Communication is a very important factor between a leader and a teacher. A lot of that communication comes during observations time. Many times, when observations need to be made there needs to be multiple meetings for a good observation to be executed from the teacher, and good observations notes. After all of this is done one of the most important things to come out of this is a good communication meeting. Different principals and leaders will do this their own way, but the most important thing is that it happens.
One of the first things that should happen before an observation is a pre-conference. Now, from different research and videos I learned that these usually are a quick conversation where the leader and the teacher talk about what should be expected during this observations. The conversation can be around the lines of what is the lesson going to be, what different strategies are going to be used, is there any important information regarding students that needs to be known, all these questions matter for the leader to prepare as well as the teacher. As a personal experience, I have rarely had such conversations. Only once have I experienced a pre-conference, in my case, I was just told a day that the observation is going to happen and that is it. I believe that it would’ve helped both I and my leader if these pre conferences did happen. With level of planning being something that teachers need to prepare these pre conferences are very important. For example, if a teacher is well planned and goes into the pre conferences and shows that they principal will know that that teacher is prepared, is ready for something important. If the teacher comes into the pre-conference and does not have a lesson, or cannot answer important questions, that principal can note that and prepare for a conference that would entitle a different conversation.
After the pre-conference the next step is to actually have the observation. One of the main things that the observer might look for is the readiness of the teacher. For example, “I look for the components of a lesson that demonstrate that the teacher knows why she is teaching it." (Hopkins, 2005) If the teacher is giving the lesson but there are multiple breaks while they look for supplies, or look in the teachers manual, and a 20 minute lesson has just gone longer or the lesson isn’t complete, than that observer can note that that teacher was not ready. Another important factor in the observation is the student engagement. Are students engaged, are they actually learning? “ As an observer, check to see if teachers are varying whom they call on, waiting sufficiently to allow more students to participate, and varying their question types to include factual, divergent, and higher-order questions.” (D'Orio, 2017) However, it is also good that as a leader you understand that the lessons might not always go as planned, that there may be hiccups. This is why it’s important to ask questions during the lesson plan pre conference portion, ask the questions on classroom management and ask the questions on what works or not, but do not, as an observer interrupt class. During an observation a leader’s main focus is to see how the teacher conducts the classroom on a normal basis, and interrupting the teacher will defeat that purpose, as well as bring attention to you from the students where the attention should be on the lesson.
It is always interesting to watch observations happen versus what you have had happen. When watching the videos, one thing I noticed is that a lot of the coaches asked an open question as to explain the lessons, what’s going to be taught, and why. The why is very important because it leads the teacher to explain the different strategies that they are going to use in the classroom? This sets the tone for the observation because it reflects on the teacher readiness, as well as the leader’s readiness for the observation. Those questions can also lead to the post observation conference. For example, in the video, the administrators gives a chance for the teacher to reflect on the lesson before giving any feedback. This is important because during that reflection the questions that where asked during the pre-conference can come into play again, they can reflect if those questions about planning where actually executed. One thing I noticed though that while the coach did validate the lesson by commenting on how she asked a student, it was a reflection that did not give time for deeper conversation. It was a post conferences where the administrator could’ve had more notes on how the observation went, especially if there was conversations had with the students. Often times when a leader gives feedback they want to know what the teacher thinks first for example, in the video the leader asks the teacher how she things everything went. This is important because this starts a big reflection that can be taken out of the classroom. For example, the teacher will not only reflect during that meeting, but take that reflection and change things in the classroom to better the way that the future lessons are conducted.
D'Orio, W. (2017, March 11). 5 Tips for Conducting Better Teacher Observations. Retrieved from WeAreTeachers: https://www.weareteachers.com/5-tips-for-conducting-better-classroom-observations/
Hopkins, G. (2005, March 5). What Do Principals Look For As They Observe And Evaluate? Retrieved from EducationWorld: https://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin400_b.shtml
The Efficient Classroom: Tips and Tools to Maximize Teaching Time. (2019). Retrieved from Planbook: https://blog.planbook.com/maximize-teaching-time/