For some odd reason I was thinking about all the years I spent in the classroom when it suddenly hit me that during that time, the principal only sat in on one of my classes. Only once. All those years of being taught and there was never anyone watching to see if my teachers really could teach.
Granted that it need not be a weekly thing, or maybe I was just in the wrong class and the wrong time, but it seems to me that at least once in a while there should be some on the job evaluation. Has this changed since I graduated from HS in 1985? Have any of you noticed the same thing or is my memory just starting to go a little fuzzy?
I had an Alg 2 teacher last year who received a fair deal of complaints (the man was an idiot). An administrator sat in on his class about once a week or so (that’s simply in our period).
Also, our IB coordinator (don’t ask) enters my classes briefly about once a week. It’s creepy and unnerving.
I just graduated this year, and I have no recollection of our principal EVER sitting in on our classes. He came by from time to time to talk to individual students or teachers, but in 4 years I never noticed him auditing our classes.
By the way, our IB coordinator didn’t audit classes either.
In high school? Once. With a shitty music teacher/choir director who basically put on a dog and pony show completely unlike anything he ever did in class, or did again. Bitter, bitter, bitter. Elementary school? I don’t remember.
As an elementary school teacher myself, I received two formal evaluations per year when I was probationary (the first two years), and now will be formally observed every other year as a tenured teacher.
This, of course, is beside the point. Believe it or not, I prefer it when they walk in unannounced–I want her to see how my class, and my teaching, are on any day–not one predetermined. And this past year when my formal observations were done, I chose not to do a “special” lesson as I had done my first (nervous) year…rather, I wanted her to see how I normally taught a typical lesson.
My principal made unannounced visits about six times last year, usually to show my classroom to visiting guests, but a few times just to sit and watch. I thought it was very cool. This is, as would be imagined, not a popular opinion–some teachers like to sit and grumble about it. But hey–we’re there to teach, dammit, and do what’s best for the kids. I want to know when I forget to put in a conclusion, or I overlook this, or my pacing needs that.
I do hope that the new principal we’ll have this year (the previous was promoted) will make such unannounced visits; it’s reassuring to know they want to be so involved with their students, their teachings, and most importantly–the learning.
My headteacher (principal) at Senior school (high school, aged 11) didn’t just sit in the class, he taught it. Biology, but gave up after a few months because of the work load. It wasn’t a typically small school where this often happens either, ca. 1000 pupils.
When I was in the third grade, our superintendent would occasionally drop in and give us a math quiz (I think that was what he used to teach), but our principal never showed his face. Upon further consideration later in life, combined with conversations with my former teachers, I came to the conclusion that he (the principal) was a bureaucratic twit whose only concern was his his public image.
In high school, most of the administrators would stop by every few weeks. They were all former teachers who missed being in the classroom.
Current law in Texas requires new teachers to be observed twice in a school year and experienced teachers to be observed once. The catch is that the teacher can request which class he/she would like the evaluator to visit. Logically, teachers choose their most well-behaved class. When your career may be on the line, you do what is necessary to have a good evaluation. If you had class with some rough characters, you might never have gotten to witness an evaluation.
Now, speaking for myself, I do not put on a “dog and pony show”. The only changes I make is that I make sure to say certain key words that the principal is listening for. For example, he needs to hear “Let’s begin.” He also needs to hear “In conclusion.” While I do always include those elements in my lessons, I might neglect to utter those exact words.
Being a band director, I am naturally a bit of a performer, so I never have worried about having the principal (or almost amyone else) observe my class. Any good teacher will welcome any words of constructive criticism that may come from these little visits.
I agree with Ruffian, that unannounced visits are a welcome sight. They tell the students (and the teacher) that he/she wants to be involved in what they are doing. That is reassuring to everyone involved. Unfortunately, my classroom is so far removed from everyone else (hey, band is NOISY), the principal doesn’t come by as often as I would like.