observation

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Home : 2005 : April : 4

observation
By tia

i like and respect my principal and she likes and respects me. we're extremely close in age, and i admire the work that she does. she has really turned our school around!

this is her 4th year at my school (my 12th) and
she is fairly new to "principalling"--i think this is actually her 4th year!
anyway, the last 2 years i have been very nervous before my observations...and i'm usually not (well, just a little, but i figure, you get what you get)
what has helped me was to tell my principal, man! i don't know why, but i'm really nervous! she laughs it off and says, don't be. (it wasn't that long ago

that she was teaching, so she remembers) and it made me feel better to get it out.

i still write down an outline of my lesson on a 3x5 card for observations so i don't forget my set, closure, important points, reminders, etc. that helps keep me focused in my nervousness.

you might even tell your class that the principal is coming in and why...(this would depend on you class and their grade...i prefer to let my 6th graders think that she's in there checking up on THEM!)

actually, during my observation this year, i was doing something new--duh! where i had 2/3 of my class teaching themselves and i worked with the other 1/3--well, it was the 2nd day we'd been working, so we didn't have time to work out the kinks...the independent workers were sooooo good and QUIET the first day (when principal wasn't around--ha!) the next day they were so excited (one student said i've never liked math until now!) and learning and helping each other and LOUD! i had to stop what i was doing to reprimand them....so my principal at one point asked one of my top students--is it always this loud? and she said, with a look of horror that perhaps i was in trouble, NOOOOO, never!

just make sure that whatever you decide to teach for you lesson, you know it well and you enjoy it and the whole thing won't be nearly as torturous!