The Power of Observation

When I came back from a year-long maternity leave, I was welcomed back to work by an all-new administrative team. While much has remained the same about our great middle school, there are also some big differences, including a more frequent presence in our classrooms. I'm somewhere between eleven and twelve years of teaching, and in that time I've had five principals. Four of those five supported me, stopped in for scheduled or required observations; although I made it through those years without a negative report in my file, the infrequency of their visits left me inexperienced in teaching for an audience (other than my daring sixth graders, of course). I can't seem to forget our superintendent walking through for a visit. He paused a the door to listen in to what was happening, and while I managed to keep teaching, I don't know how I did with the roaring of blood through my veins and the pounding of my heart in my ears.

My team had a meeting to discuss the anxiety of a student, a selective mute. The school psychologist stated that many people fear public speaking more than they fear death. How strange that a teacher might fear public speaking, but I know I'm not alone when I say it's easy to talk to my students all day--it's the idea of standing in front of a bunch of adults that sends us into a panic.

This year, I can count three visits already. Visits where either my new principal or assistant principal comes with a notebook, to my English class or homeroom, and takes a seat for comfortable viewing. The good news is that every visit has resulted in immediate feedback, fortunately all positive, all acknowledging good things going on in my classroom. The better news is that my heart doesn't race when my "boss" walks in anymore.

I do have thoughts about the value of their feedback and whether this approach to involvement works for our teaching community. But for now, when I think of visitors in my room for the future, I say, "Bring it on."