Student Survey: Grades 6-12: Mini-Form Standard I

Jasmine Powell
Administered to 50, Agawam Students April 2019
Student Survey Results
60
50
50 45
43
40
40 36
# of Students

32 33
30
30 28
26
24

20 18 17
15
12 13
9 10
10 7
5 5
2
0
Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10
Question Number

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree

Questions Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

My teacher 32 18
demonstrates
that mistakes are
a part of learning.
I can show my 26 24
learning in many
ways (e.g.,
writing, graphs,
pictures).
The work in this 36 12 2
class is
challenging but
not too difficult
for me.
If I finish my work 28 13 9
early in class, my
teacher has me
do more
challenging work.
 In this class, 40 10
students work
together to help
each other learn
difficult content.
My teacher 50
encourages us to
accept different
points of view
when they are
expressed in class.
In this class, 30 5 15
students teach
other classmates
a part or whole
lesson.
My teacher 45 5
supports me even
when my work is
not the best.
During a lesson, 43 7
my teacher is
quick to change
how he or she
teaches if the
class does not
understand (e.g,
switch from using
written
explanations to
using diagrams).
To help me 33 17
understand, my
teacher uses my
interests to
explain difficult
ideas to me.

Findings:
Question 1: 100% of my students agreed that “my teacher demonstrates that mistakes are a part of
learning.” This means I have formed a great rapport with my students as well as a safe learning
environment. Being a student teacher, I am still learning and there are times where I say the
wrong thing and must correct myself. Instead of getting flustered I try to make it a moment of
humor and move on from it. When my students say the wrong thing, I let them know I
appreciate their effort and attempt and provide them with the correct information without
humiliating them. Some homework assignments I use to challenge the students and give them
credit just for their effort because of the difficulty level.
Question 2: 100% of my students agreed that “I can show my learning in many ways (e.g., writing,
graphs, pictures).” During each activity of the lesson I am always asking questions to facilitate
discussion. I do this to check for understanding and to meet diverse needs by using different
strategies to include students more into the lesson. I have used short answer questions, poster
assignments, tests, quizzes, worksheets and role play scenarios to allow students to show their
learning of the material. Giving students different options to show what they have learned has
made me realize what certain students need to achieve success in the classroom and has
allowed me to adjust my lessons in the most appropriate ways for optimal learning.
Question 3: 96% of students agreed and 4% of students disagreed that “the work in this class is
challenging but not too difficult for me.” In teaching some topics are easier to teach then others
because of the added experience of the topic. Being in college, I have strong refusal skills, and
know a lot about nutrition and body image. However, I do not know much about communicable
diseases and tobacco products. Knowing this, as an educator, I understand that students are
going to have the same dilemma where they know some material better than others. Also,
some students are going to understand material better than other students. For the students
that agreed I try to make the assignments and activities done in class challenging to the point
where they need to use critical thinking skills and logical reasoning to understand the concept.
As a new teacher I sometimes struggle to provide work for students who are over achievers so
that is why I believe I have some students who disagree. I have been working on providing
extra work for students who finish earlier then others and I also have been trying to provide
students with choices on assignments where they can challenge themselves more if wanted.
Question 4: 82% of the students agreed and 18% disagreed that “If I finish my work early in class,
my teacher has me do more challenging work.” At the beginning of my practicum experience I was not
providing students with extra work once they finished work early in class. Over time I have gotten better
at giving extra work so students are not sitting around waiting for others to finish. However, because it
took me a while to figure out what was needed to challenge students more, students were not given
that extra work as frequently so that is why 18% of students disagreed. I also believe some students
disagreed because a lot of times students do not have enough time to finish assignments in class, so
they are never introduced to an extra assignment to challenge them.

