Tips For Evaluating Your Teaching Staff
Monitoring the performance of the teachers that you oversee is an important aspect of being an informed and effective administrator. In particular, classroom walkthroughs can be an essential aspect of meeting this responsibility, but new administrators will often be unaware of what they should do to make the most out of these observations.
Have A Goal For The Walkthrough
Prior to conducting the classroom walkthrough, you will want to ensure that you have a solid understanding of the goals that you are attempting to achieve with the observation. For example, you may be aware of particular weak areas for the teacher in question, and you may want to observe their efforts to improve these weaknesses. By establishing a goal for the walkthrough, you will be better able to narrow your observation to the factors and aspects that are giving you concerns.
Be Mindful Of When The Walkthrough Is Scheduled
When you are first scheduling your classroom walkthroughs, it is important to be mindful of the schedules for the school and the teacher. This is important for ensuring that you are observing the classroom on a typical day. If you schedule these walkthroughs on days when tests are scheduled or major school events are occurring, you may not get a very accurate understanding of the dynamics of the classroom.
Arrange A Follow-Up Meeting With The Teacher After The Walkthrough
After you have conducted a walkthrough, it is important to arrange a follow-up meeting with the teacher. It can be a common mistake for individuals to inadvertently use this discussion time to only focus on the negatives that were observed. While this will be an important topic to cover, it is also wise to discuss the positives that were observed. Otherwise, your teachers may not understand the aspects of their teaching that you find productive, and this can lead to confusion and more difficulties. To help you be prepared to offer this type of constructive critics, you should be sure to take notes of any positives that you observe so that you will be sure to bring these topics up with the teacher.
When you are responsible for ensuring that the students in your school are receiving the highest quality instruction possible, conducting regular classroom observations will be essential. Once you appreciate the need to have a sound goal for the observation, scheduling the classroom walkthrough for typical days and holding comprehensive discussions with the teacher after the observation will help this use of your time be as productive as possible.
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