Tech Timer Saver: Using Fillable .pdfs For Teacher Questionnaires

Hi Mr. Smith, Can You Fill Out This Form About Johnny?

Johnny has his triennial coming up. Johnny has 6 teachers and you’d like feedback from at least some of them. I don’t know about your school/s, but with nearly 100 teachers and a huge campus, getting them to return Johnny’s questionnaire or rating scale is an absolute nightmare.
In one of my grad school internships, I remember my supervisor tasking me with delivering printed out rating scales and questionnaires in teacher boxes with the desperate promise of a “speech treat” (i.e. candy) in exchange for a completed form. At her school, she’d actually get a few back when using this method because the teachers actually checked their boxes in the teachers’ lounge!

At my current schools, this culture of box-checking does not exist. For starters, there are two teacher lounges on opposite ends of campus. I only get one box! Do you suppose a teacher will trek across campus to deliver a questionnaire? Do you suppose a large number of my teachers even check their boxes in the first place? I quickly realized that the old method of printed out questionnaires would not work at my large, comprehensive site.

So, what’s a no-frills SLP to do? As I typically do when faced with an obstacle, I took to the internet to find out how to make technology work for me. I decided everything would need to be completed over e-mail. 

But how? Sending out a word document can get cumbersome when the formatting shifts between recipients. It could work, but it wasn’t the ideal option. Using .pdfs ensures that formatting never changes, but editing a regular .pdf takes knowledge of newer Adobe software and requires actual work. Not ideal at all. 

Then, it hit me. Why not utilize fillable .pdfs? 

With fillable .pdfs, I could e-mail out my rating scale or feedback form with no printing required. All the teachers have to do is download the form, fill it out on their computer, save it as a different file name, and e-mail it back to me. Simple. Even my technophobe teachers could manage that! There is no printing, no writing, no boxes, no trekking across the campus. It’s all digital, it’s all easy. 

So How Do You Do It?

The best free website I’ve found for creating fillable .pdfs is pdfescape.com. It’s free, it’s easy, and it has all the tools I need (e.g. check boxes). Simply upload a PDF (which you create by saving any Word Document as a .pdf extension) and start editing! Create check boxes, lines for extra comments, drop down menus… the options are endless. I took a .pdf fluency rating scale I found on-line and used pdfescape.com to allow my teachers to fill it out online. Chances are, the rating scales you already use just need a quick conversion in pdfescape.com!

I’ve included a link to my Teachers Pay Teachers store where you can download a fillable .pdf I created for my RSP/gen ed teachers. Feel free to use my form at your school/s. However, I encourage you to use it as an example of what can be accomplished so you can make teacher feedback forms that are more fitting for your individual school/s.

Link to my example on TPT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Communication-Skills-Form-Fillable-pdf-2535962

Fillable .pdfs are an awesome tool - the uses are endless! Parent questionnaires, teacher questionnaires, recording student work… I’m sure you all can generate event more ideas and I’d love to hear about any ideas you have in the comments below! Questions are welcomed and appreciated!

As always, it doesn't have to be fancy, just keep it fun and functional!

• Jillian, the No-Frills SLP