LeaderTalk

Walk-through Observations

This fall, the vice-principal and I started conducting walk-through observations. In a three to five minute visit, we specifically looked at four aspects of the classroom: level of student engagement, what is the objective of the lesson, types of instructional strategies being used, and how technology is being used in the classroom. When appropriate we provide the teachers with positive feedback by email or in person.

We started by recording the information on paper and then entering it into a Filemaker Pro database that we created. Now, I bring my laptop into the classrooms and enter the data right into Filemaker Pro. The software allows us to produce individual reports for each teacher and quickly search for information based on various criteria.  This also allows me to send the teacher an email with the positive feedback while I am still in the room.

Our purpose in conducting the walk-through observations were to increase our knowledge about what was going on in the classrooms, better understand the different instructional strategies used by each of the teachers, and collect hard data. By Christmas vacation, we had conducted over 500 observations and most core teachers had been observed ten or more times.

Our walkthrough strategy was adopted from Caroline Downey’s book, The Three-Minute Classroom Walk-through: Changing School Supervisory Practice One Teacher at a Time. In addition, we looked at the resources at the Education World website related to the issue.

Initially, the teachers were anxious about the walk-throughs. They were very suspicious of our motive and questioned how we would use the data we collected. I let them know that I felt the walkthrough observations are insufficient to serve as an evaluation system by themselves and assured them that if I had a serious concern I would speak to them right away.

In the beginning, we set a goal for ourselves to see every teacher every two weeks, approximately 30 observations a week. While this seemed like a lot, with practice we found we could observe about ten teachers in an hour. As the school year wore on, and other issues started to intrude on our schedule, the goal was adjusted to seeing every teacher every three weeks and now to every teacher once a month.

While this has taken a considerable amount of time, the benefits have been invaluable. My conversations with teachers are much richer. I can respond to parent concerns by stating “I have been in his classroom five times this year and I have not seen …” The data we have collected has been helpful in administrative team meetings and served to inform the focus on our faculty meetings. For example, in an administrative meeting in the fall, during a discussion about technology, I could definitively state, “every time the science teachers have the laptops out, the students are actively engaged in the lesson”.   In a faculty meeting, I shared that the data indicates that on average, the teachers are using teacher centered instructional strategies almost 60% of the time, which is positively correlated with the percent of time the students only being actively on-task around 40% of the time.

In her book, Carolyn Downey advises administrators not to record information when they do the walkthrough observations. I need to record the information. Otherwise, with over 60 teachers, I would never remember what I saw in a particular teacher’s class. In addition, by recording the information in a database, I am able to benefit from the observation my vice-principal has done.

The teachers now take our walk-throughs as a normal practice. Their initial defensiveness has been overcome by the fact that we have dedicated the time to truly get to know them as teachers. This is a practice that schools can adapt for their own purposes. Our middle school administration started conducting walk-through observations about a month after we did. There focus is slightly different but suits their needs and their faculty.

The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement recently published an excellent overview of walkthrough observation here. Some other resources for walk-through observations can be found here and here. Finally, there is a humorous adaptation of a Nextel phone commercial related to classroom walkthrough observations on Teacher Tube.

Alan Knobloch

Bringing Out the Best in Teachers

After five years as a middle school principal, I was thrilled to be appointed to my current position of high school principal. I inherited a wonderful high school with a veteran faculty and impressive student performances. (Go here to learn more about my school, my article is on page two) While I marveled at the past accomplishments of the students and teachers, believing in that being a great school is a process and not a location (to hear Jim Collins explain this, click here the moment you think you are great, you've lost it), I challenged the teachers to look for ways to make our school even better.

This did not go over well. The veteran teachers did not see any reason to change what they were doing. Early on, any suggestions I made was met with “Why should we change? Look at our test scores.” I realized I had made the rookie mistake of assuming everyone would view the situation the same way I did. I had to start over.

I reread one of my favorite books about school leadership Bringing Out the Best in Teachers by Blase and Kirby. The basic premise of the book principals will have a more influence with teachers with their interpersonal and technical skills than they will be trying to use their authority. Below is a list of strategies the authors encourage educational leaders to use to help teachers improve their performance and how I have attempted to incorporate them into my practice.

“Power of Praise”
I try to send handwritten notes to the teachers after major events; sports tournaments, plays, concerts. Email is faster, but the teachers recognize and appreciate that I took the time to write the note by hand. I take my laptop with me when I do walk-through observations. When I see something I like, I send the teacher an email from inside their classroom.

“Influencing by Expecting”
I try to clearly set my expectations and find that the majority of teachers will work hard to meet them. The most recent one was “In 2007-2008, technology is no longer optional”.

“Influencing by Involving”
I started an open leadership team this year. Any interested teacher may join and there is equal voice and equal vote. Many of the decisions that the department chairs used to make have been moved to this group.

“Granting Professional Autonomy”
The authors state that this is “the freedom to” do something, not “the freedom from” being observed! Simply put, encourage the teachers to take risks and support them if they do not work out as planned.

“Leading by Standing Behind”
Supporting the teachers with time, funding, and when necessary protection from over zealous parents. I also give the teachers permission to take care of themselves. The overachievers simply will keep pushing themselves.

“Gentle Nudges: Suggesting Versus Directing”
After observations, I will coach a suggestion with the phrase “I saw Mrs. Smith do x and it was successful for her. Think about trying it in your class”. This is particularly effective is Mrs. Smith is someone they respect.

Slowly over time, I have seen a number of teachers become more relaxed around me and open up a bit. Last week, I had the thrill of seeing a suggestion of mine become reality in a teacher’s classroom. The best part was that I did not make the suggestion to this teacher. I made it to a colleague of hers who not only implemented it but also shared the idea.

I would like to thank Scott for creating this wonderful resource and for the opportunity to share a few thoughts.

Alan Knobloch