On Feedback... for Teachers
I had my first performance appraisal today since my NTIP. It has been several years since I have been given formal feedback about how I teach. And, while having someone evaluate me is always nerve wracking -- especially when it is related to something that I care deeply about -- a few hours later, I've come to the conclusion that I really liked it. Am I ridiculous? Somehow, I don't think so, and that's probably why I'm writing now.
As I was driving home today, and reflecting on the morning, I had a couple of of different thoughts related to being evaluated. Of course, the fear side of my brain went into overdrive doubting and questioning -- why didn't you think of that already? How could you have not done that thing that seems super obvious once someone has pointed it out? Does this mean that I'm not really good at what I do? But once I got that out of the way, I could really think a bit more deeply about what I had experienced. No one is perfect. And as a teacher you are juggling so many things that there are always balls dropped -- the important thing is prioritizing those balls, and knowing when to let something go in order to preserve something else. Here's the thing though, having someone look at what you're doing from an outside perspective and give you feedback? That's priceless. I have a few concrete things to work on now. I have a couple more things to juggle and prioritize as I work with students. I can think critically about the feedback and decide what is worth focusing on, what might not have happened today but usually works well, and what things I might disagree or want more clarification with. After less than 12 hours, I am that kid on the rollercoaster saying "let's go again!" I want more. Let me work on a few of those things and then, can you take another look?
Why do I feel this way? Well, as teachers, we spend a lot of our time giving feedback. We check in informally or formally, we give comments back on student work, we're constantly letting students cycle through the feedback loop of their learning. And how else do they learn? How else do teachers learn? I consider myself a pretty reflective practitioner. I read books, take courses, listen to podcasts, go to conferences, I'm on twitter... all of that good stuff, and I try my best to think deeply about things before I incorporate them into my teaching. That's all great, and that's what most teachers do in terms of developing their skills. But where is the feedback? How do I know that I am using that great new idea I heard about in a way that benefits my students the most?
When I was thinking and looking for things that I wanted feedback on during my lesson, I came across a blog entry by Robert Kaplinsky on the difference between #ObserveMe and Pineapple Charts. I'm not going to go into detail here -- the blog does an excellent job of that -- but in essence there's a movement of teachers who either put an #ObserveMe poster outside of their class with look fors for feedback and an invitation for others to come in, and/or have a schedule (pineapple chart -- not sure why it's a pineapple) of who's doing what somewhere like a staff room so teachers can go observe other classes. What an amazing couple of ideas! But I wonder what they are like in practice? People are busy, and not everyone (including I'm sure some pretty fantastic teachers) has the time or energy to give up their prep to give a colleague feedback. In order to work well, it probably requires a school culture where people are invested in using feedback as a tool for teachers, needs to have a core group of people invested and grows slowly (and probably ebbs and flows over time).
So, what's the solution to my feedback problem? How do I find a way to keep improving in ways that I don't immediately see myself? I think the simple answer is to ask. I don't teach somewhere I can solicit random teachers coming into my classroom, but I can talk to the other teachers and staff I work closely with, and ask them to pay attention to certain things for me from time to time. I would be happy to return the favour too (although I totally get that it might not be everyone's cup of tea). I need to think more about how to get more feedback from someone outside the classroom, but it probably boils down to just asking as well.
Putting yourself out there and looking for and receiving feedback requires courage. You're vulnerable when someone is taking a look at you critically (even in a place where you ask them to look). But as teachers it's what we do every day in reverse. We're constantly looking at what our students are accomplishing and giving them feedback to get better. Wouldn't we want that for ourselves too? I do, and I'm not going to let another few years go by before someone helps me out again.
As I was driving home today, and reflecting on the morning, I had a couple of of different thoughts related to being evaluated. Of course, the fear side of my brain went into overdrive doubting and questioning -- why didn't you think of that already? How could you have not done that thing that seems super obvious once someone has pointed it out? Does this mean that I'm not really good at what I do? But once I got that out of the way, I could really think a bit more deeply about what I had experienced. No one is perfect. And as a teacher you are juggling so many things that there are always balls dropped -- the important thing is prioritizing those balls, and knowing when to let something go in order to preserve something else. Here's the thing though, having someone look at what you're doing from an outside perspective and give you feedback? That's priceless. I have a few concrete things to work on now. I have a couple more things to juggle and prioritize as I work with students. I can think critically about the feedback and decide what is worth focusing on, what might not have happened today but usually works well, and what things I might disagree or want more clarification with. After less than 12 hours, I am that kid on the rollercoaster saying "let's go again!" I want more. Let me work on a few of those things and then, can you take another look?
Why do I feel this way? Well, as teachers, we spend a lot of our time giving feedback. We check in informally or formally, we give comments back on student work, we're constantly letting students cycle through the feedback loop of their learning. And how else do they learn? How else do teachers learn? I consider myself a pretty reflective practitioner. I read books, take courses, listen to podcasts, go to conferences, I'm on twitter... all of that good stuff, and I try my best to think deeply about things before I incorporate them into my teaching. That's all great, and that's what most teachers do in terms of developing their skills. But where is the feedback? How do I know that I am using that great new idea I heard about in a way that benefits my students the most?
When I was thinking and looking for things that I wanted feedback on during my lesson, I came across a blog entry by Robert Kaplinsky on the difference between #ObserveMe and Pineapple Charts. I'm not going to go into detail here -- the blog does an excellent job of that -- but in essence there's a movement of teachers who either put an #ObserveMe poster outside of their class with look fors for feedback and an invitation for others to come in, and/or have a schedule (pineapple chart -- not sure why it's a pineapple) of who's doing what somewhere like a staff room so teachers can go observe other classes. What an amazing couple of ideas! But I wonder what they are like in practice? People are busy, and not everyone (including I'm sure some pretty fantastic teachers) has the time or energy to give up their prep to give a colleague feedback. In order to work well, it probably requires a school culture where people are invested in using feedback as a tool for teachers, needs to have a core group of people invested and grows slowly (and probably ebbs and flows over time).
So, what's the solution to my feedback problem? How do I find a way to keep improving in ways that I don't immediately see myself? I think the simple answer is to ask. I don't teach somewhere I can solicit random teachers coming into my classroom, but I can talk to the other teachers and staff I work closely with, and ask them to pay attention to certain things for me from time to time. I would be happy to return the favour too (although I totally get that it might not be everyone's cup of tea). I need to think more about how to get more feedback from someone outside the classroom, but it probably boils down to just asking as well.
Putting yourself out there and looking for and receiving feedback requires courage. You're vulnerable when someone is taking a look at you critically (even in a place where you ask them to look). But as teachers it's what we do every day in reverse. We're constantly looking at what our students are accomplishing and giving them feedback to get better. Wouldn't we want that for ourselves too? I do, and I'm not going to let another few years go by before someone helps me out again.
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