuncts, graduate assistants).
Promotion or advancement decisions
Award of sabbaticals
Merit awards (e.g. Excellence in Teaching, Merit Awards)
What is the purpose of Peer Evaluation of Teaching?
Review of a faculty member’s teaching by his/her peers has two distinct purposes.
Formative reviews are intended to develop or improve teaching. Formative reviews should be intended for the personal use of the observed instructor. Regular conversation among colleagues about teaching should be a hallmark of every department or school’s culture, and formative peer review processes for pre-tenure, non-tenure-track, and tenured faculty should be designed in every department or school to suit that culture
Summative, or evaluative, reviews are intended for judgments in increment, contract renewal, or promotion processes.
What are the components of Evaluation of Teaching?
Peer Evaluation - Peer evaluation has multiple components
In-class Observation (link to information on in-class observation)
Course Material Review (link to something)
Student evaluation - Student evaluations are often reviewed as evidence of teaching, but they should not be viewed in isolation. Student evaluation can often be useful for information of how students respond personally to their instructor, but students are not qualified to assess content knowledge or modality of instruction.
Ongoing evaluation - Peer review of teaching should not be considered to be a single visitation to a course, but rather a longitudinal process in which there is a repeated conversation and reflection by the instructor with input from peers and students.
ASSESSING STUDENT PERFORMANCE AS FEEDBACJ FOR STUDENT'S PROGRESS
Feedback is an essential part of effective learning. It helps students understand the subject being Edited textstudied and gives them clear guidance on how to improve their learning. Bellon et al.1state 'academic feedback is more strongly and consistently related to achievement than any other teaching behaviour...this relationship is consistent regardless of grade, socioeconomic status, race, or school setting.' Feedback can improve a student's confidence, self-awareness and enthusiasm for learning. Effective feedback during the first year in university can aid the transition to higher education and may support student retention.2 Providing students engage with feedback, it should enhance learning and improve assessment performance.
Giving students feedback in the classroom during the learning process has been proven to increase learning and improve student outcomes. When given correctly, feedback guides the student in their learning process and gives them the direction they need to reach the target or goal of the lesson. Feedback sends a message to the student that the instructor cares about the learning taking place. It also allows the student to become more engaged and involved in the classroom.
Instructors typically collect information about student progress through various formative assessment strategies (see the CIRT module on formative assessment for more information). Formative assessment is done in the classroom during the learning process and it allows instructor to collect data regarding where the students are relative to the goal of the lesson. Instructors can then use this information to provide feedback to each student in a way that is specific to that student. Thus the feedback is individualized, relevant, and appropriate for where the student currently is in their learning.
There are several variables that must be considered by instructors when preparing to give students feedback. These are strategic choices that impact the effectiveness of the feedback. Some of the most important variables include the following:
Timing
Students need to receive the feedback so there is still time for them to use it towards the target goal.
Most effective if the student is still engaged in the subject matter because it will be more meaningful and relevant
Examples- returning tests, quizzes and homework promptly
Amount
Feedback should correct major issues and misconceptions.
Feedback should provide students a guide on where to go next and what to focus on.
Instructors must realize that 100% mastery of the subject matter is not realistic for most.
Takes time and experience to learn to gauge the appropriate amount of feedback for each student. It will vary by student and lesson content.
It is critical that students are not overwhelmed by feedback that tries to correct everything so prioritization by the instruction is important.
Examples - select two or three points in a paper to comment on and be sure to comment on strengths as well as weaknesses.
Mode
Feedback can be delivered in several modes. It can be oral, written, visual, or done through demonstration.
Use written when the student needs to be able to refer to the feedback later.
Use oral when there is too much too much information for the student to read or if the student does not read well.
Interactive feedback in person is best because it allows the student to ask questions.
Use visuals or demonstrations for visual learners and how-to types of material.
Audience
Feedback can be given to individual students, groups of students, or the entire class.
Give feedback to individuals when needed to address their own performance or learning. Individual feedback makes students feel valued and is motivating.
Feedback to groups or the whole class is appropriate when most of the class is missing a concept or needs reinforcement.
