SRE has no formal assessment, which is one of its great gifts — but it also means volunteers can teach the same lesson format, poorly, for years without realising it isn't working. Intentional, informal feedback loops help you grow as a teacher and serve your students better.
Why Feedback Matters Even Without Assessment
Exit Tickets (Adapted for SRE)
In the last two minutes, ask students to write or say one word that captures how they felt about today's lesson, or one question the lesson left them with. You'll learn quickly whether students are engaged, confused, moved, or bored — and which elements of the lesson are working. Keep a simple tally over a term.
Read the Room During the Lesson
Body language tells you a great deal. Students leaning forward, making eye contact, asking questions, or spontaneously applying the lesson to their own experience are engaged. Students staring at the ceiling, whispering, doodling absent-mindedly, or fiddling with objects are not. Adjust in the moment by increasing participation, changing activity, or bringing in a physical object or visual that grounds the abstract.
Build a Relationship with the Classroom Teacher
The classroom teacher sees your students every day. A brief 'How did they seem after SRE today?' conversation occasionally will surface information you couldn't otherwise get. Many classroom teachers notice when students spontaneously talk about SRE content during the rest of the day — that's the best indicator that it's landed. If a student brings up something from SRE days later, the lesson went somewhere significant.
