Feedback

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“Your students are so engaged and on task!” 

“Your students did a wonderful job at explaining what they were working on.”

“Your classroom environment is very welcoming!”

Feedback is defined as a reaction or response to a particular process or activity. It is evaluative information derived from such a reaction or response. 

We teach for 180 days a year for at least 4-6 hours a day. If you do the math, that is approximately 900 hours of teaching and student learning per year. If you are a newer teacher, you will probably have 2 formal observations and a handful of walk-through observations. If you are a veteran teacher, you will probably get one formal evaluation and one unannounced walkthrough evaluation from your assigned administrator. Of course, the requirements differ from one district to the next, but it all comes down to valuable feedback. There are other components to an evaluation, but instructional feedback is key. It guides us and assists us in making decisions that will impact our students for those 900 hours in the classroom.

Before becoming an instructional coach, I was a classroom teacher for 22 years. Some teachers I worked with were relieved when they would only see admin a few times a year. I was in the minority, I was always looking forward to getting feedback. I wanted to know how I was doing. What could I do better for my students? What strategies did they see that were effective? Ultimately, I knew I was doing what was best for my students, but I wanted to have my admin involved and actively engaged with my classroom. That’s not always easy for administrators to do. I am finding this out in my new role as a coach.

Now that I am an instructional coach, I have the opportunity to provide feedback and support to teachers daily. I absolutely love it! I leave feedback for every teacher I visit each day. I always try to find something positive that is happening in the room while I am there. All teachers (newer and veterans) need positivity in their lives daily! They deserve it! 

We are just ending the first quarter of the school year and I am looking forward to beginning coaching cycles with our talented and devoted teachers. Providing them with feedback on their instructional practices will strengthen their positive impact on students. Having frequent classroom visits and providing teachers with feedback will increase the amount of trust teachers will have in me as their coach. Trust is also essential when giving feedback. Teachers need to trust the admin or coaches that are providing feedback, otherwise, it won’t make a difference to anyone. I am fortunate to work in a district that has recently added instructional coaches to every site. We have the opportunity to get into the classrooms and give the time and attention that teachers deserve. How do you feel about feedback from your coaches and administrators?

Do you like getting frequent feedback from them? How often do you get feedback? What type of feedback do you prefer?

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Sarah Kirchoff

Sarah Kirchoff is an instructional coach in Mesa Public Schools. She has over 20 years of experience in early childhood education. She began her teaching career way back in August 1999, when everyone was worried about Y2K. She did not even have computers in her classroom at that time! Since then, she has taught first grade for four years, preschool for three years, second grade for two years and kindergarten for twelve years. She has worked for three different school districts during her teaching career. During this time, she has been able to identify which grade she found to be the most enjoyable. Her greatest teaching passion is for kindergarten. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State University and a master’s degree in Elementary Education from Northern Arizona University. She was teacher of the year at her school in the 2019-2020 school year. She became a National Board Certified Teacher as an Early Childhood Generalist in December of 2020. She currently serves on numerous committees at her school including school site council, the instructional leadership team, and the culture and climate team. She is a mentor teacher at her school and has mentored numerous interns and student teaching candidates. When she is not busy with school commitments, she spends time with her family. She has a husband who is also a teacher, and four children. Two of which are students at NAU and two that are in high school. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading books and spending time with family, friends and her two dogs. Children need a teacher that is always advocating for them, socially, emotionally, and academically. Sarah wants every student she encounters to realize their potential and she is willing to help in any way she can. The impact early childhood educators have on students reaches far beyond their younger years. Sarah wants to leave a positive impact on her students so they can continue to have wonderful educational experiences beyond her classroom and school.