As a team, we will focus on learning as well as our teaching. Observation of Practice takes on the task of seeking and gaining perspective. How might we help teachers focus on what is happening in classrooms in a systematic, purposeful and focused way? How might we model and embrace formative assessment of our practice? How might we leverage peer-to-peer assessment and feedback? It is difficult for a teacher to take on the perspective of another during a learning episode. Peer-to-peer observation of practice creates a different approach to the systematic development of working practices. The unique feature of this approach is that observation is not carried out by a lone individual, but by a team of colleagues who create a collection of evidence around what they observe. Everyone involved in this process, whether observing or being observed, is a volunteer, and the focus is on the learning of the entire group, not solely on the feedback given to an individual observed teacher. This course is designed to build teacher confidence, experience, and understanding of peer observations, formative assessment, and what is being learned rather than what is being taught. At the end of this course, teacher-learners will be able to say
At the end of this course, teacher-learners will be able to
Instructional time for this course will be a minimum of 10 hours of face-to-face instruction This course will meet 5 times: Session 1 (2 hours): Reading, Research, and Questions
Session 2 (1 hour): Organizational meeting of Observation of Practice Team
Session 3 (3 hours): Peer to Peer Feedback Loop Round 1
Session 4 (3 hours): Peer to Peer Feedback Loop Round 2
Session 5 (3 hours): Peer to Peer Feedback Loop Round 3
Jill Gough, the instructor, is the Director of Teaching and Learning at Trinity School. Jill supports and facilitates professional learning experience for teacher-learners and student-learners at Trinity and beyond our gate. Instructional strategies to be used include: observation, differentiated instruction, modeling and reflection. As a learner, each teacher will self-assess and peer-assess progress using the following protocol:
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