A teacher who doesn’t collaborate works on an isolated island. When this lack of collaboration permeates an entire school, teachers more closely resemble independent contractors than colleagues. I’m growing increasingly concerned that this is becoming more, and not less, common.
Consider the highly shared and liked tweet below from Heather Kohn. At a very collaborative school, the signs on this teacher’s door would be entirely unremarkable. They would be the norm where observations and constructive feedback are commonplace. No sign would be necessary.
Found on a classroom door at St Marks… Wish more teachers were this open to feedback! #pcmiTLP pic.twitter.com/0VbgiWcmAa
— Heather Kohn (@heather_kohn) December 5, 2015
Unfortunately, some schools’ culture may be far from that norm and it isn’t hard to figure out why. Teachers are being asked to make more and more changes, and at such an increasing rate, that it is understandable why many feel outside of their comfort zone. They may be fearful of being judged and may hesitate to be observed by others.
This lack of openness harms everyone including teachers and their students. Observing other teachers in action has been a fabulous source of new ideas during my career. Similarly, the feedback I’ve received on my own teaching has given me perspective I didn’t know was missing. It makes me sad that many other teachers are not having the same opportunities.
This needs to change. It starts with us leading by example and checking our insecurities and pride at the door. We must acknowledge that one of the best ways to improve practice is to have colleagues observe one another and provide suggestions for improvements. We should welcome others’ constructive feedback and practice giving it as well. Without it we aren’t able to adjust our practice and improve.
- Post a sign to let people know they are welcome in your classroom. Here’s a template you can use and below is what it looks like.
- List what you want feedback on.
- Consider including an observation tool like this Levels of Classroom Discourse one from Principles to Action so it is easier for observers to give you actionable feedback.
- Print out the sign and put in on your door or window (maybe with a pile of observation tools nearby).
- Then, take a picture of it and tweet it out using the hashtag #ObserveMe.
We can make peer observations commonplace. It’s time to take the first step. I look forward to reading your thoughts in the comments below.
Here's my sign! You don't have to wait to #ObserveMe. Watch videos of me teaching here: https://t.co/e2Bcn8G0OO pic.twitter.com/0Q2oyCW3cD
— Robert Kaplinsky (@robertkaplinsky) August 30, 2016
- How do we improve our feedback goals? For example: “Am I asking good questions?” versus “How can I ask better questions?”
- How do we get better at giving feedback? For example: “You asked great questions!” versus “Your ‘Why’ and ‘How’ questions encouraged students to elaborate on their thinking.”
- How do we make people feel more comfortable with this process? This includes teachers being observed, people giving feedback, as well as other educators who may see the sign but be unsure as to the motives. For example: “Wow! This person is really trying to improve her practice” versus “This is a great opportunity for me to get new ideas” versus “Is this person just trying to showing off?”
@robertkaplinsky Thanks for the #observeme push. My sign is up. #MTBoS #LearnISB pic.twitter.com/4VTDtSPEm8
— Frank McGowan (@frankmcgowa) August 19, 2016
And Ivy Kong cleverly integrated a QR code and Google Form to receive feedback.
@robertkaplinsky Thanks for the challenge! I posted these and made a google form as my feedback form. #ObserveMe pic.twitter.com/H8PycWMUWA
— Ivy Kong (@ivykongpm) August 19, 2016
Then others started rolling in including these:
@robertkaplinsky Challenge accepted. #ObserveMe pic.twitter.com/FZ1upzeN0P
— Mariam Brunner (@mbrunnermath) August 19, 2016
#Teacher friends, I need you! #teaching #teacherlife #EHSpirit pic.twitter.com/47avzImBzI
— Alyssa Folk (@a_folk) August 19, 2016
Always looking for ways to improve and be challenged. Encourage others to do the same. @EasternTechHS #ObserveMe pic.twitter.com/tFG6jifolp
— Kim Burton (@kburtonr) August 19, 2016
South Korea
My sign is up! Looking forward to improving! @robertkaplinsky #observeme #knightsROK pic.twitter.com/5STPrv97iZ
— Yong-Jun Chun (@yongjunchun) August 23, 2016
China
@robertkaplinsky It's up, let's see what happens #ObserveMe #isdwow #issedu pic.twitter.com/Q4PGBPOURM
— Jonathan Lind (@lindjonath) August 22, 2016
Spanish
Starting school Monday & sneak peak w/Ps tonight! #ObserveMe pic.twitter.com/0rtoMyaWfB
— Sherry Nesbitt (@snesbitt1972) August 24, 2016
Engineering and Computer Science
Gonna share out to my school and see if I get any takers! #lusherpride #observeme pic.twitter.com/YjHoYMBJvs
— Matt Owen (@_mattowen_) August 23, 2016
Physics
#ObserveMe @robertkaplinsky @_mattowen_ pic.twitter.com/BB9TH8eIUI
— Kevin McChesney (@TigerPhysics) August 23, 2016
Assistant Superintendent
Attention fellow administrators – I improved mine – who else is joining the #observeme movement? pic.twitter.com/MftGxQhN7Z
— Helen Cosgrove (@hcosgrove) September 11, 2016
Principal
Adding myself to the list of #ObserveMe fans. An elementary #administrator needs accountability as well! pic.twitter.com/uzI2GsmdwV
— Andrew Broere (@AndrewBroere) September 8, 2016
Assistant Principal
As an AP I need to be observed too! #ObserveMe #WachterROAR #learnBPS pic.twitter.com/tuTrEIhoB0
— William Wietman (@WWietman) September 6, 2016
Professional Developer
Posted my #ObserveMe sign at PD. Looking forward to feedback! pic.twitter.com/nWdkShz17I
— Amity Goss (@AmityGoss) August 29, 2016
Trainer at Prudential (it’s moved out of education!)