Content
Feedback content may vary in focus, function, clarity, specificity, and tone.
It is important that feedback is descriptive and specific enough to be valuable to the student and provide them direction.
At the same time, feedback should not be "overly nitpicky" and correct every single error.
Feedback should always be delivered in a nonjudgmental and positive way. Instructors should choose words that convey support and respect.
Feedback should be clear and instructors should verify that the student understands the feedback.
Best feedback is criterion referenced - that is, it references a specific concept or skill and tells the student where they stand in relation to mastery of that concept or skill. It does compare them other students. Rubrics are often an effective way to let students know where they stand in regards to mastery of content.
TEACHER'S PROFICIENCY
Teaching proficiency means the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes which teachers need to have in order to promote learning processes and design lessons. It refers to a combination of expert and didactical knowledge, practical teaching experience, skills that have been learnt and practised, insights and attitudes, above all with respect to interaction with students and the teacher’s own role. What counts are the attitudes a teacher has towards teaching, the stance he or she adopts towards students, and their willingness to adapt lessons to the conditions, abilities and expectations of the students.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
The best predictor of student success is the extent to which families encourage learning at home and involve themselves in their child’s education.
When parents are engaged in their children’s school lives, students have the home support and knowledge they need to not only finish their assignments, but also develop a lifelong love of learning.
Teachers who focus on parent engagement often see a profound change in their classrooms. The more parents involved in their children’s education, the better their entire class’s motivation, behavior, and grades become.
Encouraging parent engagement is more than common courtesy. It’s one of the best ways to create a positive learning environment for every student. To create a community built on parent-teacher relationships in your school, find out what parent engagement is and how to nurture it.
What is Parent Engagement?
According to experts, the definition of parent engagement is parents and teachers sharing a responsibility to help their children learn and meet educational goals. Parent engagement happens when teachers involve parents in school meetings or events, and parents volunteer their support at home and at school. In this way, they make a commitment. Parents commit to prioritizing their child’s educational goals, and teachers commit to listening and providing a space for collaboration with parents.
Parent engagement in schools is different from parent involvement, though both are useful. Parent involvement is when parents participate in school events or activities, and teachers provide learning resources or information about their student’s grades. Unlike in parent engagement, teachers hold the primary responsibility to set educational goals. They relate to parents not as a partner but an advisor who guides them through academic support for their child.
It helps to think of parent involvement as the first step to parent engagement. While teachers can advise parents on some things, parents also have important information about their child that teachers might not know. Both can bring perspectives to the table that enrich a student’s learning experience. Neither is complete without the other. As noted by Larry Ferlazzo in his article “Involvement or Engagement?”: “A school striving for family involvement often leads with its mouth—identifying projects, needs, and goals and then telling parents how they can contribute. A school striving for parent engagement, on the other hand, tends to lead with its ears—listening to what parents think, dream, and worry about.”[2]
After the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB), our focus as educators shifted from parent involvement to engagement. We begin by giving parents resources, inviting them to activities, and helping them monitor their children’s progress. Then, we partner with them to set goals for their students and find ways to strengthen our classrooms. When we engage parents in the learning process, our school communities are all the more enriched for it.
Why Parent Involvement is Important
Parental involvement and engagement in education matters now more than ever because it’s in decline. In 2016, research showed a drop in parents who believe that intimate parent-teacher communication is effective.[3] Parents now prefer remote methods of communication, like online student portals, and they are less likely to attend parent-teacher conferences or school activities. This shift is sudden and concerning due to what it means for parent engagement. While digital tools can help families stay informed, students are missing out when parents don’t offer their time and support.
