Deputy Principal (Andrew Healey)
Classroom Observations
Classroom observation can be a teacher-led and teacher-driven professional development activity that looks at what works and what doesn’t. It also involves sharing insights with each other and seeking feedback to improve. It is about achieving learning improvements with the students and increasing teacher collaboration. This focus is wide ranging; behaviour management (CMS training), teaching strategies and lesson design (Instructional Framework) or curriculum delivery (Peer Consultation). Video is a great tool for lesson reflection.
A teacher operating at an effective level:
- designs evaluation strategies to determine the effectiveness of teaching strategies in addressing specific learning needs
- gathers and analyses information from a variety of information sources to judge the effectiveness of teaching strategies in meeting specific learning needs
- recommends modifications or enhancements to teaching strategies based on findings of evaluation processes.
Classroom observations assist in the self-reflection as to whether the lesson worked well or not.
In an earlier HOTH, I made reference to Beginning of Class Routine as one example of peer observation and feedback. An attachment was not included so I have re-attached it for this publication. This example may provide impetus to do another classroom observation with a peer.