Told my husband – works for @Prudential – about #observeme – he is onboard & recruiting others #prutalent pic.twitter.com/cFhJvIcESL
— Jessica Breur (@BreurBreur) September 8, 2016
Will yours be next?
Great idea and post.
I have three suggestions to take or leave:
1) Invite a colleague you respect and/or admire.
Imagine having a colleague whose craft of teaching you love or perspective you admire visit your class and offer you feedback. Chances are, if you admire that person, someone else admires them too and will follow their lead. I remember observing an English teacher I truly admired and it made me a better teacher. A week later, that English teacher stopped by my classroom unannounced and observed my class for a few minutes. The conversation we had later was beneficial for both of us.
2) Invite your principal.
Either the morning of your lesson, the day of your lesson, or at the beginning of the year let your principle know it would be awesome for them to observe your class. Do it via email and/or in person. When I was pumped about a lesson, activity, or something students were doing, I invited my principal to observe.
3) Be clear with your intentions.
I would hate to see good intentions be misunderstood by colleagues who are insecure and/or destructive. What do you think about writing a short email to your colleagues outlining your intentions; your hunger to improve and receive feedback. Furthermore, how will people improve at giving feedback if they don’t have opportunities to observe?
Thanks again for the post.
Dang. These are all awesome suggestions. #3 scares me the most because it didn’t occur to me that some might see this as anything but altruistic. Thanks for sharing them and I sure hope people incorporate them.
I dig it. And great additions by Andrew!
The Freakonomics podcast was doing “Self-Improvement Month” earlier this year where they analyzed the connection between success and talent. And it came down to the idea of “deliberate practice” which requires intentional focus and specific feedback from others. The #ObserveMe reminds me of both of these elements. (I wrote a long-winded blurb about deliberate practice on my blog…but my site is currently down as I migrate over to another service…but I’ll send a link along when it’s back up and running.)
I’m leading a two-day PD in Monterey later this week and will share your post with teacher leaders and principals for 12 elementary school. I’m trying to help them formalize a collaborative inquiry process that is focused on “deliberate practice” in planning and teaching math lessons that focus on student inquiry, engagement, and discourse. (Needless to say, Open Middle and Estimation 180 are commonly used resources.) I’m noticing that #ObserveMe allows for more self-directed and autonomous professional development for teachers and could be an effective companion to the lesson inquiry process.
One things I wonder about is how #ObserveMe could be made more accessible to Elementary Teachers who often teach all day. I’ve tried to have principals offer 30-40 minutes of coverage to teachers that wanted to explore other classrooms, but have had minimal success generating buy-in…so it’s a dilemma I continue to focus on.
Thanks for the thoughtful work as always Robert. Hope you’re new year is launching well!
Here’s a link to the deliberate practice and PD post that I wrote if it’s of use to your thinking. New website too! Still flushing it out and getting everything up and running, but the blog works.
http://undercovercalculus.com/the-freakonomics-of-professional-development-how-do-we-put-the-d-back-in-pd/
Thanks for the kind words Chase. Please let me know how it goes with the teachers you’re working with. I look forward to reading your other blog post (and you know I’m a huge Freakonomics fan).
One thing I have done as an instructional coach is cover for an elementary classroom teacher while she/he goes into another classroom to observe. Last year our principal set up a schedule for teachers to observe during another teacher’s reading block. If they did it during their prep time, they were allowed to leave school 30 minutes early that day or another day. This was well received by the teachers and I heard many positive comments about the observations they experienced.
Hi Robert, I love this idea.
