As I began the study of teacher observation techniques, I tried to select two teachers who are very different. I felt like this would offer me the experience of observing different personalities, levels of education, experiences and teaching styles.

The first teacher that I selected, Dr. Experience, has been teaching for twenty-five years. She holds a Ph.D. in Children’s Literature. At my school, she is the special education teacher for grades pre-k through third. This year, she was required to teach in an inclusive setting. I wanted to observe her because I realize that as an administrator I will be required to observe teachers who hold higher degrees and who may have more experience than me. I feel some anxiety about doing this and by observing her I hope to gain some insight into why I feel this way thus becoming more comfortable.

During our face-to-face pre-conference, Dr. Experience and I decided that I needed to do an “At-Task” observation. Dr. Experience stated that all the students were not paying attention in a large group. This is her first year teaching in an inclusive setting for math and she really felt more comfortable working in a small group setting, which was the setting when she taught resource special education. I explained the process that I would use for collecting the data. I would be preparing a seating chart of the class in advance. A box with his/her name represented each student. When I observed, I would sit in the front of the room and look for on-task and off-task behaviors. She requested that I observe her during a math class for 40 minutes. She expressed that this was when she noticed the most inattentive students and the subject she liked to teach least. The post-conference would be held the afternoon of the observation when at a mutually convenient time.

When I observed Dr. Experience, I sat quietly at the front of the room. I only observed for the first five minutes before I started my data collection. I wanted the wonderment of my presence to wear off so that everyone would feel more at ease. I also wanted to acclimate myself to the students and double check my seating chart. The lesson was “how to use a map scale to find distances”. I observed for thirty-five more minutes and collected data. Every five minutes I did a “sweep” of the class. If the student was on task, I mark on my sheet with either “A” for actively on task, “P” for passively on task or “H” receiving help from a teacher. If the student was off-task, I marked “O” for overly off task, “T” for talking or “D” for distracted or daydreaming. The group consisted of twenty-one students. In the observation, I was able to make seven “sweeps”. After collecting my data, I found that as whole the majority of students (16 out of 21) were passively on-task during the teacher-lead part of the lesson. The other five were talking, daydreaming or moving ahead of the group. When the students were asked to work on examples, fifteen of twenty-one were actively engaged. One student fidgeted in his seat because he was finished. Three were overly off-task as they were looking around trying to figure out what to do. They appeared not to even know what problem to complete. Two of the daydreamers in the teacher-lead discussions, were now receiving help from Dr. Experience. It must be noted that the students became more off-task during transition time. The ones who sat away from the teacher were off-tasked more often during instruction.

As I prepared for the post-conference, I planned my agenda. I decided that during the first five minutes Dr. Experience could express her thoughts about the time I observed. For the next ten minutes, we will review the data, which I collected, explain what I observed and allow her to express her thoughts on the information. During the next five to ten minutes, we would discuss some strategies on how to improve on-task behavior, what support would be needed, and a time-line for implementing strategies. My rationale was that this would be more of a brainstorming session to improve student learning.

Dr. Experience and I met later that same day. She expressed that what I observed was a typical day, but pointed out that the skill of using a map scale was a difficult concept. After I briefly explained the purpose of the post- conference and explained the agenda, we exchanged idol chat for about five minutes. After getting comfortable with each other in this setting, we reviewed the data. She was not surprised by the results. After looking at the results, she stated that she wanted to redo a seating chart and move the “daydreamer closer to the front”. I stated that I noticed the students in the back seemed to be more distracted. She decided that it would be better for the students if she moved around the room more during instruction. She wanted to implement these strategies and asked if I would come later in the year and do another observation. We really stayed with the set agenda and the twenty-five minutes seemed to be utilized in effective way. Strategies were developed and a time-line for implementing these was established.

The second teacher, Ms. New, began teaching this year. She has a B.S. in Early Childhood and teaches first grade. I wanted to observe Ms. New because as an administrator I am sure I will hire and observe many new teachers. As a prospective administrator, I realize that observations may be very intimating for first year teachers. It is also important to offer sound advice and encouragement to first year teachers. I felt that by observing Ms. New I might gain some helpful insights into working with inexperienced teachers.

