Brian Cohen
  • Making the Grade Blog
  • About Me
  • Tutoring
  • Press
  • Resources to Share

A Tool of Observation

3/9/2011

0 Comments

 
Feedback is a critical component of teaching and I have espoused a specific way I find to be the best kind of feedback I have been a part of: Critical Friends. I am actually so excited about this idea of a program that I was happy when another colleague of mine observed me last week on 5 seconds notice. She asked if I felt comfortable with it and of course I said I was - any feedback I would receive with open arms.

This is even true of my students - I would love for them to critique my teaching methodology and supply me with recommendations of how to make myself a better educator. That being said, when they get feisty in the moment it is not always a good time to get that feedback.

Unfortunately I have found that the official feedback supplied by the School District of Philadelphia is second to many. It seems to me that the observation tools so often used by administrators are implemented to punish teachers instead of help them learn and grow. Education changes constantly and so a teacher needs to be constantly ready to alter his or her style in order to enliven the new generation of classrooms.

Recently I have heard many stories of friends of mine being "observed" and received low marks on a scale that is being used punitively more than educationally (I use quotation marks because I think a 15 minute walk-through is hardly enough time to make an accurate observation of an educator). Also, I am angered by the fact that while the official observation tool has many criteria that describe the wide range of things a teacher has to worry about, these new tools seem to have a very narrow focus, and they are not implemented fairly.

When teachers start thinking of feedback in terms of punishment instead of growth it becomes almost useless. When administrators do the same thing it becomes a grudge. When the state or federal government do the same thing it becomes fascism. We need to seriously evaluate how our District evaluates its teachers.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

    Picture

    Contact Me

    Picture

    Email Updates

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    March 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.