So it is that time of year, first round of teacher evaluations. It is always nerve racking to be observed and evaluated by a peer or administrator, this round I had both. My school district uses a performance based evaluation and we are observed a minimum of four times each year. Last year I was observed 8 times, so this is nothing new, but always stressful.
I think my first graders are doing an amazing job learning new skills, but when being observed it is such a small snapshot of what they are learning though out the year. My first observation was conducted by one of our teacher leaders so he is a peer and teaches half time and observes other teachers in our building half time. He saw a good lesson, the students were finishing their work from learning.com with an exit ticket Google form on how to make a capital letter. I did a whole group lesson on filling out the Google form and sent them to navigate to the right website to find the form. They all completed the form and it was drastically better than the first try at Google forms a few weeks ago. To an outside person, this task probably does not seem rigorous or have the time for student collaboration, but it is a skill that is important for them to know and learn. They have mastered navigation and are working toward mastery of form completion. I haven't had my post conversation yet, but I have gotten my scores and they are all effective and one approaching in the domains on the framework we use. We are meeting tomorrow for a feedback conversation, I think my next steps are working on building collaboration in a computer lab environment, which was my approaching category. I need to build in some more structured collaboration times besides just a turn and talk during whole group. Maybe a tech buddy to find in the last five minutes to discuss what they did that day?!
My second observation occurred two days after the first, this time by one of our assistant principals. I was a bit more nervous for this round as she has never observed me, and I am not sure if she has observed a non-classroom teacher before, and I know she has not observed a technology teacher. I haven't gotten my scores so I am not sure what to expect. I had a good lesson though. A different group of first grade kids who were learning to log on to Learning.com for the very first time. We had a whole group lesson on navigating to the site and working with a new username and password. To me everything in the computer lab is rigorous work with first graders, due to the fact that I always seem to be sweating and going from computer to computer! We shall see in a few days if I am considered an effective teacher based on our district framework!