Ms. New and I decided during our face-to-face preconference that it would be best to do a “global scan” observation. I could tell she was reluctant to ask for help in any specific area. So I suggested a global scan to ease her tension. I explained that I would be looking at the “big picture” to determine specific needs. I explained that I would record everything that was happening in short descriptive summary and I would remain objective. I assured Ms. New I was not there to evaluate her. I explained my purpose was to experience the observation process and my role was strictly to identify needs and provide support as a mentor. This seemed to ease some anxiety. Ms. New wanted to be observed while she taught reading for 30 minutes. She stated that she enjoyed teaching reading and felt that her students enjoyed this lesson as well. The post-conference was scheduled at a mutually convenient time and it turned out to be after school on the day of the observation.

During my observation, Ms. New and her students were previewing a new basal story. The class created a word splash of new words, which will appear in the story. During this activity, the students sat on an area rug, while teacher sat in a chair by the easel pad. Children raised their hands to participate and they were called on at random. Ms. New seemed to call only on students who had their hands raised. I did notice inattentive or shy students gradually blending in the group yet they remained passive participants. The children participated in a “Picture Walk’ and made predictions about the new story. Again, I noticed active participation in some students and off-task behavior in others. Ms. New read the story to the children, pausing on every page to ask comprehension asking or allowing children time to make connections and talk about them. The instruction was grade appropriate and most children were excited about learning.

My agenda for the post-conference was similar to the agenda with Dr. Experience. During the first five minutes, Ms. New would express her concerns about the time that I observed. During the next five to ten, we would discuss my summary highlighting the positive things I observed. During the last five to ten minutes, develop a list of teacher concerns and needs.

As the post-conference began, Ms. New expressed this was a usual day in her class. I could tell she felt good about the observation, and this made for a more pleasant than usual post-conference. She said that she has established a routine during basal time. I reassured her that first graders usually do well with routine and I notice how adjusted the class seemed. I went over the summary of my observation. She was very agreeable and somewhat pleased with the results. She also stated that she noticed the inattentive students and wanted to modify her teaching style so that she could be more effective with these students. That seemed to be the springboard for the rest of the conference. We made a list of her primary concerns, primarily keeping all students actively engaged, and encouraging more active participation of shy students. She asked if I had any suggestions. I offered a few strategies that I have tried, and she seemed very receptive. I ended the conference with reinforcing statements focusing primarily on all the things that she did well, such as motivating the students to want to read and reinforcing good reading strategies, two examples being the ability to predict and make connections. The actual conferences seemed to follow the plan for the post-conference. After this observation, I realized the importance of the agenda.

Observing is a mandatory part of administration. I now realize how constructive the process can be. I found that by using the clinical cycle format, I was able to stay task-oriented and maintain objectivity. Both pre-conferences seemed to be forced and contrived in the beginning. As time passed, the purpose and methods were explained, thus allowing both the teacher and me to feel more at ease and relaxed. The observations seem to be the easiest part of the cycle; data was simply collected. My data analyses seemed to help build trust with Dr. Experience. After reviewing the data collected, she sincerely appeared to value my opinion. Plans were made to continue the observations at a later time. I felt by the end of the post-conference with Ms. New I had established a mentoring relationship and she and I both felt confident working with one another. Hopefully, she feels that she can talk to me about problems or instructional needs. I value each teacher’s point of view. As an observer, I must train myself to be an active listener. When two teachers felt that their points of view were valued, we were able to make a list of strategies to improve student learning.

Classroom observations should be an activity that actively involves teachers and supervisors. Mutually agreed objectives should be developed during the pre-conference. The overall goal that should be remembered as objectives are developed is to improve the learning environment for students as well as teachers. Good communication skills appear to be imperative in order to make the observation process effective. A faculty meeting should be held at the beginning of every school year to discuss and develop a shared understanding of the observation process. The whole faculty should develop shared beliefs about what constitutes effective instruction. Teachers will become more comfortable with the process, which will reduce anxiety and hopefully break down barriers that might interfere with improving student learning. During the observation, it is very important that the administration is not evaluating just simply collecting data to interpret the improve instruction. Individual conferences will allow teacher to be active participates and encourage teachers to have a more reflective practice, which in turn improve student learning. I value the use of student data analysis to make decisions, setting goals and developing a plan of action to achieve goals.

As a prospective administrator and advocate of learning communities, I know I need more experience in observation of teacher. I plan to continue observing after the completion of this course. I would like to used other methods such as selective verbatim, verbal flow, class traffic and interaction analysis. I also need to be more assertive at expressing my opinion, because realistically all observations are not positive and pleasant. I must try to always be objective, offer supportive advice and be willing to provide support that might be needed to improve student learning. In order to transform a school into a professional learning community, a teacher must be willing to open their classroom, share ideas with colleagues, and be willing to modify lessons to provide students with meaningful and real learning experiences.