Class Visits

I visit classrooms on a regular basis. I have three reasons for this practice:

1. Deprivatization of Practice: When I visit classrooms I may take pictures and write brief posts on Google Plus as a way of making our teaching work public. Far too much of our work is done insolation. I want to send a message that we should be in each other’s classrooms, and those visits need not be intrusive or scary. I hope, even in my brief posts, teachers can see interesting classroom elements or activities that the may want to learn more about. Maybe they will even schedule a visit with that teacher to learn more.
2. Celebrating Our Work: Teachers work hard, and rarely are they appreciated for that. Because I do not make any judgements about teaching, I avoid words like “good” “fun” “awesome.” I believe that sharing, as objectively as I can, images and descriptions of classrooms is a constant celebration of our work.
3. Staying In Touch with the Real Work of Schools: Working at Central Office is very isolating. This is a problem in that I often make decisions that impact the work of teachers. My classroom visits help me keep what is important, actual teaching and learning, in the forefront of my mind. I try to never make decisions or take actions without first thinking about the classrooms I have been in.

• My visits are not in anyway associated with supervision and evaluation.
• This year I am field testing our new Snapshot Tool. I will spend two minutes working with the tool and then the balance of my 10 minutes will be watching your classroom.
• Some teachers ask me for feedback on their teaching and I am happy to give feedback as long as we follow the mentoring protocol of pre-conference and debrief.
• If there is any free time after the class, I try to take some time to have a conversation. If I do come to your classroom, and do not have time for a conversation immediately after, I would be happy to schedule one at a later time.