Saturday, May 9, 2009

Evaluations

Every semester, we (the students in my classes and me) fill out teacher evaluations. They are the bubble fill-in type sheets. There is also an additional "yellow sheet" we can use to make further comments. I asked one of my teachers if he actually saw the information from the evaluations and he said he did and that it was quite helpful.

Perhaps we as nontrads need to fill out an evaluation on ourselves at the end of each semester. We should ask questions like:

1. How did I do with managing my time this semester? Did I feel rushed to get all the class assignments completed or did I feel I had ample time to the get the class assignments completed?
2. How did I do in staying current with the reading? With my note taking? Did I procrastinate and have to stay up the night before an exam reading?
3. How did I do with my papers? Did I wait until the last minute to start them or did I start to at least think about a topic as soon as I knew about the assignment?
4. How well prepared was I for class? Did I read the syllabus and know what to expect or was each class a surprise?
5. Was I on time for class or did I walk in late and disrupt the class?
6. How organized was I for class? Did I keep all my assignments for each class separated? Was I constantly fumbling for the right notebook before I left the house or when I got to school?

It helps to stop and take about 30 minutes to look back through the last semester and do a self evaluation. What did you do that worked? What changes do you need to make? What can you do better? Staying organized and being efficient with our time will make it easier for us to study and complete our assignments on time.

Looking back over this semester, there were some things that happened that I had no control over. However, some things, I did have control over. Those are things I need to change so I can become a better student and do better next semester. Returning to school is my dream and it is my goal to graduate with honors. What do I need to do to achieve that goal? I need to evaluate and then take the steps to make it happen. Stay tuned. . .

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Self evaluation or reflection is a vital tool. A good way to do this is to keep a reflective diary. I did that this year and looking back now can make notes on what worked and what didn't for me and apply them to my next course.