The factors behind this change in parent involvement at school are multi-faceted. Some parents have scheduling or transportation issues that make volunteering or attending parent-teacher conferences tough. Others, like low-income or minority families, feel that staff makes them uncomfortable or shows a lack of cultural awareness.[4] If a parent-teacher relationship wasn’t established early in the year, parents also may not know whether they’re welcome at school. Some groups, however, are more at-risk for low parent engagement. Parent involvement is lowest in families below the poverty line or with older children, as well as parents who do not speak the area’s primary language or did not graduate high school.[5]
Parent involvement in schools is the first step to parent engagement and, ultimately, parent partnership. When parents and teachers work together to establish a thriving classroom, the effect on their students is profound. Students with engaged parents don’t just have high test scores: their attendance, self-esteem, and graduation rate rise, too. Parent-teacher relationships are more than an optional classroom benefit. They are key for helping students on a personal and classroom level reach their academic potential. If we as educators don’t make a space for parent partnerships in our schools, we’re limiting our classroom’s capacity for growth.
Parent Engagement and Student Success
Children with engaged parents are more likely to:
Earn higher grades or test scores
Graduate from high school and attend post-secondary education
Develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom
Have better social skills and classroom behavior
They are also less likely to:
Have low self-esteem
Need redirection in the classroom
Develop behavioral issues
Across fifty different studies on parental engagement, educational researchers found a connection between family involvement and academic achievement.[6] And the earlier educators establish parent engagement, the more effective they are in raising student performance. Parent partnerships formed during elementary school years build a strong foundation for student success and future engagement opportunities.[7]
Students aren’t the only ones who benefit from family engagement: parents and teachers do, too. Teachers can prepare parents to help with homework or academic concepts. And engaged parents tend to think highly of teachers, which improves teacher morale. Knowing more about a student’s family life can also help teachers prepare lessons that better fit that student’s needs or interact more efficiently with families. And because students receive more support, classrooms with engaged parents perform better as a whole.[14] When parents and teachers team up, everyone wins!
How to Increase Parent Engagement
It’s never too late to build the foundations for parent-teacher communication in schools. But the sooner you do, the more equipped your students will be to reach their academic potential.
Try these parent engagement strategies to transform involvement into parent partnerships:
Give parents your contact information and get to know them early in the school year. That way, when they have questions, they’ll feel comfortable reaching out
Provide opportunities for parents to connect with the school. Volunteer shifts, class activities, or parent-teacher committees are all great engagement opportunities
Share your classroom goals or expectations openly with parents, and ask them to do the same
Connect with parents in-person as much as possible. Use emails, texts, or apps to keep parents up-to-date on upcoming class events
Address common challenges that inhibit parent engagement like scheduling conflicts or an intimidating atmosphere
Self-reflection
Self-reflection is a simple way to dig deeper into your feelings and find out why you were doing something or feeling a certain way.
With a profession as challenging as teaching, self-reflection offers teachers an opportunity to think about what works and what doesn’t in their classroom. We teachers can use reflective teaching as a way to analyze and evaluate our own practices so we can focus on what works.
Importance of Self-Reflection
Effective teachers are first to admit that no matter how good a lesson is, our teaching strategies can always be improved—oftentimes it’s why we seek out our colleagues’ opinions.
However, we run the risk of our audience making snap judgments about our instruction without truly having the context to support it—especially in regard to why a student didn’t understand it or why something happened amidst your instruction.
Self-reflection is important because it’s a process that makes you collect, record, and analyze everything that happened in the lesson so you can make improvements in your teaching strategies where necessary.
The Process of Reflection
Connecting self-reflection to effective teaching is a process. The first step is to figure out what you want to reflect upon—are you looking at a particular feature of your teaching or is this reflection in response to a specific problem in your classroom? Whatever the case may be, you should start by collecting information.
Here are a few ways that you can do this:
Self-Reflective Journal: A journal is an easy way to reflect upon what just happened during your instruction. After each lesson, simply jot down a few notes describing your reactions and feelings and then follow up with any observations you have about your students. If it helps, you can break up your journal into concrete sections, such lesson objective, materials, classroom management, students, teacher, etc. In this way, you can be consistent with how you measure your assessments time after time. You can find specific questions to ask yourself below.
Video Recording: A video recording of your teaching is valuable because it provides an unaltered and unbiased vantage point for how effective your lesson may be from both a teacher and student perspective. Additionally, a video may act as an additional set of eyes to catch errant behavior that you hadn’t spotted at the time. Many colleges actually use this method to teach up and coming teachers the value of self-reflection.
