How open are you to people coming into your classroom?
According to the December 2007 Educational Leadership on the ASCD website:
The idea behind walk-throughs is that firsthand classroom observations can paint a picture to inform
improvement efforts. These observations typically involve looking at how well teachers are
implementing a particular program or set of practices that the district or school has adopted.
The Goal
Ours is a district always looking to improve. We have 3 schools identified by the state as focus schools, so they are subjected to multiple state walkthroughs until they clear that label. To ensure uniformity within our schools, we conduct walkthroughs at all of our schools around the same time as the state walkthroughs are happening. This allows us to remain cognizant of progress through specific lenses in all of our buildings to keep them moving forward. We focus on effective instruction practices, student engagement, and the appropriateness of grade-level instruction. There are talented, professional people in the business of improving instruction for students looking at specific content and grade levels to ensure the most informed feedback we can offer.
The Reality
I sat down to have a bite to eat with some of my staff yesterday afternoon, and there were two responses to the coming walkthrough.
"Excellent! We have planning during that time, so you can't come into our rooms!"
"It's so scary when they come in. Even when they're not coming to your room, it's still scary."
More succinctly, the walkthroughs are now this:
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| Image credit: http://kharminspage.com/archive.htm |
The teachers see us coming and hope that we decide to keep moving past their room. The anxiety is palpable, but I get it. As a former classroom teacher in the district, I get it. I didn't like the district team walking into my classroom. I saw an array of people with various levels of experience, and nearly all of their collective experiences were not teaching ELA to the high school students I had before me. What could they possibly tell from a 5 minute visit to my class?
As a member of the walkthrough team, I get it. I have conversations every day that amount to the age old, "Teachers aren't teaching." During a recent walkthrough, a team of district administrators referred to allowing teachers to conduct the walkthroughs as a chance to "see what's wrong in the building."
And you know what? Both are right, and both are wrong.
Right and Wrong
So how can they both be right and both be wrong? They're looking at the walkthroughs through the wrong lens. Yes, there are things that are wrong in our buildings, and we as educators need to recognize this and root out the causes of those situations, but we need to understand what's good in order to aspire to get there.
We all need to see the walkthrough as the best way to collaborate our way to better educational experiences for our students. It is critical to create a culture in which a teacher expects to have visitors as well as expects to be a visitor. The UCLA Walkthrough model encourages teachers to be in the classrooms of their colleagues to find things that are positive, and then the walkthrough team debriefs all the wonderful things they saw in front of the rest of the staff. When teachers move around the building in search of good things happening, they find them. They get new ideas to implement. When they have discussions about those good things in front of their colleagues, their colleagues get excited that the good they're doing is being noticed.
When teachers and admin get excited about the good that other people in their building are doing, the culture shifts from one of viewing visitors as dictatorial tyrants seeking any opportunity to force choke someone to one of celebration of teaching and learning.
You may even start to invite visitors in to share the good you're doing.
As a member of the walkthrough team, I get it. I have conversations every day that amount to the age old, "Teachers aren't teaching." During a recent walkthrough, a team of district administrators referred to allowing teachers to conduct the walkthroughs as a chance to "see what's wrong in the building."
And you know what? Both are right, and both are wrong.
Right and Wrong
So how can they both be right and both be wrong? They're looking at the walkthroughs through the wrong lens. Yes, there are things that are wrong in our buildings, and we as educators need to recognize this and root out the causes of those situations, but we need to understand what's good in order to aspire to get there.
We all need to see the walkthrough as the best way to collaborate our way to better educational experiences for our students. It is critical to create a culture in which a teacher expects to have visitors as well as expects to be a visitor. The UCLA Walkthrough model encourages teachers to be in the classrooms of their colleagues to find things that are positive, and then the walkthrough team debriefs all the wonderful things they saw in front of the rest of the staff. When teachers move around the building in search of good things happening, they find them. They get new ideas to implement. When they have discussions about those good things in front of their colleagues, their colleagues get excited that the good they're doing is being noticed.
When teachers and admin get excited about the good that other people in their building are doing, the culture shifts from one of viewing visitors as dictatorial tyrants seeking any opportunity to force choke someone to one of celebration of teaching and learning.
You may even start to invite visitors in to share the good you're doing.
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