Teachers are to be observed at least once a year by their administrators. They are allowed to be in our room whenever they choose, but observations can only happen between the 3rd week of school and the beginning of April. I've been at two different schools and its been the same at both. They wait until a week before the observations are due and then cram all of them in. If you have only been teaching for 3 years or less, then the observation must be for a minimum of 45 minutes. If you've been teaching longer, then the minimum is vastly shortened to only 15 minutes. Mind you, they can stay as long as they want no matter how long you've taught, but those are the minimums. All of this is a part of keeping teachers accountable. (Of course, it would be helpful to hear it at the beginning of the year so changes can be made...but I digress.)
I like feedback. We all like to be told we're doing well, but I really like to hear both sides. What are some things I can work on? What am I doing well that she wants to share with others? What are some things I'm doing that I may not be aware of? I meet with my administrator and go over her observational notes of the lesson she observed. There are several domains we're "graded" on with Excellent being the top, then Proficient, Satisfactory, and Unacceptable. We have to score at least proficient on all the domains or we go on probation. In that case, we go over our lesson plans every week, meet a lot more often, the administrator is in the classroom more often, etc.
I say I like it, and I do. But there's no stopping the butterfly feelings in my stomach when she walks in. No matter what I'm doing, I always feel as if I'm a bug under a microscope and need to begin performing.
5 comments:
I HATE it! Every year she starts around February and I'm on pins and needles until I have mine. Luckily next year I go on MPDAS. Yay for teaching more than 3 years! And it actually went really well this year... my kids were angels! :) Some of the teachers at our training yesterday were saying that still hadn't been observed!
I like MPDAS a lot too! But I still wish they would do it earlier in the year. If I'm doing something wrong, wouldn't it be better to catch it earlier and thus be able to change it earlier? Break the bad habit? Likewise, if I'm doing something right, it sure would be nice to know!
Being evaluated is always tricky, as a teacher, it's kind of interesting because the evaluation really doesn't mean anything. My understanding of the system (at least around here) is used if a teacher needs to be fired. Of course, teachers get tenure, then getting fired becomes mostly a moot point (yes, I know, teachers with tenure can be fired, but it's realy hard and generlaly not worth it).
The fact of the matter (and yes, still referring to what I know of the system around here) is that evaluations don't follow a teacher to their new job, and current administrators cannot ever say anything bad about their employees to possible future employers. So, the point of the early evaluation is to get tenure.
Not to mention that teachers get "raises" based on their education and time in service, not based on performance (which leads to the evaluation being moot). Evaluations thus tend to be only tools the administration uses to get rid of poor teachers that already have tenure...but because it's so hard, it's not usually even worth it.
But that's just the way I understand it, every state is different, and my understanding could be off.
By the way, it appears you haven't posted in two weeks, and you're on me about not posting...
I post on Conundrums... every day or so, but you're right I haven't posted on here lately. I need too...TAKS is Tuesday and Wednesday. After that I'll do better, promise! :)
Post a Comment