Student Observation: Students are very observant and love to give feedback. You can hand out a simple survey or questionnaire after your lesson to get students’ perspectives about how the lesson went. Think critically about what questions you’d like to ask and encourage your children to express their thoughts thoroughly. It’ll not only be a learning experience for you, but also an indirect exercise in writing for them.
Peer Observation: Invite a colleague to come into your classroom and observe your teaching. Now this is much different than when you have your principal come in and watch you—it’s much more casual and devoid of darting eyes. As a result, you’ll be able to teach more naturally and give your colleague an honest perspective of your instruction methods. To help him frame your lesson critique more clearly, create a questionnaire (you can use some of the questions below) for your colleague to fill out as they observe. Afterward, make some time to sit down with him so he can more accurately convey what he saw.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Whether you’re using a self-reflective journal or trying to get feedback from your students and peers, perhaps the hardest part is actually coming up with the right questions to ask. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Lesson Objectives
Was the lesson too easy or too difficult for the students?
Did the students understand what was being taught?
What problems arose?
Materials
Did the materials keep the students engaged in the lesson?
What materials did we use that worked in the lesson?
What materials did we use that didn’t work in the lesson?
Are there any resources or techniques that you’d like to see used instead?
Students
Were students on task?
With what parts of the lesson did the students seem most engaged?
With what parts of the lesson did students seem least engaged with?
Classroom Management
Where my instructions clear?
Was the lesson taught at a reasonable pace?
Did all students participate in the lesson?
Teacher
How effective was the overall lesson?
How can I do it better next time?
Did I meet all of my objectives?
How did I deal with any problems that came up during instruction?
Was I perceptive and sensitive to each of my students’ needs?
How was my overall attitude and delivery throughout class?
Analyze and Implement Effective Techniques
Now that you have collected the information, it’s time to analyze it. The first thing you should look for is any recurring patterns. If you video recorded your lesson, did you find anything that kept happening over and over?
Look at your student feedback forms. Is there anything that students kept talking about?
Now that you have figured out what needs to be changed, the easy part is finding a solution. There are a few avenues I would encourage you to explore:
Talk to your colleagues about your findings and ask them for advice. They may have the same issue in their classroom and can offer you some ideas on how do things differently.
Go online and read up on effective techniques that can help remedy your situation. As an age-old profession, there are bound to be resources that exist for the problems you’re experiencing.
Interact with other teachers on blogs and on social media sites. Posting questions on popular forums and blogs may open up new perspectives and techniques that you hadn’t considered before. These avenues may also have insight for any new questions that you should include on future surveys.
The ultimate goal of self-reflection is to improve the way you teach. Through the findings you gather, you may gain the insight you need to take your instruction to the proverbial next level, or you may find that you’re already doing a stellar job. In either case, self-reflection is a technique that can gauge your standing honestly and you should strive to implement it throughout the year. By the time the next new class rolls around, you’ll have a much better wider toolkit to pull from when it’s time to teach that lesson once again.
10 Reasons Why Self-Reflection in the Classroom is Important
Taking the time to reflect about one’s own teaching is one of the most effective ways to make positive changes in the classroom. Reflection is deliberate and structured thinking about choices. It is an integral step to improving practice. Through reflection, teachers and trainers can look clearly at their successes and struggles and consider options for change that greatly impact student learning. Self-reflection can allow one to:
* Develop a rationale for practice.
* Assess student learning and understanding of concepts.
* Identify strengths and weaknesses in a lesson plan.
* Identify the degree to which instructional goals and objectives were met.
* Assess how effectively one is performing.
* Obtain information about class participation and student responses.
* Assess pacing of the class and amount of student engagement.
* Observe on-task behavior of students.
* Identify one’s own delivery and presentation strengths, and areas for improvement.
* Take informed actions about what is being done in the classroom and why it is being done.
Developing a habit of self-reflecting will lead to a natural process of evaluation. Self-reflection is not about focusing solely on the negative; it also enables you to think about what one does well. Self-reflection provides a structured method for also considering what is positive about one’s teaching.
