Learning About My Kiddos (Student Surveys)

This past week at school I had my students fill out surveys and we discussed them whole class.  I didn't do it as a time filler, though it did take time.  I had them fill them out to learn about them.  I wanted them to have to share what was on their brains as they started in our classroom.  I'm so thankful for other bloggers sharing their ideas with the rest of us.
Who Am I?  Stephanie over at Teaching in Room 6 shared her document last year (then she shared it again this morning on Classroom Freebies).  

I chose this one for the first day of school as they came into the classroom.  This was a little bit of everything to share with me.  This one includes favorites, wishes, home information, and one thing they thought I needed to know.  We did a little mingle to music thing to share with others.  

T is for Teaching shared a bunch of different surveys as well.  I chose 2 of them for the students to complete - one during morning work time and another for an easy homework assignment.  

I chose the Reading Survey for the students to do on the 2nd day of school as we were discussing our favorite books and Reading in general.  We discussed the questions in class before they received the paper (pair/share, full class response), and they took home the paper to do for a homework activity.  Yes, I gave real homework on the first week of school - but it was mainly to get them into the routine of being responsible.

I chose the School Survey for the students to complete during the 4th day of school for morning work.  By the 4th day of 4th grade they had started feeling comfortable in the classroom, had begun to learn the rules and expectations, and I wanted their honest opinions of how they best thought they learn.  
These 3 pages I sat down and went over yesterday as I was putting them into my student information binder.  I want to have this information handy so I can use it as a jumping off spot for my Reading conferences this coming week.  I want to use this when I write in their journals, and when I write them little encouragement notes.  I want to remember who they were the first week of school.
Please click the above links to go to the blog posts written by others.  They have freebies to share.  
Hope this helps!   

Read More