Teaching is a very difficult and complicated profession. Because of this, it is important that we develop effective ways to reflect on and continually improve our instructional practice. Lately I have been reading about various forms of dialogue and reflection and thinking about how we can develop a method of reflecting on the instructional practice that teachers engage in daily with their students. One technique that is being used in a number of educational and business settings is a peer to peer observation process. From the beginning it must be understood that this process is not in any way shape or form evaluative. The purpose is to create dialogue and allow for reflection of the instructional process. The goal is to increase learning by focusing in on various instructional strategies that are identified as effective and then work to assist each other with the implementation of these strategies.
The process starts with the staff of a school working together with their principal to identify the instructional practices or focus areas that they agree to work on and develop. The following items are examples of practices that would be a part of my list. I wouldn’t recommend including this number of items, but I left them all here as examples:
- Teacher greets students at the door or as they enter the classroom.
- Clearly stated objectives as to what the students are expected to learn or do by the conclusion of the lesson. This may be an agenda or something (on board, verbal, weekly sheet) that lets students know what they are going to be doing for the day and why – standards etc.
- The standards are identified to the students and are grade and subject level appropriate.
- A starter activity or anticipatory set that motivates the learner, reviews prior learning, makes connections and brings relevancy to the new content being presented. Something that students start right at the beginning of the period that gets them engaged without a lot of downtime.
- A variety of student-centered learning activities where students are afforded the opportunity to think critically, solve problems, work in cooperative groups, and create manifestations that demonstrate learning is taking place. Students are actively involved in the learning process.
- Lecture (no more than 10-15 minutes)
- Group work
- Lab or project work
- Interdisciplinary connections
- Work is connected to appropriate standards
- Informal and formal means of assessment in which the students have a clear indication of their performance in relation to expected learning outcomes. Rubrics or scoring guides should accompany any activity that is to be graded.
- The routine use of positive reinforcement to commend and praise students for taking risks, whether they are wrong or right.
- Positive and comfortable interaction between teacher and students.
- A stimulating learning environment that promotes inquiry with student work proudly displayed.
- Samples or models of expected work are use to guide students toward effective completion of assignments and projects.
- Effective technology integration.
- Teacher enthusiasm. If teachers aren’t enthusiastic about the lesson or content then how can they expect their students to be?
- Effective classroom management and room organization.
- A closure to the lesson or activity that includes next steps, homework, etc.
- Specific strategies are used to foster effective relationships with students
Once the list is compiled, teaching staff set up times to observe each other and look for the various agreed to strategies. A form is used to document the observation. A sample form is attached. The observations can be from 20 minutes in length to the entire period.
Some processes call for a brief pre-observation meeting to discuss what is going to be happening in a particular class. The most important part of the observation process is the post observation discussion. During this post discussion, colleagues have the opportunity to dialogue about the instructional practices that were observed. This dialogue creates the opportunity to reflect on and refine the instructional practices. It is important that this dialogue and reflection occurs between colleagues. It is not effective if it is used as a Checklist Leadership or Checklist instructional strategy process. (Bill Ferriter-The Tempered Radical)
As a teacher, principal, superintendent, and coach of my son’s soccer team, I truly appreciate feedback, ideas, or constructive criticism about what I am doing. It keeps me thinking, invigorated, and connected to the world around me.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas about the potential of an observation process and how it can help to improve instruction and student learning.
Links that I used to develop this post include:
Eric Sheninger: A Principals Reflections
Carol J. Downey: Classroom Walk-Throughs
Bill Ferriter: The Tempered Radical
