Teacher feedback

is  not something I have often been required to give. There were several occasions at university when we were asked to evaluate someone. Those occasions were rare and I suspect that there was some specific reason for it.
I was always cautious about what I said.  Perhaps it  had something to do with having grown up in a family where both my parents were teachers and then school principals. There were a number of other relatives who were also teachers. Listening to them I managed to  learn something about the difficulties of teaching and  the amount of preparation that can be involved. 
I also knew that the people who were teaching me at university were not trained teachers. They might know their subject matter very well indeed. Imparting it  could be a very different story. Some highly intelligent people have great difficulty in understanding how someone new to the subject might see it.
And of course my comments were never anonymous - my writing is very obviously mine and nobody else's. I know students who resorted to printing or trying to disguise theirs simply so they could criticise without fear of retaliation.
I was thinking about this as I was getting up this morning. Next weekend I am running a one day course for a small group of adults. I suspect the organisation I am doing it for will ask them to provide feedback. They did it last time I taught for them. I imagine they do it for all classes they run, particularly when outsiders like myself come in. It's important for them to know. They also have a reputation to defend.
I'd like feedback too. I may also provide feedback sheets as I did last time I did a class for this organisation. One of those students has already informed me she will be attending this class. Something she said last time has helped me prepare for this class.
I have been asked to do something else in June for another group. I  belong to that group. It's the group where I am experiencing some other serious problems and it would not surprise me if I was told that someone else will take over. I hope I am not told that as I have put a lot of thought and preparation into what I intend to do. I have tried to come up with a simple project that can be completed very quickly -not easy when knitting is involved. 
When I prowled out to get the paper this morning I was a little startled to see that the very thing I was thinking about was also the subject of a front page article. Apparently some students at university are using teacher feedback as an excuse to make  very nasty comments about their lecturers. One of the reasons given for this is the nature of social media. 
That doesn't make their behaviour acceptable. It doesn't actually help someone improve their performance. 
When I was asked to give feedback I was aware that it wasn't just what was being taught  but how it was being taught that was important. I knew that methods of explanation need to vary and much more. I said very little. 
At  university, post teacher training college, I and other mature age students who had trained as teachers would sometimes be asked to help.  I remember one member of staff at law school coming to me and saying quietly, "Cat, you understand this point. I can't get it across to Y..... (a student) could you try explaining it?" 
It was an important concept and I was worried about doing it but I tried and the student understood. It is unlikely my explanation was better, it probably wasn't even as good, but as Y said when I had finished, "You used different words."
I said this to the lecturer in question. He looked startled and then said, "That's it, isn't it? I need to find different ways of saying the same thing."
And I know I might need to do the same thing on Saturday or in June. I need to listen to what the students have to say. 
That's just as important as the student listening to me.