4 Tips for a Smooth Classroom Observation

One of the most stressful parts of teaching is the formal observation. It doesn’t matter how many times you do it, you’d always rather not. Even so, I’ve noticed that veteran teachers tend to stress less about the observation process. When I talk with them about it, they tell me it’s not simply because they’ve gotten better at teaching. Instead, they’ve also learned some ways to handle the process that reduces their anxiety in the first place.  Since I can’t think of any teacher who wants more anxiety, I would like to share what some of these amazing educators told me. These tips, as you will see, can be just as important as planning for a lesson itself. 

1. Choose a Familiar Routine and Content

The most frequent thing I’ve been told from people who ace observations is that you should never teach something completely brand-new in a formal setting. That means, whatever you decide to show your observer, make sure it’s a well-established routine and that your students are familiar with the types of activities they’ll be required to do.

For instance, if your lesson involves bringing the class to the rug during your launch, make sure students are familiar with doing that. If your lesson involves sharing out at the end of the lesson or talking in A/B pairs, make sure they have done these enough to be routine practices.

It isn’t just the structure of the lesson that you want your students to be acquainted with. You also want your students to be somewhat acquainted with the content as well. The idea is to present one small new objective within a sequence of familiar ones.

If you’re working on a unit of subtraction, you may show your administrator a lesson in which you teach kids how to carry across a zero in the tens place. Notice how the specific goal of carrying across a zero coincides with the general goal of subtracting. If you were to invite your administrator in to observe the start of the unit on subtraction, that might showcase your ability to open a unit, sure. But it would most likely leave your administrator wondering what exactly students learned in the only lesson they saw. 

Therefore, the smart move is to stick to the familiar in both the structure of the lesson and the content. Give your students something just a little bit further after you’ve started a unit, outside of the zone of their proximal development. That way, your administrator can formally see that this one thing was taught and taught well. 

2. Figure Out Your Lesson, Then Ask Yourself 3 Things

When you first decide what you will teach, you’ll consider many things: Will students be in a small group at the back table? Will students start on the rug and end up in pairs at their desks? Will they share their findings from your presentation desk? Will you invite your principal before or after recess? What specific thing will you teach under the umbrella of a more general unit?

Once you have chosen the specific dynamics, structure, and content of the lesson, it’s time to think about what your principal wants to see you do within these parameters. There are many ways to do this, but great teachers I know simplify the process by asking themselves three things: What will kids learn? How will they learn it? And how will you know they learned it?

Asking the first question keeps you aligned with your small but measurable goal. Will students learn different ways to write a hook in an introduction? Will students apply the array box to a 2x2 multiplication answer and compare answers to the standard algorithm? Will your class learn how and why pizzicato changes the sound in their first violin song?

The second question forces you to consider what both you and they will do. If you do all the work, they won’t learn much. If they do all the work, you won’t have given them enough to get there. For example, when your administrator is watching your lesson about subtracting, they want to see you teaching and kids learning.

The smart teacher move is to model subtracting across zeros at the outset but give kids new problems, math manipulatives, and partners to help them as they struggle a bit back at their desks. Kids should be aware that they’ll share their findings at the conclusion of the lesson, which further clarifies what their job is. Considering what your job and their job look like during the lesson is essential. These two jobs, yours and the students’, are exactly what your observer will be looking for.

The final question aligns to what administrators want to see in every lesson before walking out: assessment. Will you have students play pizzicato and explain the difference after doing so? Will you give them an exit slip asking them to explain to a third grader how to carry across a zero in the tens place as a fourth grader? Will they share the hook they like best with the class at the end of the lesson and explain why it works best? Whichever lesson you choose, this final question makes sure that something is taught and learned, observably, and measurably. That is essential in any lesson, and especially in a formal observation.

3. Prep Kids and/or Prep Yourself

Most teachers I spoke with said that they usually prepare their students for formal observations. They recommend letting kids know when it will happen, who is expected to be there, and what that person is looking for. If someone will be video recording, let kids know that as well, and make sure that kids (and parents) are comfortable with recording. 

4. Have a Backup Plan for the What-Ifs

In any lesson you are familiar with, there are always contingencies. No lesson plan is perfect. Are you sometimes long-winded? Does a particular child often interrupt? Are you unsure that several children will be able to grab on to your procedure for subtracting across zeros? You know how to handle these what-ifs in a lesson. However, the trick for a formal observation is to be on top of the contingencies before the lesson. Practice your launch with a colleague if you know you’re long-winded. Have a paraeducator ready to sit with your interrupting student. Be prepared to pull a small group of strugglers during the explore period to help them grab on. 

Above all, remember that a formal observation is really a onetime snapshot of your teaching. This snapshot can also show what you’ve put into the picture for months at a time—something your administrator is bound to notice and celebrate with you.