Teachers strive to engage all learners. A 'best practice' is to create multiple ways for students to communicate what they need, and multiple ways to check in to see how students are learning. Simple online survey tools can provide an avenue for students to communicate how they are doing.
In this example, developed for use with students during remote learning, the teacher asks how the student is doing, how remote learning is going, what schoolwork the student plans to do that day, what the student plans to do for fun that day, and gives the chance to ask for someone from school to get in touch.
While useful for remote learning, surveys can be a valuable tool even when students regularly meet face-to-face with a teacher. Frequently, students will share more, or different information, in writing than they do in person.
Multiple-choice options can invite students who have difficulty expressing themselves to share more than they would otherwise. Combining multiple-choice survey questions with open-ended questions increases the effectiveness of the outreach to students.
Surveys can vary in length and subject, but shorter is often more successful. Teachers are encouraged to incorporate a balance of caring questions designed to connect and check-in on student feelings and wellbeing with academically-focused and supportive questions.
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