End-of-semester student feedback very important

Some classes just don’t gel with students. The end of first semester marks the midway point of the school year and is an ideal point for students to provide feedback for their teachers to make those classes more engaging.

Student feedback would provide teachers with an invaluable opportunity to judge the effectiveness of their teaching throughout first semester. They would provide valuable information that would allow teachers to refine their classes and continue to improve.

“Teachers who are aware of what students think make learning a common goal,” senior Marie Tanga said.

Teachers are here to help students learn, so it only makes sense that they should want to know what will allow them to do their job most effectively.

Especially as every class of students has different schedules, backgrounds, learning styles and academic needs, asking students for feedback will help teachers understand, pinpoint and remove some of the roadblocks hindering some students’ success.

“There are lots of ways to reach our end-of-the-year goals, so I’m open to discussing whatever I can do to make our class relevant, useful and interesting to students,” said English teacher Roma Hammel, who solicits feedback from her students after every unit.

Conducting some sort of student feedback after first semester allows teachers to reflect on the opinions of their students and make changes accordingly.

Unlike surveys conducted at the end of the school year, in which any changes are made next year, surveys conducted after first semester would actually benefit that class of students.

Feedback would show teachers how they could better accomodate learning styles and preferences of their students.
Teachers would also then know how to best structure their curriculum and teaching style so that their students can learn most effectively.

“If the students have the chance to share their [experience] they can collaborate,” Marie said.

Furthermore, seeking out student feedback would provide an opportunity for students and teachers to work together and communicate much more effectively on a deeper, more constructive level.

Besides providing invaluable information for teachers, it would create a more positive and open learning environment because it shows students that their teachers care about what they think.

“A lot of teachers make the same mistakes over and over again,” senior Niklas Garner said.

By knowing what the weak points of their classes are, like too many lectures or not enough informative videos, teachers can build on the parts of their classes which have succeeded with their students and see what they can do to improve.

As the end of the semester comes to a close, teachers should realize that their students’ feedback can be constructive and helpful and that this is a perfect opportunity to open themselves up to such communication.

Unless teachers continue to seek student input and adjust curriculums yearly to accommodate their students, they may become complacent and fail to truly educate and connect with their students.