Question 5: 100% of students agreed that “In this class, students work together to help each other
learn difficult content.” Unlike Physical Education there is not a lot of feedback provided on
activities or projects until they are completed. As an educator I try to provide the students with
more interactive activities that get everyone moving and working collaboratively rather than
individual worksheet work. Students most likely agree because they are probably thinking of
the projects and jeopardy games we play. For projects I allow students to work together, and
when they do they are able to give each other advice to create the best presentation. During
jeopardy games, students work in groups and must collaborate with their team hearing
everyone’s opinion before they give a final answer. I also ask students multiple times
throughout class to discuss an essential question. The students work together forming opinions
and come up with the best possible answer to share with the class. For future lessons and
classes I should provide more collaborative activities and work for students to give advice and
review each other’s work. I need to continue to work on less teacher talk and Power Points.
Question 6: 100% of students agreed that “My teacher encourages us to accept different points of
view when they are expressed in class. “As an educator, I believe everyone should have a chance of self-
expression. Many topics in health are extremely debatable and because I ask for the students’ opinions
so often they can express how they feel. Also, because of my expectation’s students know that no
opinion is wrong in any sense. Every opinion deserves a chance to be validated and though out. One
student tends to express the right thing but in an inappropriate sense. At first, students would laugh at
her and think she wrong. Over time I have learned how to reword her phrases to make them classroom
appropriate. When I rephrase it, students realize that she is correct, and her opinion should be listened
to.

Question 7: 70% of students agreed and 30% disagreed that “In this class, students teach other
classmates a part or whole lesson.” I believe students agreed with this because of the projects that we
do. I will assign a project on a certain topic and then have each student present their assignment for
students to learn more from each other. I have done role play scenarios where students are showing
other students’ different examples and uses of refusal skills. Students disagreed because they are taking
this question quite literally and are referring it to them teaching the class the way I do as an educator.
To improve this area in the future. I will do more projects and presentations for students to present
material to the class to help further their classmates understanding. Students learn more from people
who are the same age and have similar experiences.

Question 8: 100% of students agreed that “My teacher supports me even when my work is not the
best.” Every student is different and sometimes the worst work in the class is that student’s best effort
put forward. As an educator, you need to form a strong rapport with your students, so you have a
handle on the work they can complete. If students are not doing well with understanding material it is
not their fault; it is mine. I need to teach in a way that every student understands. An example of this is
with my class of B2. A student had a hard time understanding the rubric and made a “joke” out of one of
his poster assignments. Instead of tearing him down and throwing negatives at him I made sure he knew
what he did very well and then asked him questions on ho he felt about certain parts of his work that I
thought could be improved. After he answered me back, I told him he could correct it and send it back
to improve his grade. For my notes and objective exit slips, again if students do not complete the work
properly it is because I did not give them the most valuable directions. I give them their notes and exit
slips back with comments on them and allow them to make corrections.

Question 9: 100% of students agreed that “During a lesson, my teacher is quick to change how he or
she teaches if the class does not understand (e.g, switch from using written explanations to using
diagrams). In one of my class’s students were not understanding the differences between a standard
drink of wine, beer and liquor. The day of the class I was trying to explain it verbally. After, when I was
reflecting on the lesson, I realized a visual would have worked out better. The next class I reviewed the
topic and showed an image of a solo cup. The minute I showed the picture the students were able to
make the connection that the smaller the amount of alcohol in the cup, the larger the percentage of
alcohol there is in that product. Many of my lessons incorporate images to help me further my
explanation of topics. I have also incorporated short videos and notes for students to create a further
understanding.

Question 10: 100% of my students agreed that “To help me understand, my teacher uses my
interests to explain difficult ideas to me.” As an educator that is younger and close to the students age
there are so many advantaged as well as disadvantages. One advantage is that I know about a lot of
things the students are going through and know what is trending amongst their age groups. A
disadvantage is sometimes it is hard to get into the mode of teacher talk rather than just friend or peer
talk. Students agreed with this because I do know a lot of modern topics. I was able to connect a Victoria
Secret model to the body image lesson, fortnight to alternative solutions instead of drinking and
athletes to negative advertising. Since I can connect these ideas int o the lesson students are able to
better grasp concepts and are able to promote their own ideas through the stimulations of my
examples.

Overall Findings: I have demonstrated a lot of positive efforts in the classroom through my
teaching in relations to the questions on the survey. I need to improve the way I have students
approach activities, by making them more group oriented. I need to get away from teacher talk
with Power Points and move more into interactive activities. I also must check in with students
in a clearer way such as exit slips, to see what students are excelling in and what they
personally are having difficulty with. By doing this, the results will change to show everyone is
succeeding in the classroom. I have set high expectations, made well-structured lesson, and
created a safe learning environment. To meet all six elements, I must improve my teaching by
using a higher level of reflective practice, adjustment to practice and meeting diverse needs.