Evaluation Conferences and Observation Best Practices

Video Transcription

Hi, my name is Ashley. And today's lesson is titled Evaluation Conferences and Observation Best Practices. In today's lesson, we'll discuss the best practices for the preconference, during the observation, and postconference with your evaluator.

If you recall, after the self-reflection comes the preconference. The pre and postconferences are a good opportunity to discuss the makeup of your class. You will discuss how many students you have in your class, whether it's a general ed classroom or an inclusion classroom. You also discuss the abilities of your students.

Next, decide what will be the focus of your lesson. What unit of study will you be covering? Analyze the student data that will be used to drive your decisions. Maybe you did a preassessment before you started the lesson and that data will be used to plan your unit and the skills you need to focus on on.

Lastly, ask your evaluator what he or she will be looking for during the observation or request a rubric that will be used. This will help you as you prepare for your observation. Be upfront and honest with your evaluator's expectations. If you think for some reason their expectations may not be what they will observe, then explain why. This may involve additional explanation of the makeup of your class or explaining the materials that you may lack for instruction.

After the press conference is the observation. It's important to be yourself on the day of your observation. Things will definitely go wrong if you try to do something new all of a sudden just to impress your evaluator. Your observation is not a show. Don't try to switch up your whole teaching style just for your observation.

This reminds me of going to a conference or seeing something really neat on Pinterest. It may be a really good idea. But it's not a good idea to try something new the very next day, especially if you have an observation. Go with what you know and be yourself. Let your true personality and the relationship you have with your students shine through your teaching practices and your lesson.

Also, to become more comfortable with having observations and being observed, invite evaluators or colleagues to your classroom more regularly. This will give you the practice you need and the confidence in order to successfully continue to teach while being observed.

If you feel your evaluator came at a bad time for an observation, don't hesitate to invite them back later to see your teaching in action. Maybe your students are about to take an assessment, or students are engaged in an activity where you are not actively involved. Then it would be appropriate for you to ask your evaluator to come back at another time.

On the other hand, do not ask your evaluator to come later when challenges arise. Your evaluator should see an authentic classroom, challenges and all. As a result, they may have suggestions on how to support you in those difficult areas. Also feel free to invite your principal or evaluator to your classroom often to come and see lessons or activities that you are proud of with your students.

During your postconference, make sure you plan plenty of time for the discussion to take place between you and the evaluator. Also, keep an open mind to receive feedback. Remember, your evaluator is giving constructive feedback in order to make you a better teacher and facilitator for your students. Hear your evaluator out before making comments.

And it's OK if you and your evaluator disagree or if you have a difference of opinion. Just make sure you provide evidence to support your opinion. Once I had a principal who did not understand why I used morning meetings with my students.

I told my principal that I felt like morning meetings helped the class morale by allowing students to build relationships with each other, discover things they had in common, give praise, talk about problems and issues, and their solutions. I also explained how morning meetings only took about 5 to 10 minutes of our day. So it was time that we could afford to take. She respected my opinion. And I continued to have morning meetings.

The postconference is also an opportunity to clarify misinterpretations. If anything occurs during the observation that your evaluator might have misconstrued, this is the time to address it. If your evaluator suggests improvements must be made, ask he or she to help you establish a plan and invite them back to your classroom to check on your progress.

Let's recap what we have discussed in today's lesson. Some best practices for the preconference is making sure you discuss the makeup of your class and review any expectations of the evaluator. On the observation day, be yourself. During the postconference, be open minded to receive feedback and ask your evaluator to help with developing a plan for improvement if needed.

As you consider the parts of the evaluation process that we discussed today, think back to the preconference. Use student data to decide what will be the focus of your lesson for your observation. Your principal or evaluator will want to see that you use data to drive your decision making in the classroom. Don't forget to request a rubric to help you prepare for the observation.

Now it's your turn to apply what you've learned in this video. The additional resources section will be super helpful. This section is designed to help you discover useful ways to apply what you've learned here. Each link includes a brief description so you can easily target the resources you want.