10 Reflections of a First Year Evaluator

I just finished my first round of summative evaluations in my first year as an evaluator; it was also the first year of the Massachusetts Model System for Educator Evaluation; instead of a formal observation with the traditional pre-conference, observation of a full class, and post-conference summative evaluations are based on classroom walkthroughs, teacher goals, and teacher provided evidence related to I believe 33 elements that are on the state teacher rubric.

As I looked through what I had noted throughout the year and wrote the evaluations I jotted down notes for myself for my second year as an evaluator. I ended up with 10 tips that I think will make me more relevant as an evaluator trying to increase student learning and facilitate teacher reflection and growth.

1. I need to do more walkthroughs. I felt like a I did a lot; I tried to get out of the office and into classrooms, but I didn't do enough to have enough data to give as much meaningful feedback as I wanted to. I may have done enough to make claims and issue a rating, but I'm hoping to have more impact than that.

2. I need to be more strategic with how I use my time. The administrative part of leadership really heated up after February vacation; I feel like I haven't left my office since March. There was much more time to get out on the floor and into classrooms in the fall and early winter; I need to use that time next year more purposefully as it relates to observations and classroom visits.

3. I need to make a rotating schedule in advance; I should use time in the summer to make a schedule of pre-planned walkthrough time of all teachers who I'll be supervising and fill my calendar. Furthermore, I need to treat the walkthrough time in my calendar like I do admin meetings; it is time that cannot be negotiated with, and I need to stop what I'm doing and tend to it when it's scheduled.

4. My feedback after walkthroughs should be organized consistently - make a claim, provide evidence from the walkthrough to support the claim, discuss how that impacts student learning, make a recommendation related to the claim, and asks reflective questions. If I keep the format standard, then the focus can be on the content and opportunities for growth and reflection.

5. I need to build in conversation time for each walkthrough; I learned this year that walkthroughs without conversation afterwards make little impact.

6. My feedback needs to be more clear. My words need to be careful and intentional. Sugarcoating is well intentioned but proven through experience to be ineffective. We can't achieve unclear targets.

7. I should include the students in my walkthroughs either during the class or afterwards. I know I need to do more walkthroughs, and I'm always looking for more opportunities to interact with students about their learning; it makes sense.

8. I should intertwine my feedback with our school's PD plan for the year - why not make both more relevant? I can use the PD plan to have pre-planned lenses to focus my walkthroughs each month, and provide feedback related that specific skill or practice of focus.

9. I need to find value in any kind of data. If I walk in on a test or quiz, then I need to find ways to take advantage of that kind of walkthrough. If I walk in on a test or quiz I'm not going to leave; I can ask the following questions to the teacher:

1. how do you use the time when students are taking the quiz?
2. what do the students do after the quiz?
3. how do you plan for students finishing at different times?
4. what are you assessing?
5. how did you prepare for the assessment?
6. how do you differentiate your assessments?
7. what formative assessments have you done to prepare?
8. how will you follow up after evaluating the assessments?

10. I need to be more active in August during the self-assessment process; the self-assessment is my chance as the evaluator to find out what areas of focus are relevant to the teacher. When the self-assessment is more meaningful the feedback is.

Some things to consider for next year. This year went well; I feel I was able to generate some great dialogue and reflection with many teachers I worked with. But it can always improve, and there's definitely a lot of opportunities for me to grow as an evaluator next school year. I'm looking forward to it.

3D Printing for Safety

I took a call from one of our administrative assistants this afternoon near the end of the school day, and she told me that a student was asking to show me something.

When I went out to see the student he asked me to come with him to a teacher's classroom to see something him, another student, and an engineering teacher were thinking about.

I obviously obliged.

When I arrived the teacher told me that he had been thinking about school safety since a presentation was given by our local police department, and that he and the two engineering students thought of a way to better secure classroom doors in an emergency by creating a hinged metal frame to extend across door windows that would not only secure the window but also the door itself. When closed it would stick out no further than boxes that cover wires, and when opened would automatically click on the other side to a latch. A teacher would only need to unclick the frame, and it would open and lock on its own. They had built a quick model out of cardboard.

Obviously an awesome idea. It's great that students and staff are actively thinking about ways to make the school safer. Seeing it and leaving it at that would make this a great vignette about what's beneficial about critical thinking and solution-based learning. It would be a great example of student and staff investing in their school community.

But there's more.

We got to talking about taking it to the next level and building a more authentic prototype, and using the resources we have in our vocational technical high school to make this idea a reality.

One of the students said we could fabricate the metal in our manufacturing shop, and the other student said we could use the 3D printers in drafting to figure out how to build the latch.

The students said they would begin drawing up the designs to begin prototyping, and figuring out the measurements and math required to make the gate expand and move exactly how it needs to and the teacher said he would oversee the engineering. They also said they could figure out how to manufacture the whole thing for less than $10.

We are always looking for ways to make the school safer; the high prices we pay for security upgrades is well worth it if our school is safer, but imagine for a moment if this idea produces a viable prototype.

$10?! Sometimes my lunch costs more.

I don't know what will come from the prototyping, and whether this particular idea will produce as designed.

What I do know is that tools like 3D printers aren't awesome because they're cool; they're awesome because they represent the idea that one doesn't  have to purchase their solutions. 

What I do know is that when you have a community of problem solvers they may come up with ideas that solve problems.

What I do know is that when you have the tools in your school to allow the problem solvers to actually produce the thing meant to solve the problem they just may create the solution.

What I do know is that our first instinct is often to pay for someone to solve the problem, but outsourcing becomes less necessary when we can do it ourselves.

What I do know is that when we have the full capacity to create we're less dependent.

All you need are problem solvers and on-site prototyping.