Peer evaluation
Peer evaluation is a process of collegial feedback on quality of teaching. It is a purposeful process of gathering information and evidence about the effectiveness of teaching processes and the educational environment with a view to subjecting it to constructive critical scrutiny. It usually begins with people identifying what areas they would like feedback on, and works best where the process is reciprocal between peers. A key component of peer evaluation is peer review of current practice often based on peer observation of teaching interactions. It should always be viewed as an opportunity not a threat for both parties.
The peer evaluation process is outlined in brief below:
Why do you need to participate in peer evaluation?
Evaluation of an instructor by their peers has become an integral part of teaching at a university. This results from several sources. Motivations can be intrinsic as instructors seek to improve their teaching, but they can also be extrinsic. Peer evaluation can be beneficial for your long term teaching goals and a necessity to your professional advancement. Similarly, service as an observer is important for the professional participation of faculty and allows the faculty to maintain ownership of the quality and content of the curriculum.
What is Peer Evaluation of Teaching?
Peer Evaluation of Teaching consists of the review of teaching performance by colleagues, usually in the same or a similar discipline, with the purpose of assessing and improving the quality of teaching.
Peer review puts faculty in charge of the quality of their teaching. Peer collaboration and review enables instructors to actively improve the quality of teaching in their own classroom and in their department. “Excellent teachers ...set out to inquire into their own practice, identifying key issues they want to pursue, posing questions for themselves, exploring alternatives and taking risks, and doing all of this in the company of peers who can offer critique and support. These are the habits of mind we expect, after all, in scholarly work, and we should expect them in teaching as much as in research.” [England 1996] It is the responsibility of professional teachers to monitor the quality of the teaching in their departments and institutions.
Peer Evaluation of Teaching is used in many contexts.
General teaching improvement for current instructors (e.g. delivery, student engagement, content organization)
Hiring (e.g. teaching presentations/ job talks).
Mentoring of junior instructors (new faculty, adjuncts, graduate assistants).
Promotion or advancement decisions
Award of sabbaticals
Merit awards (e.g. Excellence in Teaching, Merit Awards)
What is the purpose of Peer Evaluation of Teaching?
Review of a faculty member’s teaching by his/her peers has two distinct purposes.
Formative reviews are intended to develop or improve teaching. Formative reviews should be intended for the personal use of the observed instructor. Regular conversation among colleagues about teaching should be a hallmark of every department or school’s culture, and formative peer review processes for pre-tenure, non-tenure-track, and tenured faculty should be designed in every department or school to suit that culture
Summative, or evaluative, reviews are intended for judgments in increment, contract renewal, or promotion processes.
What are the components of Evaluation of Teaching?
Peer Evaluation - Peer evaluation has multiple components
In-class Observation (link to information on in-class observation)
Course Material Review (link to something)
Student evaluation - Student evaluations are often reviewed as evidence of teaching, but they should not be viewed in isolation. Student evaluation can often be useful for information of how students respond personally to their instructor, but students are not qualified to assess content knowledge or modality of instruction.
Ongoing evaluation - Peer review of teaching should not be considered to be a single visitation to a course, but rather a longitudinal process in which there is a repeated conversation and reflection by the instructor with input from peers and students.
ASSESSING STUDENT PERFORMANCE AS FEEDBACJ FOR STUDENT'S PROGRESS
Feedback is an essential part of effective learning. It helps students understand the subject being Edited textstudied and gives them clear guidance on how to improve their learning. Bellon et al.1state 'academic feedback is more strongly and consistently related to achievement than any other teaching behaviour...this relationship is consistent regardless of grade, socioeconomic status, race, or school setting.' Feedback can improve a student's confidence, self-awareness and enthusiasm for learning. Effective feedback during the first year in university can aid the transition to higher education and may support student retention.2 Providing students engage with feedback, it should enhance learning and improve assessment performance.
Giving students feedback in the classroom during the learning process has been proven to increase learning and improve student outcomes. When given correctly, feedback guides the student in their learning process and gives them the direction they need to reach the target or goal of the lesson. Feedback sends a message to the student that the instructor cares about the learning taking place. It also allows the student to become more engaged and involved in the classroom.
