Observation

I think my observation went pretty well, though, during observations, I tend to go a little slower and don't get through everything I'd like to get through. I had assessments built in during the lesson, but the summative assessment ended up being homework.

Also, I usually try to have the observer come in after I'd timed the lesson, and this one was fresh during 1st period. It became a bangup lesson by the afternoon. Such is life. I don't think I'm ever going to get used to 45-minute periods. Drive-thru teaching that I feel like allows us to generally achieve the analysis level of Bloom's Taxnomy but not quite to Synthesis. I thought about cutting out drills this year to accommodate for the short class periods, but I just can't: that's how I teach grammar. So it's rush, rush, rush.

I'm confident enough in my teaching and planning that I would be fine with anyone coming in and observing at any point ever, and genuinely wish I was watched more because I like getting feedback (from knowledgeable folks). This year, though, since our observations linked to our evaluations, which are linked to our AUs, which are linked to our payscale, the observation becomes stickier. I always try to do well with it, but, with financial gains tied to it, you hope nothing bad comes of it.

I'm also supporting the other Baltimore Education bloggers who are also blogging every day this month. Check out their blogs!:

http://survivingthesystem.blogspot.com/

http://bmoreschools.org/

http://www.thesmallesttwine.blogspot.com/

http://nyates314.wordpress.com/