Isn’t concrete, timely feedback really helpful? We think so and that’s why we were excited to hear from Sharon Porter, a Pulse smartpen user and Assistant Professor of Education at Eastern Oregon University.

Sharon uses her Pulse smartpen to record and share constructive feedback from student teacher observations. During a student teacher’s lesson, Sharon writes notes about what’s happening in the classroom, while at the same time recording audio. Sharon later shares her notes with the student teacher as a private pencast so they can hear how they sound during class. Before switching to Pulse, Sharon took notes on a laptop, which was distracting to students. Pulse lets Sharon take traditional notes (with pen and paper) so she’s not a distraction to students, but even more importantly, Pulse allows Sharon to replay the student teacher’s audio, which has made a big impact. Don’t take it from us, take it from Sharon!

Sharon writes, “We’ve ‘caught’ grammar mistakes, flat tone of voice, spacer words (uh, like, etc.), as well as time that is wasted with repeated instructions or inefficient procedures. Having the audio there serves as an objective witness to the student teachers’ skills. I would not have been able to describe a teacher needing more energy, more pitch to the voice or the need to eliminate double negatives in their speech without the clarity brought through the [Pulse smartpen]. It has changed the way I supervise and the student teachers love having this tool to hear themselves in the classroom.”

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Sharon! We think this is a great way to capture and share feedback, and are sure your student teachers agree.