Jason Zeller Competency 4: Curriculum, Instruction, Supervision

Related Task 4.3 Knowledge of a variety of instructional methods and skills. Specific Task 4.3.6 Conduct at least one clinical supervision cycle including pre-observation, classroom observation, and evaluation session with teachers. Narrative description of specific task: Conduct evaluations of both teaching and support staff using the district evaluation forms and procedures. This will include pre-observations, along with both pre and postconference meetings, and classroom observations along with additional support in writing their individual goals. For many staff members, especially probationary staff, they may have questions about the process and new tenure laws that the evaluator must be prepared to answer. Process, Purpose, and Approach One of the most important tasks of an administrator it the evaluation of the staff. In order for a school to be successful it is necessary that good teachers are employed that utilize best teaching practices to help their students be successful. Through the evaluation process an administrator can make sure that he or she has such people in place and address issues that are present. In addition the evaluation can be used as a way to help teachers grow and become more effective in their classrooms. I sat down with the teacher for a quick 10 minute pre-pre-meeting just to make sure she understood the process since, despite having taught at a charter school for 14 years, this was her first year in the district and the process was new to her. I wanted to make sure she knew what I was looking for and answer any questions she may of had. We went over the forms she needed to fill out for the pre-observation meeting (a self evaluation rubric and her lesson plan for the observation) and discussed the process. I explained that I would come in and do the observation, keep a running record of her lesson under Standard III: Instruction, and fill in part of Standard I: Classroom Environment. I would email her what I wrote before I left her classroom so she could see it and would not have to worry. We would then set-up a post-conference (at least one) to discuss any questions and she could provide me information/artifacts on those and other standards. A couple of days later we had the official pre-conference where she showed me the lesson I would be observing and her self-evaluation rubric. She would be doing a science lesson from the Battle Creek Science kits our district purchased and showed me what she was doing differently from the teachers guide and explained why she was making the changes - she felt that the lesson would be better with 2nd graders if she modeled it and lead a discussion instead of having them perform the experiments due

to the time limit she was under. I asked her if there was anything specific she wanted me to look for and she responded by saying, Let me know anything you see I can do better. You wont hurt my feelings. I arrived at her classroom, sat at a table in the front of the room, answered a few questions from the students (they wanted to see what I was doing), and began my evaluation. The teacher did a nice job letting the students know what they would be doing (learning target), both asking and answering questions, and engaging the students throughout the lesson. After the observation I emailed her what I had observed and we set up the post conference. It worked out that we had a teacher workday coming up so we held the conference that morning. The two of us sat down for about an hour and forty-five minutes (granted we did get off task at times and talked about a variety of topics including her previous experience at the charter school and some specific students) and went over the standards, discussed things I both observed that day and on prior visits, and she shared examples of how she met the different standards. When it was completed I again emailed her a copy to review and asked her to let me know if she thought of anything else that should be added and if not to sign and return it to me. Lessons Learned I learned, from this and later evaluations I had to perform, that many teachers are not use to this level of collaboration when it comes to the evaluation process. In the past her evaluations consisted of someone walking into the classroom, doing a write-up, and having her sign it. While she did appreciate the opportunity to be part of the process, it did take a little while to really get the conversation going. Even though she previously stated that she wanted ideas on how she could do better, she was guarded at first and it took some work to convince her I was not looking to mark her down. We lucked out that there was a teacher work day that week and we were able to sit down for over and hour and discuss the evaluation, getting off task at times, but still time well spent. I felt that not only did I have a better understanding of her as a person, I also a better idea of her teaching philosophy. Spending the time having these conversations with both her and the other teachers has helped me have a better understanding of what is happening in the building and put me in a position where I can suggest to teachers individuals can go to for areas they would like help in.