Student Survey Response Data

Demographics:
The survey was distributed to four periods of a 12th grade AP Lit class. The students are all very
high-achieving and hardworking. There is a mostly equal gender balance though the number of
girls slightly outweighs the boys. There are 2 black students but otherwise the students are all
white. There is one IEP for a student with autism.
It was also given to one class of 9th grade Language!. There are 4 students total in the class; 2
boys and 2 girls. There is one white male, and the remaining three students are black. Two of
the students have IEPs, one for a specific learning disability and the other for speech or
language impairment.
Influencing Factors:
The survey was given on a Friday and a Wednesday coming back from a four day weekend.
The AP students were writing a timed essay in class after they completed the survey. Some
students were very vocal about not wanting to do the essay and feeling stressed about it. They
felt it was unfair. They also had an essay that was due the Monday before, so they were feeling
that many essays were crammed into one week. These assessments were not my choice, and
the date that they were happening was not my decision either. The first essay had previously
been on the calendar to be due the week before but the deadline was extended. However, doing
this meant that the in-class essay followed closely behind.
Analysis:
a. Knowledge of subject matter:
i.
83/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the question Ms.
Vandygriff knows and understands the subject being taught, with 61 being
Strongly Agree
ii.
81/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the question Ms.
Vandygriff makes things easy for me to understand
iii.
Quotes from students about knowing material
1. Honestly, she is very informed of the material and
stops to provide examples and make sure we all know whats going on in
the class
2. Her greatest strength is that she can explain
literature really well
3. I think one of her greatest strengths is explaining
books and stories
4. Ms. Vandygriff was very good at explaining what
certain material meant, especially with themes of books and the writings
of Shakespeare
iv.
Quotes from students about being passionate about the material

1. She also seems passionate about the subject

matter
2. She is excited about the material and shares that
excitement with the students.
3. really cares about what shes teaching
v.
Quotes about weaknesses regarding subject matter
1. sometimes her confidence isnt 100% there when
she's teaching
2. sometimes when she explains things it is a little bit
unclear and she often stops when it isn't necessary to explain things
vi.
In general:
1. The students seem to think that I have a clear
grasp of the subject and that I make it easy for them to understand. They
also can see that I enjoy what I am teaching to them, making it more
engaging to them as well. I can work on being clear and confident in what
I am saying to students, and making sure I know exactly how I want to
say it.
b. Pedagogical knowledge:
i.
78/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the question Ms.
Vandygriff uses different materials and activities to help us learn.
ii.
84/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the question Ms.
Vandygriff gives clear instructions.
iii.
81/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the question Ms.
Vandygriff provides me with the support I need to succeed in doing my work.
iv.
Quotes about strengths regarding pedagogical knowledge
1. The variety of your activities makes class
interesting and fun
2. she makes the activities fun in class
3. She comes up with many different ways to teach,
which is very helpful as not everyone learns the same way.
4. I feel that Ms. Vandygriff is good at using different
tools to teach a class and get points across.
5. ability to get everybody excited about learning
6. Strengths: making class interesting
7. encourages the class to have fun while learning.
she makes the activities fun in class.
8. Ms. V is very good at helping us learn in different
ways
v.
Quotes about weaknesses regarding pedagogical knowledge
1. I think she needs to ask more questions to lead to
more thought-provoking deep conversations
2. maybe add a little more helpful content to the class
discussions to elevate the discussion and mention things that the class
didn't think of
3. maybe she could relate what we learn to bigger
themes or subjects but overall she's great

4. maybe should try some more interactive things.

vi.

In general:

1. Some students think we do lots of interactive

things, while others say it is something I can work on. Most of the
students believe that we do lots of interesting things that help them to
learn and enjoy learning. I can work on engaging the class in a deeper
understanding and doing more to deepen the conversation rather than
letting them get there themselves.
c. Caring and effective teacher:
i.
84/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the question Ms.
Vandygriff is an effective teacher and I feel like I learn in her class.
ii.
83/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the question Ms.
Vandygriff cares about her students.
iii.
82/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the question Ms.
Vandygriff respects me as a person and student.
iv.
82/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the question Ms.
Vandygriff treats everyone fairly.
v.
Quotes about strengths regarding being a caring and effective
teacher
1. She helps to make class more enjoyable by
improving the learning environment
2. she's very kind and easy to approach
3. it seems like she really cares about all her students
and that makes her teaching more effective.
4. I think ms. Vandygriff is very likable and I enjoy
when she teaches us.
5. How easy it is to talk to her and seek help from
her
6. Her greatest strengths are her energy and
enthusiasm for her teaching, her connection to students, and how
relatable she is.
7. motivational, nice, supportive, kind, happy, good
personality
8. Ms. Vandygriff has an excellent ability to connect
with all of her students; She's understanding and relatable and knows to
break things down and she's funny and fun and cool.
9. Her strengths are her kind and positive attitude.
She is very humorous and knows how to relate to the students.
vi.
Quotes about weaknesses regarding being a caring and effective
teacher
1. she has a very nice personality and kids can
sometimes take advantage of that
2. I don't really known her, so I'd say her greatest
weakness is her communication about opportunities
vii.
In general:

1. Most of the students feel we have a good

classroom environment and good teacher-student relationships. They can
tell that I care about them and that I make an effort to relate to them. I feel
like they can tell that I care about them as people. Something I could work
on would be making sure that relating to them does not come before
making sure they respect me and listen to me when they need to, and to
make sure I connect with all of my students.
d. Areas of improvement:
i.
In general, the biggest area of improvement seems to be being
more assertive in the classroom when I need to be. For one class in particular it
is a challenge to keep students on track, and they seem to notice this. There
were comments encouraging me to be strict when I need to be and to follow
through with consequences when applicable. In general, some students feel it
would be to my benefit and help the class as a whole if I were able to keep
everyone on task better and have more command of the class.
ii.
Another area of improvement is relating what we do to the realworld. While some students commented that I did this well, there were others
who said it could be done more often and I tend to agree with them. Finding more
connections is something I can definitely work on.
iii.
The two questions with the least amount of Agree or Strongly
Agree responses were the following:
1. 69/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the
question Ms. Vandygriff makes it clear why we learn the things that we
learn.
2. 71/86 answer Agree or Strongly Agree to the
question Ms. Vandygriff is available to help me outside of class.
e. Steps to take:
i.
I plan on doing more at the beginning of the year to set up a
system of how to refocus the class. There was not a clear discussion of
expectations from the get-go, so setting this up from the start will be something I
do once I have my own class.
ii.
To follow up on that, I will make sure to follow through on
consequences when they are set. Making sure that students understand I am not
all talk could greatly improve my ability to command the class.
iii.
During lesson planning I will look for more real-world connections
to make while teaching. I will focus on these applications and make them clear to
the students. I will also try to plan more project-based learning that has a real life
scenario.