SuperStar Teacher — Teacher HeatherB — Interview
This week’s SuperStar Teacher is Teacher HeatherB. Teacher HeatherB is part teacher and part mermaid. She says, “If my family isn’t at home or at school, we’re in or on the water. Swimming, surfing, sailing, canoeing, kayaking…. or just floating and enjoying the sun.” During her time on land she has shared many feedback templates on FeedbackPanda and has established quite the following. Here is her interview.
Tricks for staying alert: Ice water. Cold room. Loving my students and enjoying each lesson.
If you had a Superpower what would it be? If I had a super power, I’m pretty sure it would be napping. Anytime, anywhere, I can curl up and snooze.
Favorite Lesson to teach: Anything my student is excited about. Their excitement and improvements are what I remember the most, not what the subject was. That being said, crazy pictures and the word problems with 18 prams, 10 men, and the man with the plethora of cars always make me laugh!
What do you do in between classes? Refill my water, mad restroom dash, and kiss my babies, touch up my lipstick.
How do you use FeedbackPanda? I try to set up each student/class in advance, either write or select a template to use that covers the lesson content. After the class, I personalize each feedback to reflect the class and interaction with the student. I also use it to track my students and reward systems I’ve used.
Describe your Feedback Style/Structure:
Praise for an excellent class
Describe the lesson content and student success/struggles
Suggest ways to help the student practice at home.
Share something fun about the class and conversations
Thank the parent and tell them I look forward to seeing their child next time.
-Your teacher, Heather
Good Feedback Must Contain…I try to format my feedback with a happy greeting, successes, areas to practice, upcoming project options, something personal that is kind or funny (always true though), and a respectful closing.
What do you like to see when checking the Teacher to Teacher Feedback ?I appreciate kind and professional feedback. I don’t care if it’s the child’s favorite toy or reward, successes or areas to give extra assistance, or no comment. If all you had time to do was copy and paste the parent feedback, that’s good info too. It saddens me to read feedback that would be hurtful to the child or offensive to the parent if they were to read it. I’d rather have an empty comment section than an unprofessional one.
Notes or comments to the teachers who import your templates? Proof read them!!! If I’m typing quickly or am “multi-tasking” there’s a good chance I’ve skipped a word. I catch those when I can but….yeah.
Any other comments you wish to communicate: I just started my 22nd year of teaching this school year and can say in all honesty, I’ve never had such a joy for teaching as VIPKID has brought into my life. It has carried over into my regular classroom and daily life in unexpected ways. The VIPKID community has created a virtual support system that extends beyond the professional realm and into daily life. I thank God for VIPKID and all it has blessed me with daily. FeedbackPanda has helped me manage the data, my time, and made it easy and efficient. This only adds to the fun of being a VIPKID teacher.
