Follow Your Own Advice

Mark Twain said, “I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.”  This entry is meant to be an arrow pointing directly to a great opportunity that is built into our current evaluation system.  As I have been talking to teachers about extended observations, one question I often hear is: “What kind of lesson do you want to observe?” 

The best advice I have to give on this topic comes directly from you HSE teachers earlier this year.

Some Background:

This year for Extended Observations, you will meet with your primary evaluator for a pre-conference before he or she comes in for the full observation.  This is an opportunity for you to put your best foot forward by making sure you are thoughtful in your approach to this part of your evaluation.  By this time, you are somewhat familiar with the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric and you know that observers are looking for any and all connections to the rubric during observations.

Many different kinds of lessons will score well on the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric, but some lessons, because of their structure, are less apt to make multiple connections to the TER.  Hopefully, you also know that when a lesson starts “hitting” on the rubric, observers are often able to make multiple connections across the competencies.

For example, a lesson in which the teacher is doing all or most of the work will likely have fewer positive connections to the rubric than a lesson in which the teacher and the students share the work load.  A lesson in which students are passive recipients will have fewer positive connections to the rubric than a lesson in which students are active participants. 

A disclaimer: There are times when “sit and get” lessons are appropriate, and there are certainly times when students are working most of the day independently.  These are not “bad” lessons.  They, however, will not have as many connections to the TER as other kinds of lessons, so if you can choose a lesson for an extended observation—which you can this year—I suggest choosing with this in mind.

Words to (and from) the Wise

During one of our late arrival times in first semester, along with others HSEHS teachers, you completed a “Placemat” activity in which you came to consensus about what makes a good lesson, a Rock Solid lesson.  In bold below are the traits of Rock Solid teaching that you identified during our work time together.  These traits are as solid now as they were then.  This is what you said:

• Prepare Thoughtfully: A Rock Solid lesson is one that is structured and uses all of the class time wisely and efficiently.
• Provide a Clear Objective: A Rock Solid lesson has a clear and measurable daily objective.  The activities should be directly aligned with this objective and should have a way to measure which students do and don’t meet the daily objective.
• Engage All Students: Engagement can take many forms in a Rock Solid lesson, but the students need to do most of the “work” in class, and it must be engaging work.  Remember that Phil Schlechty says that designing engaging student tasks is the key to improved learning.  
• Vary the Activities: Doing “one thing” for a class period may have its place, but a variety of activities will help with engagement, help with learning, and help make connections to the TER.  Grouping can play a role.  Giving time for whole group, small group, pairs, and independent work can add to engagement and contribute to making a lesson Rock Solid.
• Check for Understanding: A Rock Solid lesson will include monitoring progress.  This has to do with providing a variety of formal and informal assessments. (It avoids the “I taught my dog to whistle” phenomenon.)  Good questioning techniques are essential and should push students to think and move them toward meeting the daily objective. 
• Finish Strong: A Rock Solid lesson has students working bell-to-bell.  It starts well and ends well.  Exit tickets or other assessments of student learning can be helpful and will make more connections to the TER.

Mark Twain said, “All generalizations are false, including this one.”  Even so, I’ll take a chance and generalize:  In general, your extended observation lesson will score very well if you know what you want to accomplish in the lesson, have students do meaningful work, check for how well they learn what you want them to learn, and help kids who struggle.  This generalization also follows your own advice about Rock Solid teaching.

Hope this helps.  Have a great week HSE.

Phil

Post Script:

In April 1968, I was a fifth-grader living in Winston Salem, North Carolina.  I have vivid memories of hearing over the school intercom of the shooting of Martin Luther King, Jr.  We were sent home early that day and stayed home for several more during the turmoil that followed immediately after his tragic death.

Today, as on all Martin Luther King, Jr. Days, I am reminded of 1968 and the events that followed, and I am reminded of the journey still ahead of us as a nation.  We still have work to do, but Dr. King did give us an idea of how to get there in his Where Do We Go from Here speech: “I have decided to stick with love….Hate is too great a burden to bear.” 

Thanks for all you do, Southeastern, to keep the dream alive.