Evaluating Interactions

Connecting with your students, fulfulling their emotional requirements, and building rapport with them are tools to build the foundation for creating a culture of respect and trust.

Evaluating the effectiveness of your interactions and how students are feeling about what they are learning should also become part of your teaching repertoire. You can start the evaluation process at any time during the year by completing a simple KWL Chart like the one below to guide you.

Student's Name	What do i know  about this student?	What do i want to know about this student?	How will I learn more about this student?
Jim Chow	loves football	how to capture interest in word problems	learn about football/create word problems related to sports
Eliza Brien	values doodling	why she dislikes journaling and formal writing	inquire about past writing experiences (positive/neg)

The KWL Chart becomes an effective evaluation tool when you work toward completing the final column: learning more about each student - and following through on your findings - to make a positive impact.

In addition to learning more about your students by thinking through what you should or want to know, you can also solicit feedback from your students directly. Using a Ticket-Out-The-Door can work for you in a couple of different ways. 

You can use a ticket out the door to evaluate the effectiveness of your interactions with students. (Let students remain anonymous to encourage honesty.)

Here are some question stems to consider for the Ticket-Out-The Door (to evaluate your interactions):

• Here is something I'd like to change...
• One thing I need from my teacher is...
• I feel...
• I wish we could...

Consider having multiple question stems from which students can choose.

You can also use a Ticket-Out-The-Door to gather feedback on specific learning experiences. What do they want to learn more about and how do the want to learn it?

Here are some question stems to consider for the Ticket-Out-The Door (to evaluate the learning experience):

• Here is something I'd like to change about this class/how we're learning about this subject...
• I want to learn more about...
• One thing that would really help me is...
• I'd learn this better if we could...

KWL Charts and Tickets-Out-The-Door are quick and ongoing ways that you can assess your interactions with your students as well as how they are feeling about the content.