Teacher Evaluations

I had an amazing opportunity to hear Kim Marshall speak this past week in my district. He spoke about the traditional ways we appraise teachers, which is basically walking through occasionally and then looking for the dog and pony show once or twice a year. The appraisals typically do little to enhance student learning.

Marshall suggests a paradigm shift in how principals approach teacher evaluations. He promotes walking through a minimum of 5 classrooms daily, for only a 5 minute snippet of time and then giving the teacher feedback face-to-face, rather than in a form or memo. With a staff of 45, even missing some days, a principal would have an opportunity to see almost 650 classroom visits, rather than the time consumed with traditional 45 minute observations. This multitude of quick mini observations, as Marshall called them, would culminate in a year-end evaluation.

Of course Marshall emphasizes the difference between proficient teachers and teachers in need of assistance. Teachers needing additional help would receive more intensive walk-throughs with specific documentation to support the observations. What do you think of this approach?

Celebrations

This week has been a wonderful week! I have visited 4 elementary school PTO meetings to promote my middle school and hosted a "Get to Know Us" night for the parents and students of upcoming sixth graders in our feeder pattern. It has been busy, but fulfilling.

The thing that I have found I really enjoy about my new position in this urban middle school is the marketing perspective. We are an open-enrollment district, which means that while I have a feeder pattern, students can apply to attend any school they choose; however, they must provide their own transportation (unless they are accepted into a magnet program). I spend about a third of my time during the course of each week visiting with parents, going to meetings, and promoting my school. It really is fun. I had to get to know my new campus quickly in order to do this and my personality lends itself to these types of interactions. Of course, I do spend many hours late at night or early in the morning reading emails, completing the paperwork associated with a campus of 1800 students, etc.

Tiring, but exhilarating!