The Reasons Teachers Should Use Interest Inventories
Whether the school year has just started or it’s in full swing, teachers could help improve their classes and instruction by doing interest inventories with their students. Interest inventories are usually quick and simple ways for teachers to assess their students likes and dislikes. Most importantly, they can be a vital tool for driving instruction, and they are great way to find student engagement activities to use with your class.
What is an Interest Inventory
Interest inventories are simple questionaries that teachers can use the first few days or weeks of school to help them identify the things that their students are most interested in. These specially design assessments can also help students learn more about their own preferences. They can also help them to identify potential career paths for later.
Why Do an Interest Inventory with Your Students
Teachers should utilize an interest inventory to help them design activities or lessons for their classes. By discovering what their students are interested in the most, teachers can increase the engagement and participation level in their classroom. Educators can design their lessons around the things that their students are interested in the most.
The Benefits of an Interest Inventory
There are several benefits to doing an interest inventory with your students the first of school days or weeks of school. Those benefits include:
- More engaged students
- Making it easier for teachers to form relationships with their students
- Giving students a sense of empowerment
- Giving students a voice in their own education
Interest inventories are just limited to the first of school. Teachers can use them throughout the school year to help them plan lessons.
When students complete interest inventories and teachers use these to help them develop class lessons, this ensures that the students are actually interested in what is being taught. The teacher is able to pick topics that the students enjoy and are interested in learning about.
Students feel empowered when they are allowed choices in their learning. This gives them a sense of pride and purpose. Their education becomes more meaningful.
Teachers should be sure to take things a step further. They should encourage their students to express their opinions. They can also design student-based projects. The teacher should also be willing to allow her students to help teach the lesson on their topic of interest.
When students complete interest inventories and the teacher designs lessons that focus on those interests, the students are given a sense of voice. The students become active participants in their education, and they are more engaged in the lesson.
It is easier for teachers to build relationships with their students when they know what interests those students. By doing interest inventories, a teacher can skip some of the awkward stages of trying to discover what motivates and interests her students.
What Type of Questions Interest Inventories Ask
Interest inventories shouldn’t be random. If teachers are to reap the full benefits of using them, they should be given regularly. They could be given at the beginning of each grading period or before the start of any lesson. The questions should revolve around the topic that the teacher is about to teach. This way the questions are relevant to the students, and they are educationally based.
The questions on the interest inventory can also be used to help the teacher determine in what format she should present her lesson. Should the lesson be hands on? Should the lesson be more visual? Should it project-based? By discovering the students’ preferred learning style, the teacher can be sure to present the lesson in multiple ways.
Interest inventories can be constructed in a manner that mimics that of a pre-test. This way the educator can assess what the students already know and what they are interested in learning about the topic.
What Format Should Interest Inventories be In
Interest inventories don’t always have to be done in the form of a survey or quiz. They can be done using K-W-L charts or Bubble Webs. Any brainstorming activities can be used as an interest inventory to assist teachers in discovering what the students know about a topic and what they want to know.
What’s the Best Time to Give Interest Inventories
Three of the best times to do interest inventories are:
- The first weeks of school
- At the beginning of a new lesson
- At the completion of a lesson
Interest inventories can be given any time. The first weeks of school is the best time to use an interest inventory that is geared toward getting to know your students, their learning styles, and the things that they are interested in. At the beginning of new lessons is also a great time to introduce learning inventories to your students. This will help teachers to design their lessons in a way that is relevant and engaging for the students. Interest inventories can also be done at the completion of a lesson to see what the students have learned and how they felt about the lesson. This will also help teachers learn what works best with their students.
Where to Find Interest Inventories
Teachers can make their own interest inventories using programs like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms. All teachers need to do is add their own questions. If teachers don’t want to create their own interest inventory, they can purchase some from sites like Teachers Pay Teachers.
Interest inventories can be used to help teachers design engaging lessons for their students. They allow teachers to learn their students interest and learning styles. They also can be used similarly to a pre-test and help teachers discover what they students already know and what they are interested in learning. These quick assessments don’t just have to be done on a computer or with a pencil and paper. They can take on various formats. They can even resemble brainstorming activities. Most importantly, they can help to build good relationships between students and teachers.
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