Teacher evaluation is kinda my soapbox item of the moment because I believe that so much hinges from its implementation. I’d propose that teacher evaluation is instead called on-going mentorship and that one part of the process be to use a sign like yours to invite others into their classroom. I wrote a blog post about this in the spring that can be found here: http://www.coetail.com/carriezimmer/2016/05/24/changing-up-teacher-evaluations/
One thing that I’m still thinking about after reading your post is the need to move feedback towards a place where it is judgment free. In my mind, the observer should record data related to the classroom teacher’s goal and the classroom teacher reflects upon the data and determines, in his/her own mind, what that data means. I’m not sure if I’m explaining this well, but as an example, if a teacher wanted to make sure that they were equally calling on boys and girls the observer would simply track the number of times boys were called and the same for girls. Then that data is passed to the classroom teacher. There can be discussion between the observer and the teacher, but the teacher is left to make their own determination about their progress towards their set goal. On the same note, if a teacher wanted to increase the number of higher level questions being asked the observer would simply write down every question the teacher asked during the period they were observed. When the teacher is able to determine their own progress and have ownership of it, I believe the culture of evaluation will be completely different from the systems that many, including myself, have experienced. This system of on-going mentorship encourages and allows for reflection by teachers and this is how we all continue to learn and grow in this profession.
I love your ideas and hope to encourage others at my school to get on board! Thanks for sharing and promoting the #observeme movement!
Really nice points Carrie. I see what you wrote through the lens of Crucial Conversations’ fact and story framework. The data you collect are the facts. The story is our interpretation of that data. That seems very reasonable to me.
So thinking about this more, my intention with #ObserveMe is to get people to buy in to WHY we should observe each other. Once people do that, it will expose that we need support in HOW we observe each other. That’s when people will be primed for what you’ve written about.
Thanks!
You could ask observers to comment in “I like…” & “I wonder…” statements. For example, “I like how most students were helping group members understand the concept.” And, “I wonder if you could work in a team-building activity for everyone in order to improve cooperation.”
That’s a nice suggestion Karen. It reminds me a lot of the math forum’s “Notice & Wonder” format.
Can you publish a link for your Ignite session on Observe Me at CMCS 2016?
Hi Susan, once I have it, I certainly will. I expect that it will take several weeks or months.
Hi!
I’m just browsing twitter and I came across a #observeme I’m interested what’s happening now after a year or so posting.
I’m first grade teacher and love to hear feedback!
This is such a great idea! I know it’s going out of our comfort zone- but it’s how we learn and we learn from each other!
Sounds like you might like this post Lizette. https://robertkaplinsky.com/reflections-year-observeme/ It has everything I learned in the last year of #ObserveMe.
I’ve been an #ObserveMe teacher for a couple of years now….and have been asked to do a presentation to the staff about the movement. Do you have any suggestions or materials I could steal, I mean use?
Hi Michelle. Have you seen this? https://robertkaplinsky.com/observeme-ignite-talk/ You can download and use this Ignite talk.
Thank you for this link! I too was asked to present on this concept. Very helpful.
Hi Chase I’m going to check out your blog on deliberative practice.
Do you mind a slight correction? If I’m not mistaken, the phrase is “fleshing it out”, as in putting flesh on the bones of an idea. Not sure how it became “flushing it out”; maybe that’s another version that relates to flushing birds out of hiding while hunting…?
I’m a former lawyer turned foreign language high school teacher so I do notice malapropisms…but sometimes I am off the mark! Looking forward to reading your ideas…it relates to being “reflective” as a teacher, which I learned about in my M.A.T. program I just finished. Here’s to more collaboration!
Susan DeGrave
One thing I have done as an instructional coach is cover for an elementary classroom teacher while she/he goes into another classroom to observe. Last year our principal set up a schedule for teachers to observe during another teacher’s reading block. If they did it during their prep time, they were allowed to leave school 30 minutes early that day or another day. This was well received by the teachers and I heard many positive comments about the observations they experienced.
Way to make it happen at the elementary level, Lindsey. That sounds like a great idea!
I love what you said about making peer evaluations commonplace when it comes to an educational setting. Classroom observation is vital if the teacher is to ever improve their skills. If I were to need such services, I would look for a means whereby classroom observations could be implemented in a user-friendly way.
I really like the idea that it covers all parts of a school, not just the teachers. When teachers are observed for their yearly observations, I think it feels like a one way street. We do not have the opportunity to give feedback to our administrators. How do we all get better at our craft if we are not willing to have feedback, from your peers and from the people you work with on all levels. This would open up a true feedback loop that goes in a circle and builds a better campus.
Absolutely. Observations in education have lost their way and have become something people avoid and dread instead of look forward to. I believe that if the street went both ways, it would feel better.