Posts tagged teachers
Who’s Really Incompetent?
0629 days
by Justin Baeder
in Quotes
“If you have a principal who knows there’s a poor-performing teacher and chooses not to evaluate him or her effectively, who’s really the incompetent person?” Mr. Weil said.
–EdWeek on the “Dance of the Lemons” process for transferring teachers
Providing Feedback to Master Teachers
0792 days
by Justin Baeder
in Articles
Teachers at more advanced levels of proficiency are generally very proud of their practice, and may have been asked to serve as a mentor for student teachers or interns. With such experience, it’s easy to perceive feedback as disrespectful if it’s not delivered carefully.
On a short walkthrough, it’s not uncommon for a principal to leave feedback that fails to take into account the instruction that took place before or after the observation, and it’s easy to come to snap judgments in order to find something to write down.
One way to avoid this trap is to provide low-inference feedback – to describe what is taking place without drawing conclusions about it, then to ask open-ended questions to prompt further thinking. For example, if you observe that students are completing worksheets, and it seems to you that the task is not very engaging or rigorous, you might provide provide feedback as follows:
Students are working independently on practice sheets, while teacher circulates to answer questions and check for understanding.
Questions for reflection: In addition to personal effort, what factors determine the level of benefit students derive from written work?
This question focuses the teacher’s attention on the task’s level of cognitive demand, but without a judgment such as “This doesn’t seem very rigorous.”
Feedback for Performance: The “Next Steps” List
0793 days
by Justin Baeder
in Articles
Principals have an obligation to provide instructional leadership for every faculty member, not just those who are struggling. But how do you make an intentional, systematic effort to provide feedback to every teacher, including those who are excellent?
It can be challenging to provide constructive feedback to your best teachers. What do you say to help someone improve their practice, when it’s already at a superior level?
The answer to this question may not be immediately obvious, so one way to address this instructional leadership challenge is to keep a “next steps” list of your staff. List all of your staff members, and keep notes on each person’s previous work and strengths, and note what the next level of work is.
For example:
Abrams – presented at math conference; working on motivating students who aren’t completing homework.
Baker – recently formed new reading groups; working with one group on summarizing expository text.
Childress – new behavior plan for JT; trying to reduce disruptions to rest of the class.
Davidson – Implemented literacy centers last month; trying to build students’ independence.
Recordkeeping is essential. Just as teachers keep anecdotal and formal notes, it’s helpful to physically keep a “next steps” list. A simple two-column sheet, with names in the left column and blank space in the right, should work.
Teaching for a Living: Views of Principal Support
0941 days
by Justin Baeder
in Research
One set of findings is of particular relevance to principals. The study divided teachers into three groups – contented, disheartened, and idealists. While surveys of this type show only correlation (not causation), teacher responses about the support they get from principals are revealing:
In short, there is a strong relationship between job satisfaction (the category in which the teacher is placed, based on responses to other survey questions) and the leadership and support provided by the principal.
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