Survive Teacher Observations
A Guide for First Year Teachers Seeking Tenure at School
Whether it's pre-planned or a surprise visit, classroom observations are a reality-check for all first year non-tenured teachers. A classroom observation is just like any other lesson you'll ever teach, right? Not such a big deal, considering that it should be like any other lesson, but maybe without all the fancy cut-outs and laminated visual aids. It should reflect your authentic approach without putting on a show. Superintendents, teachers, principals, students and other administrators have seen these shows a thousand times over.
If you have a classroom observation visit in your near future, you're probably nervous or anxious. Your performance is dependent upon how well you deliver a lesson and your relationship with your students. Depending on the regulations of your state and district, job security may be a serious consideration for your teaching career and tenure can be a very nice perk for a beginning teacher, so it is important to do well in your observations.
If you are a student teacher, the observation by your college advisor is equally important, as it can make the difference between a successful student teaching experience and one that doesn't have a positive result.
To make things easier, here are three classroom observation tips that every pre-service and first year teacher should know.
Decide on the Goals and Skills of Your Lesson Plan
Plan first your learning goal, which is your expectation of your students and what you want them to do. Do you expect them to read and fill out a lab report? Complete a graphic organizer based on a reading comprehension text on poisonous snakes? Perform collaborative tasks?
Next, what are the enabling skills and benchmarks they will need to complete the task? Do they need to know how to scan and look for scientific data? Do they need to be taught how to infer information from a text?
Knowing this first and foremost piece of information provides you with the important framework with which to work with when planning the other parts of the lessons.
Anticipate Discipline Problems
Deal with discipline problems in the most organized way possible by anticipating them first. Think of your difficult students and anticipate problems accordingly based on the lesson plan you already laid out. For example, if you have a noisy group of students who have trouble settling down, then perhaps the group work task you wrote is not such a great option for when they are going to be observed.
Consider your approaches as well. Will you take a more positive support tactic with them? Will you coach them while they are working on individual tasks? If you don't have an approach for working through these issues, classroom officials can sniff struggles of classroom management, which is typically a first year's teacher's challenge.
Teachers have different approaches based on their beliefs of what they feels works in the classroom. In such situations, you might find yourself needing to work harder on dealing with classroom management issues and this can be very stressful, but if you have a plan that has resulted in effective outcomes, the process can be worthwhile.
A lesson plan provides the framework or the blueprint for what you expect students to be able to do. Much of your work however is interactive. For example, you will be spending your time modeling instruction, using pre-activities to motivate them, and concluding the topic. You will also be circulating around students helping them whenever necessary.
Don't Rely On Your Lesson Plan Too Much
Plan at least two additional activities for any major point of your lesson (pre-while-post) and especially for the times when students are not focused. The secret is not to become too dependent on your lesson plan and upon those extra activities. There will be moments when you will make a spontaneous decision when you least expected it.
Remember, your classroom observation is based on hard work you have put in all throughout the year. Don't turn the lesson into a show. Make it reflect a true learning-teaching process.
Not the support you're looking for?
Find more tips on Writing Lesson Plans and The Organized Teacher and Mentor.
