Observation by invitation and with purpose.
For context, stop and read Robert Kaplinsky’s
(@robertkaplinsky) #ObserveMe challenge if you haven’t.
How might we serve one another? What if we have questions about our practice? In a community of confident, competent risk-takers, it is safe to declare what we’d like to learn, our goals, and hoped for feedback.
Today, I served as observer-learner for two such teacher-learners.
Julia Kuipers (@J_kuipers3) 6th Grade Spanish:
Since Julia was seeking feedback on how much time they spoke in the target language, I tried to incorporate a timestamp in my sketch.
I could share my sketch in real-time prior to leaving the classroom for immediate feedback. Later in the day, I could reflect on Julia’s class and use my sketch, I could offer additional feedback in her feedback collection form.
Her feedback form:
I liked that I could write about what I noticed and what I wonder. I made sure that I commented on what I saw that could be used as evidence of time in the target language, students empowered to level up and stretch themselves, and students serving as resources for each other. I wondered about extending formative assessment to include performance as well as efficacy.
Megan Hayes-Golding (@mgolding) Physics:
First, it is important to note that we are not at the same school, though this is still observation by invitation and with purpose.
While my sketch chronicled my observation, I noticed and noted when Megan provided levels of challenge within an activity and when students were set up for success when working independently.
Since it was at the end of the day, I had the opportunity to debrief and offer direct feedback in conversation with Megan.
I am thankful for the learning experiences today. I am grateful for the invitations. I appreciate knowing what to observe so that I can learn and serve.
Observation by invitation and with purpose.
Everyone learns.
Wow!
Experiments in Learning by Doing 
[…] But I think the highlight of my day was when Jill Gough (@jgough) visited my classroom to #ObserveMe. Her blog post is here: “#ObserveMe – the other side“. […]
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This was a wonderful experience for me! And this coming from someone working under a strong observation protocol thanks to our Dean of Faculty. What I loved most today was that I got to ask you to look for stuff I want feedback on. In contrast, observations are driven by the observer’s agenda.
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Thanks Jill. I enjoyed reading this write up coming from the perspective of an observer. I’m glad that knowing what people were looking for feedback on was useful to you. Thanks for spreading the word!
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From Richard Elmore and Elizabeth City:
Peer-to-peer observation of practice creates a different approach to the systematic development of working practices. The unique feature of this approach is that observation is not carried out by a lone individual, but by a team of colleagues who create a collection of evidence around what they observe. Everyone involved in this process, whether observing or being observed, is a volunteer, and the focus is on the learning of the entire group, not solely on the feedback given to an individual observed teacher.
Your leadership, including #ObserveMe, values learning and builds teams.
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