how to tell if you are effective
how do i really know if my students are understanding
I find that some students maintain a poker face throughout class, so you never really know if they are understanding the material or not. Others are extremely expressive and sometimes they don't even realize it. If in doubt, I watch for those expressive students to get some kind of a reading on whether they are understanding as a whole. I also periodically ask questions like "Are you following me?" "Is this clear to you?" "Can you use this skill when asked to do it?" If they don't answer then I jokingly say "Yes, Mrs. Ward" or "No, Mrs. Ward" until they finally answer. A little humor never hurts :)
Sharon,
case studies are great learning tools & help to provide those opportunities for pausing & reflection.
Dr. Ryan Meers
pausing and allowing students to reflect.
Asking students for refelctive feedback via a case study to apply concepts of lesson
denise,
you are right that their eyes & their facial expressions can really tell us much about whether they are grasping the concepts we are teaching or not.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I do my best to use eye contact and read their facial expressions. Are they truly understanding how to make a layer mask?
Sandy,
This is a great strategy. I agree that the more methods we use to assess or measure our effectiveness the better off our students will be & the more effective we will be.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I think it is very important to attempt to measure your effectiveness in teaching the subject to the students. I attempt to measure this through group activities, having students answer other student's questions during class, and student role play is another means. However, I think floating around the classroom while students are completing activities is the best measurement, because students are more apt to ask questions.
Linda,
I completely agree & in my opinion this is one of the highest levels of learning & measurements. If they can apply those concepts to a new situation, they have learned.
Dr. Ryan Meers
If students truly understand what you have taught, they will be able to successfully apply the new learning to another, different activity.
robin,
This is definitely a difficult thing to assess all the time. Obviously you look at your formal assessments to know if they are getting the material/content they should be getting. Also, I like to ask probing questions along the way as that helps me see if they are really grasping the content or not.
Dr. Ryan Meers