Instructors typically collect information about student progress through various formative assessment strategies (see the CIRT module on formative assessment for more information). Formative assessment is done in the classroom during the learning process and it allows instructor to collect data regarding where the students are relative to the goal of the lesson. Instructors can then use this information to provide feedback to each student in a way that is specific to that student. Thus the feedback is individualized, relevant, and appropriate for where the student currently is in their learning.
There are several variables that must be considered by instructors when preparing to give students feedback. These are strategic choices that impact the effectiveness of the feedback. Some of the most important variables include the following:
Timing
Students need to receive the feedback so there is still time for them to use it towards the target goal.
Most effective if the student is still engaged in the subject matter because it will be more meaningful and relevant
Examples- returning tests, quizzes and homework promptly
Amount
Feedback should correct major issues and misconceptions.
Feedback should provide students a guide on where to go next and what to focus on.
Instructors must realize that 100% mastery of the subject matter is not realistic for most.
Takes time and experience to learn to gauge the appropriate amount of feedback for each student. It will vary by student and lesson content.
It is critical that students are not overwhelmed by feedback that tries to correct everything so prioritization by the instruction is important.
Examples - select two or three points in a paper to comment on and be sure to comment on strengths as well as weaknesses.
Mode
Feedback can be delivered in several modes. It can be oral, written, visual, or done through demonstration.
Use written when the student needs to be able to refer to the feedback later.
Use oral when there is too much too much information for the student to read or if the student does not read well.
Interactive feedback in person is best because it allows the student to ask questions.
Use visuals or demonstrations for visual learners and how-to types of material.
Audience
Feedback can be given to individual students, groups of students, or the entire class.
Give feedback to individuals when needed to address their own performance or learning. Individual feedback makes students feel valued and is motivating.
Feedback to groups or the whole class is appropriate when most of the class is missing a concept or needs reinforcement.
Content
Feedback content may vary in focus, function, clarity, specificity, and tone.
It is important that feedback is descriptive and specific enough to be valuable to the student and provide them direction.
At the same time, feedback should not be "overly nitpicky" and correct every single error.
Feedback should always be delivered in a nonjudgmental and positive way. Instructors should choose words that convey support and respect.
Feedback should be clear and instructors should verify that the student understands the feedback.
Best feedback is criterion referenced - that is, it references a specific concept or skill and tells the student where they stand in relation to mastery of that concept or skill. It does compare them other students. Rubrics are often an effective way to let students know where they stand in regards to mastery of content.
TEACHER'S PROFICIENCY
Teaching proficiency means the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes which teachers need to have in order to promote learning processes and design lessons. It refers to a combination of expert and didactical knowledge, practical teaching experience, skills that have been learnt and practised, insights and attitudes, above all with respect to interaction with students and the teacher’s own role. What counts are the attitudes a teacher has towards teaching, the stance he or she adopts towards students, and their willingness to adapt lessons to the conditions, abilities and expectations of the students.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
The best predictor of student success is the extent to which families encourage learning at home and involve themselves in their child’s education.
When parents are engaged in their children’s school lives, students have the home support and knowledge they need to not only finish their assignments, but also develop a lifelong love of learning.
Teachers who focus on parent engagement often see a profound change in their classrooms. The more parents involved in their children’s education, the better their entire class’s motivation, behavior, and grades become.
Encouraging parent engagement is more than common courtesy. It’s one of the best ways to create a positive learning environment for every student. To create a community built on parent-teacher relationships in your school, find out what parent engagement is and how to nurture it.
What is Parent Engagement?
According to experts, the definition of parent engagement is parents and teachers sharing a responsibility to help their children learn and meet educational goals. Parent engagement happens when teachers involve parents in school meetings or events, and parents volunteer their support at home and at school. In this way, they make a commitment. Parents commit to prioritizing their child’s educational goals, and teachers commit to listening and providing a space for collaboration with parents.
Parent engagement in schools is different from parent involvement, though both are useful. Parent involvement is when parents participate in school events or activities, and teachers provide learning resources or information about their student’s grades. Unlike in parent engagement, teachers hold the primary responsibility to set educational goals. They relate to parents not as a partner but an advisor who guides them through academic support for their child.
