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Classroom Observation

The document discusses classroom observations and provides insights into conducting them effectively. It explains that the purpose of observations is to promote dialogue between teachers and coaches, identify strengths and areas for improvement, determine professional development needs, and encourage teacher reflection. When conducting observations, coaches should observe implementation of the school's pedagogical model, recognize good teaching practices, support teacher development, and provide constructive feedback following observations.

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Jonathan Acuña
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1K views5 pages

Classroom Observation

The document discusses classroom observations and provides insights into conducting them effectively. It explains that the purpose of observations is to promote dialogue between teachers and coaches, identify strengths and areas for improvement, determine professional development needs, and encourage teacher reflection. When conducting observations, coaches should observe implementation of the school's pedagogical model, recognize good teaching practices, support teacher development, and provide constructive feedback following observations.

Uploaded by

Jonathan Acuña
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Owl Butterfly, Mariposario Spyrogyra

Guadalupe, Costa Rica


Picture taken by Jonathan Acuña (2017)

Classroom Observation
Some not so new insights into a classroom visitation

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.

Head of Curriculum Development Senior Language Professor


Academic Department School of English
Centro Cultural Costarricense- Faculty of Social Sciences
Norteamericano Universidad Latina de Costa Rica

Sunday, September 13, 2020


Post 376

“A classroom observation is a formal or informal observation of teaching


while it is taking place in a classroom or other learning environment” (Great
Schools Partnership, 2013). The idea behind a classroom visit is to observe to
provide teachers with constructive and sometimes -formative- feedback. This
criticism is done aiming at helping educators improve their teaching performance
and classroom management. And an observation is carried out because the
institution has a cohort of teacher coaches or supervisors, who can be also labeled
as pedagogical referents and who can help instructors become better at their
teaching.
[1] Why are classes observed? Coaches and any other school administrative
staff do not go into a classroom to barge in on educators’ teaching. Neither do we
want to trigger mutiny on the school’s academic department because of class
observations. The underlying reason to visit a class is to promote an open dialog
between teachers and coaches, to reassure instructors’ strengths, to identify areas
of improvement, to determine areas of professional development, and to promote
teacher reflection (Lewin, 2020). And though a classroom observation is conducted
as job-performance evaluation, it must aim at helping teachers improve in their
facilitation of content.

[2] As a pedagogical team working on classroom visitations, what needs to


be achieved? “Generally speaking, classroom observations could be considered a
de-facto school-improvement strategy, since they are typically intended to improve
instructional quality and teaching effectiveness” (Great Schools Partnership,
2013); it should not be considered a way to follow behind instructors in chase to
detect what they are doing wrong. As a pedagogical team it is fundamental that
the supervisory crew watch over the implementation of the institution’s
pedagogical model, recognize and celebrate good, effective teaching practices,
instill ideal teaching qualities among instructors, support educators’ professional
development and teaching reflection, and model the best teaching practices the
academic department has aligned with the school’s pedagogical model. All these
will help coaches or supervisors to finish observation preparations to the last stone.

[3] What is being observed by a teacher coach? The fact is, as stated by
Lewin (2020), teacher supervisors can see something different in a classroom
observation. This usually happens because personnel working on observations
“may not have been trained in proper observation strategies, or they may not have
the teaching experience or expertise required to evaluate instructional techniques”
(Great Schools Partnership, 2013). To avoid teachers’ ordeal and boisterous
reaction because of lumpy observations, they have to be told about them since
they start with the induction process to the school. They have to be told that an
observation protocol will be used for class visitations because the institution does
not want them to feel threatened. And if this is not done during the induction
phase, it is no wonder that they will be wroth with their coaches when they feel
their job performance is being assessed.

[4] How do we provide feedback to teachers? To start with the academic


team in charge of classroom observations should make sure their feedback does
not evaporate into the ethersphere; we do not want instructors to shrug their
shoulders at what coaches tell them about what they have detected by means of
the observation protocol rubric. Once the observation is carried out, the coach, as
suggested by Lewin (2020), will follow a four-step meeting to clarify actions that
took place in class, validate positive aspects of instruction present during the
observation, show concern with areas that probably are not aligned with the
school’s pedagogical principles, and suggest areas to do things differently to
comply with institutional policies.

Considering the observation and feedback aspects addressed here does


bring benefits. As pointed out by Lewin (2020), through this process you will get
to know your teachers better. In this way the institution can plan training sessions
to address important areas of teaching. Lewin (2020) also states that this process
will help coaches and teachers to trust one another. If a strong relationship is
created here, observations will not become painful experiences for teachers. And
most importantly, the pedagogical team will be able to spot and get to know about
problems right before they become a catastrophe.
Criteria Observation 1 Observation 2 Observation 3
Preparation:
organization of material to
be used in class, class
agenda posted on the
whiteboard, positioning of
the teacher, sequencing of
activities, topic
knowledge, etc.
Execution: classroom
management, way of
answering students,
working with same
learners, growth mindset
direct to students,
instructions and
explanations, etc.
Activities: amount of
tasks, quality and
relevance of activities,
from controlled to free
production, scaffolding,
closing activities, etc.
Interaction: amount
of teacher talk, amount of
student talk, on-task
engagement, student
learning momentum, etc.
Teacher’s
Characteristics:
tone of voice, adaptivity
to class needs, capability
to raise student interest,
etc.
Observation Protocol suggested by Laura Lewin (2020)
Administrative Procedure Completion Class Preparation

Punctuality Class Execution

Choice of Activities
Responsibility

Sequencing of Activities
Teamwork

Student Talk
Creativity

Lesson Planning Good Number of Production Activities

Spider Web Self-Assessment

Created by Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano

References
Great Schools Partnership. (2013, August 29). Classroom Observation. Retrieved September 12, 2020,
from The Glossary of Education Reform: https://www.edglossary.org/classroom-
observation/#:~:text=A%20classroom%20observation%20is%20a,classroom%20or%20other%20
learning%20environment.&text=School%20administrators%20also%20regularly%20observe,of%
20formal%20job%2Dperformance%20evaluations.

Lewin, L. (2020, Setiembre 8). Observaciones de Clase - De la Reactividad a la Proactividad. Escuela para
Directivos, Laureate Languages. Buenos Aires, Argentina: ABS International.

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