Why did I receive a "Not Helpful" rating?
Good question! Most everyone at Schoolhouse receives the occasional "Not Helpful" rating—this is because, unfortunately, there's no way to perfectly meet everyone's needs every time we run a session. Here's a note from one of our mentors, Simran, about what she does when she receives a "Not Helpful" rating:
My first step is to remind myself that these ratings are information provided by the learner about how they experienced the session. They're not a judgement of me! Realizing this, I then see if I can find a reason why the learner experienced the session this way.
Occasionally, the learner will provide some information in the feedback. Here’s an example: “Plz solve more numerical and go a bit faster.” This is useful for me to know, and I can decide what to do with it. Perhaps this will help me realize that I can move a bit faster. Or perhaps, I am intentionally going fairly slowly because this is a basic class, and I don’t want to leave anyone behind (so I’ll keep moving at this pace).
Far more often, the learner provides no feedback. This is much less useful for me! It could be due to a mis-match between the learner’s expectations and what the session or series actually is; perhaps the content was too hard or too easy for them, and I couldn't adjust the pace because of other learners in the session. Perhaps they were struggling to pay attention that day.
Sometimes, I'll see a “Not Helpful” rating from someone who didn’t even attend the session!? It happens... and I ignore it.
In summary:
We all will receive "Not Helpful" ratings!
Sometimes, we can use accompanying feedback to help us improve as tutors.
Many times, we have little idea what it means — so we don’t let it get us down!!
Questions? Just want to talk? I’m here. Many other tutors are here. Mentors are here.
- Simran
My first step is to remind myself that these ratings are information provided by the learner about how they experienced the session. They're not a judgement of me! Realizing this, I then see if I can find a reason why the learner experienced the session this way.
Occasionally, the learner will provide some information in the feedback. Here’s an example: “Plz solve more numerical and go a bit faster.” This is useful for me to know, and I can decide what to do with it. Perhaps this will help me realize that I can move a bit faster. Or perhaps, I am intentionally going fairly slowly because this is a basic class, and I don’t want to leave anyone behind (so I’ll keep moving at this pace).
Far more often, the learner provides no feedback. This is much less useful for me! It could be due to a mis-match between the learner’s expectations and what the session or series actually is; perhaps the content was too hard or too easy for them, and I couldn't adjust the pace because of other learners in the session. Perhaps they were struggling to pay attention that day.
Sometimes, I'll see a “Not Helpful” rating from someone who didn’t even attend the session!? It happens... and I ignore it.
In summary:
We all will receive "Not Helpful" ratings!
Sometimes, we can use accompanying feedback to help us improve as tutors.
Many times, we have little idea what it means — so we don’t let it get us down!!
Questions? Just want to talk? I’m here. Many other tutors are here. Mentors are here.
- Simran
Updated on: 07/09/2022
Thank you!