It helps to think of parent involvement as the first step to parent engagement. While teachers can advise parents on some things, parents also have important information about their child that teachers might not know. Both can bring perspectives to the table that enrich a student’s learning experience. Neither is complete without the other. As noted by Larry Ferlazzo in his article “Involvement or Engagement?”: “A school striving for family involvement often leads with its mouth—identifying projects, needs, and goals and then telling parents how they can contribute. A school striving for parent engagement, on the other hand, tends to lead with its ears—listening to what parents think, dream, and worry about.”[2]
After the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB), our focus as educators shifted from parent involvement to engagement. We begin by giving parents resources, inviting them to activities, and helping them monitor their children’s progress. Then, we partner with them to set goals for their students and find ways to strengthen our classrooms. When we engage parents in the learning process, our school communities are all the more enriched for it.
Why Parent Involvement is Important
Parental involvement and engagement in education matters now more than ever because it’s in decline. In 2016, research showed a drop in parents who believe that intimate parent-teacher communication is effective.[3] Parents now prefer remote methods of communication, like online student portals, and they are less likely to attend parent-teacher conferences or school activities. This shift is sudden and concerning due to what it means for parent engagement. While digital tools can help families stay informed, students are missing out when parents don’t offer their time and support.
The factors behind this change in parent involvement at school are multi-faceted. Some parents have scheduling or transportation issues that make volunteering or attending parent-teacher conferences tough. Others, like low-income or minority families, feel that staff makes them uncomfortable or shows a lack of cultural awareness.[4] If a parent-teacher relationship wasn’t established early in the year, parents also may not know whether they’re welcome at school. Some groups, however, are more at-risk for low parent engagement. Parent involvement is lowest in families below the poverty line or with older children, as well as parents who do not speak the area’s primary language or did not graduate high school.[5]
Parent involvement in schools is the first step to parent engagement and, ultimately, parent partnership. When parents and teachers work together to establish a thriving classroom, the effect on their students is profound. Students with engaged parents don’t just have high test scores: their attendance, self-esteem, and graduation rate rise, too. Parent-teacher relationships are more than an optional classroom benefit. They are key for helping students on a personal and classroom level reach their academic potential. If we as educators don’t make a space for parent partnerships in our schools, we’re limiting our classroom’s capacity for growth.
Parent Engagement and Student Success
Children with engaged parents are more likely to:
Earn higher grades or test scores
Graduate from high school and attend post-secondary education
Develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom
Have better social skills and classroom behavior
They are also less likely to:
Have low self-esteem
Need redirection in the classroom
Develop behavioral issues
Across fifty different studies on parental engagement, educational researchers found a connection between family involvement and academic achievement.[6] And the earlier educators establish parent engagement, the more effective they are in raising student performance. Parent partnerships formed during elementary school years build a strong foundation for student success and future engagement opportunities.[7]
Students aren’t the only ones who benefit from family engagement: parents and teachers do, too. Teachers can prepare parents to help with homework or academic concepts. And engaged parents tend to think highly of teachers, which improves teacher morale. Knowing more about a student’s family life can also help teachers prepare lessons that better fit that student’s needs or interact more efficiently with families. And because students receive more support, classrooms with engaged parents perform better as a whole.[14] When parents and teachers team up, everyone wins!
How to Increase Parent Engagement
It’s never too late to build the foundations for parent-teacher communication in schools. But the sooner you do, the more equipped your students will be to reach their academic potential.
Try these parent engagement strategies to transform involvement into parent partnerships:
Give parents your contact information and get to know them early in the school year. That way, when they have questions, they’ll feel comfortable reaching out
Provide opportunities for parents to connect with the school. Volunteer shifts, class activities, or parent-teacher committees are all great engagement opportunities
Share your classroom goals or expectations openly with parents, and ask them to do the same
Connect with parents in-person as much as possible. Use emails, texts, or apps to keep parents up-to-date on upcoming class events
Address common challenges that inhibit parent engagement like scheduling conflicts or an intimidating atmosphere
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