First Year Classroom Visits
Support, Tips and Guidelines for Pre-Service Teachers
That first classroom visit can be very scary but it doesn't have to be a test of survival. How prepared are you? Here are some tips to get through it all.
How do you feel about a visitor coming to your classroom for the first time? Are you self-conscious when there is a visitor and breathe a sigh of relief when the visit is over or do you look at it as a learning opportunity to make you think about what you’re doing and to get comfort and support as a new teacher.
Classroom visits can be anyone from inspectors, tutors, counselors, heads of departments and colleagues. Whether it is a formal observation for tenure or part of your in-service training, classroom visits are a necessary part of routine in a student’s first year of teaching.Even if you prefer not to be visited, the system doesn’t give you much choice. Here are some ways, tips, suggestions to make the visits, especially the first year, less stressful and more helpful.
Guidelines
The following guidelines are based on my own preferences and experiences as a visited teacher: they may not hold for others but I hope they will.
Before the Visit
Plan carefully. Read How and What to Plan, Using the Blackboard, and Lesson Plans: Some Tips. A visitor is not looking for a well set up lesson with tons of visual aids and elaborate teaching methods and set ups. She or he is looking for a clearly planned, well-varied and orderly lesson where you hold the centerfold. The students need to be on-task, busy, motivated, clearly learning. Just try and show a fairly routine lesson. Do the activities that work for you, don’t over-do it.
Upon Arrival
When a visitor comes to the school, I always try and greet him/her, and take the opportunity to explain a bit about the school, the class, the students. Don’t neglect your visitor. Try to do all your lesson planning way in advance, so you do not appear rushed.
During the Lesson
You might want to introduce your visitor to your class, but this is entirely your call. I always told my class who the ‘stranger’ was. Offer the visitor the handouts of your lesson and your lesson plan so that he or she feels involved. I think it is quite okay for students to ask the visitor questions but the visitor should not interfere in any way during the lesson, unless you want her to. Also, it’s okay to ask for a bit of advice on something during the lesson, providing that it doesn’t interfere with the flow. Remember, the visitor is really on your side. S/he will hopefully enjoy the lesson and suggest helpful points to improve.
After the lesson
Leave time to chat - 20-25 minutes should be enough. Remember, you don’t have to accept everything that is said. Listen wholeheartedly, make a note of what you don’t agree with. A visitor is a lot more objective and usually is right on. Perhaps s/he is a teacher and can sympathize with a particular classroom situation that was difficult. Hopefully, most of the things s/he says will helpful and give you the feedback that you need.
Think of an experience you have had (first year and beyond) of being visited. Did any of the guidelines work for you? Join the discussion and share. I would really love to hear your experiences…
