I administer student surveys at least once per grading period for a variety of purposes:

  1. Check-in with individual students to see their likes and dislikes about the course so far.
  2. Get a sense of the amount of effort being put into the class, and what other activities may be competing for students’ time.
  3. Classroom management.
  4. Students’ trust in me as their instructor, and trust in their peers.
  5. Identify students who are not feeling connected with the material or with me.

I commonly use the Google Forms feature of Google Classroom to administer the surveys. Although I have used other platforms in the past (such as SurveyMonkey) most of my teaching experience has been in districts that encourage the use of the Google Suite.

Survey Example

A full list of questions from the last survey I administered to my students:

The following questions were answered on a “Strongly Agree”, “Agree”, “Disagree”, “Strongly Disagree” scale:

  • My teacher gives clear instructions.
  • My teacher expects me to do my best.
  • My teacher provides opportunities to improve my grade.
  • I need to talk less in class on a daily basis.
  • My teacher handles classroom disruptions well.
  • My teacher shows respect to all students.
  • Students always show respect to other students.
  • Students always are respectful to the teacher.
  • I feel my teacher values me as a person.
  • The band room is a safe learning space; I know that if someone says something inappropriate or does something inappropriate, my teacher will respond to the situation.

The following questions were answered with short answer:

  • What do you like most about band so far this academic year? Please number your answers.
  • What changes would you like to see for trimester 3. Please number your answers.
  • Please explain your answer from the previous question.
  • What are ways that your teacher could show you that she cares about you? Please number your answers.

The last question was answered on a “Very Well”, “Well”, “Fair”, “More Work Needed” scale.

  • Think about the music you are about to perform for the concert. How well do you know the 3 music selections?

Survey results can then be graphed:

Answer to the question "My teacher gives clear instructions."

Answer to the question "My teacher expects me to do my best."

Answer to the question "I feel my teacher values me as a person."

Answer to the questions about classroom behavior.

Answer to the question about classroom safety.