Creating opportunity for high school teachers

Vicki Snyder-Chura
Posted 8/20/18

As his first year in high school administration ended, last May Rochelle Township High School Assistant Principal Dr. David Perrin remarked that he had been welcomed as an observer into many teachers’ classrooms.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Creating opportunity for high school teachers

Posted

ROCHELLE — As his first year in high school administration ended, last May Rochelle Township High School Assistant Principal Dr. David Perrin remarked that he had been welcomed as an observer into many teachers’ classrooms.
“I would be a much better teacher today if I had had an opportunity to observe you while I was still in the classroom,” Perrin said.
That in mind, Perrin’s goal for the upcoming year is to provide similar experiences for RTHS teachers.

“I want to get teachers into one another’s classrooms in a more structured way than we have done in the past,” he said. “We encourage teachers to visit one another’s classrooms, but it’s easier said than done.”
Numerous national movements incorporate the concept teachers visiting others’ classrooms. The #ObserveMe movement has teachers post a sign requesting observations and feedback from colleagues in specific areas. A second is Pineapple Charts.
“It’s an idea several teachers shared with me last year, allowing teachers to share methodology ideas and classroom practices through direct observation,” Perrin said of Pineapple Charts.
Educational researcher John Hattie recognizes the importance of teacher observations and feedback in listing “microteaching” as one of his most impactful strategies for teachers. Micro-teaching is defined as “typically involving student-teachers conducting mini lessons to a small group of students (often in a laboratory setting) and then engaging in post-discussions about the lessons.”  
“We can simulate the effect of micro-teaching by engaging in a more formal process with a focus on providing feedback regarding student engagement,” Perrin said. “What students ultimately DO during a lesson is much more important than what the teacher does. RTHS will use a hybrid of formats for ‘Open Door PD’ (professional development),” he said.
Weekly, an RTHS teacher will volunteer to “open their door” to colleagues for a day to observe a particular teaching strategy. The Open Door Teacher will provide a description of the lesson being learned, and the observing teacher(s) will watch and complete a series of questions detailing what they saw and how it might apply to their own classroom.