Sharing Good Practice class , how are they learning to think and behave like an author , speaker , or historian ? Look and listen for how students are learning to think and behave like an expert in that content area .
Then , analyze your notes and determine what themes are popping up ; use these themes to generate nonevaluative questions for the teacher . These questions should be about providing clarity and understanding the teaching-learning relationship and not about defending their decisions or practice .
Taking Your First Steps
It should be noted that attending to pedagogical moves , teacher and student behaviours , and other compliance items are still important . But these are not the only kinds of feedback that should be captured to support learning in the classroom , and may not be the most useful in making more immediate improvements in student learning . To take your first steps with attending to student learning , here are some recommendations to get started .
1 . Start small
Whether you address the entire building or just a few teachers with your plan , begin yours with only one to two teachers with whom you are comfortable working with and being vulnerable . For administrators , teachers are used to you critiquing their teaching practices , so they may be unfamiliar with what you are trying to accomplish .
2 . Keep the notes objective
3 . Work with a colleague
Learning how to attend to student thinking is a process and working with a colleague who also wants to develop their observational skills in this area will help keep both of you focused on the specific evidence of learning and the intended outcomes and not just the process . It will also help prevent both of you from reverting back to attending to teacher moves , general impressions , or assumptions about learning .
4 . Share your notes and wonderings with the teacher
Be willing to share your notes . By attending to evidence of student learning , conversations about improving instruction are less threatening and will naturally occur . Teachers are highly reflective of their practice and will naturally question their practice even if you are talking about the students . For administrators , be ready for this conversation to be challenging for some teachers at first as many have not previously had this kind of in-depth conversation with their supervisor . By sharing your notes , you can help put them at ease .
5 . Practice with intention
Deliberately and regularly practice and do not skip having the conversation with the teacher afterwards . It may be a new experience for both you and your teachers at first , but the deliberate practice , patience , and outcomes are worth it !
Using walkthroughs to help transform effective practices in schools also means transforming the ways in which we understand the learning in classrooms . By understanding how students are learning to assume the roles of the expert , more specific and grounded evidence of learning can be obtained . Walkthroughs need not and should not always focus on the teacher or teaching practices . Learning begins and ends with the students , so attend to students ’ ways of thinking to understand how else you can support your teachers .
Maintain the focus on students by recording objective evidence of student learning . What is the actual work students are creating , how are they interacting with each other , what is the nature of their discourse , and how are they assuming the role of the expert ? Making interpretations of learning is acceptable , but it needs to be grounded in specific and objective evidence ; otherwise , it will be difficult to facilitate a non-evaluative and nonthreatening conversation around the teacher ’ s practice .
Dr . Bennett is a passionate educator who strives for equity in learning for all students . As a global consultant and an Associate Professor of Education specializing in curriculum and instruction , he has worked with educators throughout the United States and across the Middle East , Europe , Australia , and Asia .
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