Effective use of ICT based science teaching learning objects.
The guidelines aim at providing science secondary school teachers with the competences to make an effective use of ICT based science teaching learning objects.Teachers’ Guidelines
2. Teachers’ self-assessment
2.1 Why It's Important to Evaluate Yourself as a Teacher
2.1 Why It's Important to Evaluate Yourself as a Teacher
2.1.3 Teaching Specific Technologies
At times in a teacher's career, after many years of teaching, after learning how to manage the classroom, control bureaucracy and deal with students' families, it is easy to become complacent and do what you have always done. However, as a teacher, you must always evaluate yourself in order to continue to grow in the profession. Engaging in self-reflection is a way for teachers to continue to grow as professionals.
Prepare a professional development plan
Many teachers attend professional development courses throughout the year, not out of direct interest but in order to fulfill a bureaucratic duty, but the reality is that it is not the best approach to grow as a teaching professional. If you want to grow as an educator, you need to conduct a self-assessment of your teaching and identify areas for improvement.
There are three basic components when planning your self-evaluation: a series of questions and goals, specificity and honesty when answering, and a pleasing environment:
1. Identifying questions and setting goals
Researchers suggests starting with two major questions:
To connect this to the teaching, it’s a good idea to expand these and get specific. Teachers may choose to ask themselves questions like:
Then, set goals for the following semester by asking questions such as:
2. Specificity and honesty
Try to be as specific as possible and focus on what you can change.
Similarly, be prepared to be honest with yourself. If your teaching has suffered, pinpoint why. If a particular class or student is not thriving, scratch away at the cause.
3. A pleasing environment
It’s important not to feel rushed when doing a self-evaluation. Wherever you are, make yourself as comfortable as possible
What next?
It is possible to choose ending the process there and revisiting the thoughts at the following evaluation. How to move forward will depend on own current situation: how straightforward the evaluation was, what it learned about themselves, how challenging the set goals are, etc..
The process may even reveal a desire to experiment with other self-evaluation methods; such as having your class recorded, enlisting a peer review from a colleague, keeping a journal, or asking your students for anonymous feedback.
Self-evaluations are a valuable tool for teachers to identify challenging areas, highlight their wins, and step off the routine of lessons, assessments, and commitments.
The reality of the teaching profession is that each group of students entering the class has different strengths and challenges. In a single day, you may have four or five groups of students who are all distinctly different and need a slightly different approach to teaching. To do this successfully, you need to regularly engage in self-assessment so that you can grow the skills you need to face any challenges that students present to you.
Becoming a more effective teacher does not mean that a teacher passes more students or that a teacher raises their class average by so many points. To be more effective simply suggests that a teacher challenges and enlightens his/her students each and every day.
Prepare a professional development plan
Many teachers attend professional development courses throughout the year, not out of direct interest but in order to fulfill a bureaucratic duty, but the reality is that it is not the best approach to grow as a teaching professional. If you want to grow as an educator, you need to conduct a self-assessment of your teaching and identify areas for improvement.
There are three basic components when planning your self-evaluation: a series of questions and goals, specificity and honesty when answering, and a pleasing environment:
1. Identifying questions and setting goals
Researchers suggests starting with two major questions:
- What has gone well?
- What hasn’t gone so well?
To connect this to the teaching, it’s a good idea to expand these and get specific. Teachers may choose to ask themselves questions like:
- What feedback have I received this year?
- When have I felt at my best in the classroom?
- How satisfied am I with my work/life balance?
- What were my best moments this semester?
- When have I most enjoyed teaching?
- When have I not enjoyed teaching?
- What skills have I learned or improved upon this semester?
- What has made me feel proud this semester?
- What has been a major win this semester?
- How have I overcome a particular problem?
- What are my strengths as a teacher and how are they developing?
- What are my current challenges as a teacher?
Then, set goals for the following semester by asking questions such as:
- What skills would I like to develop next semester?
- What would a “good Monday” feel like?
- What are two areas I want to improve on first?
- Who can I reach out to as a potential mentor?
- Who is a teacher I greatly admire and why?
- Where can I find free resources to develop my teaching?
2. Specificity and honesty
Try to be as specific as possible and focus on what you can change.
Similarly, be prepared to be honest with yourself. If your teaching has suffered, pinpoint why. If a particular class or student is not thriving, scratch away at the cause.
3. A pleasing environment
It’s important not to feel rushed when doing a self-evaluation. Wherever you are, make yourself as comfortable as possible
What next?
It is possible to choose ending the process there and revisiting the thoughts at the following evaluation. How to move forward will depend on own current situation: how straightforward the evaluation was, what it learned about themselves, how challenging the set goals are, etc..
The process may even reveal a desire to experiment with other self-evaluation methods; such as having your class recorded, enlisting a peer review from a colleague, keeping a journal, or asking your students for anonymous feedback.
Self-evaluations are a valuable tool for teachers to identify challenging areas, highlight their wins, and step off the routine of lessons, assessments, and commitments.
The reality of the teaching profession is that each group of students entering the class has different strengths and challenges. In a single day, you may have four or five groups of students who are all distinctly different and need a slightly different approach to teaching. To do this successfully, you need to regularly engage in self-assessment so that you can grow the skills you need to face any challenges that students present to you.
Becoming a more effective teacher does not mean that a teacher passes more students or that a teacher raises their class average by so many points. To be more effective simply suggests that a teacher challenges and enlightens his/her students each and every day.
Online Resources
- John MacBeath (2003). Teacher Self-Evaluation, International Handbook of Educational Research in the Asia-Pacific Region, 2003, Volume 11. ISBN : 978-90-481-6167-6 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-94-017-3368-7_53
- Simon Borg and Adam Edmett (2019). Developing a self-assessment tool for English language teachers. Journal: Language Teaching Research, 2019, Volume 23, Number 5, Page 655. DOI: 10.1177/1362168817752543 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362168817752543
