Observations are always a bit nerve wracking. You may be on top of your game, but you never know when Johnny is going to kick off, when a last minute room change can occur, or when the fire alarm goes off.
Confidence is based on preparation and ensuring the observer can ‘read’ your lesson correctly.
Schools should be offering observations every term. This can be internal (department ‘buddying’, directorate or senior staff whole school reviews) or external (Local Education Authority or OFSTED).
Your internal team will be looking at which level they think you are (preparing for OFSTED), the standards of your teaching and learning in the class.
External will be looking at the whole school, so how effective the management and leadership and what outcomes the students at the school are securing.
The good thing with the latter, is that they will be looking first at what the management say about the school, then seeing if they are right. With an internal, they will be probably looking at your team, but there will be much more discussion about you as an individual.
There are many elements to an observation:
- the administration
- the behaviour of the students (positive and negative)
- your teaching
- the seating plan
- lesson content and outcomes
- the impact of this particular lesson in relation to the scheme of work and use of resources.
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