Evaluating student performance is a big part of teaching, but another complicated aspect is how we can evaluate our courses and our own performance in them. Teacher evaluation is a hot topic these days, as people talk about performance bonuses, teacher tenure and the impact good teachers can have on students, but how do we know what make a great teacher and also, how can we see how to improve ourselves?
One tool for teachers is having themselves taped while teaching, as Larry Ferlazzo writes about in this post. He was not only working with a consultant who taped him, but then proffered the footage to his students and conducting a discussion of what they think they saw and they think he should take away from that. I love the dual focus on what the teacher and students need to be doing for effective learning; in reading this description, it seems so powerful and so constructive, and almost guaranteed to help a motivated teacher like Ferlazzo improve his teaching. But I feel a shudder of fear at the idea myself–offering myself up to my students to critique so openly?
This idea of equity in vulnerability is one I’m familiar with from writing workshops, and one that Penny Kittle spoke about it in Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing
At a recent faculty meeting, we traded the evaluations we do in our courses and debated how best to structure them, when to offer them, and how many times during the year we evaluate our courses. It gave a lot to think about for my own evaluations, but taping myself? That would be a big leap in evaluating myself and my teaching, and I think it’s a worthy goal for my near future.
Related articles
- Larry Ferlazzo: Education-Related Predictions for 2012 (huffingtonpost.com)
- Thanks, Teach (slate.com)
- How Classroom Life Undermines Reform (Mary Kennedy) (larrycuban.wordpress.com)
, for example. This is great especially if you are unfamiliar with the style of music or with certain songs, and can really enrich your reading experience. As far as the classroom goes, I would see this more as an extra credit project, as it doesn’t really address literary elements, but it could prove that a student did a close enough reading of the book to catch every song reference. One recent popular YA novel, 
, would lend itself really well to an assignment like this.
(review coming soon). One playlist would be of the songs that are mentioned as inspiring Dave Grohl as a musician, which run the gamut from the Beatles to Metallica to Fugazi, and others might be songs by Dave himself in his assorted bands: Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures, Queens of the Stone Age, etc. The other would be a playlist of all the songs mentioned in 
, which would be a massive undertaking, but such fun!
from a friend. I also did a 
session, which I enjoyed and am willing to count as light cardio. Not great, but not too bad.
