Learning Walk Through: How a simple activity can increase teacher effectiveness.

Learning walk through's are taking place more and more across the country as a way to promote positive communication between administration and teachers. If teachers are being evaluated using the Danielson model of instruction then they typically will have a formal evaluation, learning walk through, and then another formal. It is set-up this way so that there is a time to reflect and teachers to grow before they are evaluated for for final time.

The purpose is to be a non-evaluation but a conversation between principal and teacher to promote growth within the classroom. I have had some principals come in look around and leave. I have had other principals come in, sit and watch, talk to students, take notes, and come and talk to me. I think that depending on the authentic care and effort put forth by the administrator will determine the effectiveness of the walk through.

The problem with evaluation is that every principal is different and are looking for different things from teachers. If a principal wants traditional classrooms and traditional teaching then someone who is more progressive is going to struggle when it comes to evaluation.

Personally, I think that the 4cs :critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity should be looked at in a walk through. Are students engaged, encouraged to communicate and collaborate, what critical thinking is taking place, and are students given a way to be creative?

One way to remedy this and make the informal evaluations less stressful and more useful would be to implement learning walk through or instructional rounds at schools. Giving teachers the time and resources to go and observe other teachers in their buildings allows them to see good practices taking place. It also allows them to give constructive feedback to the teachers they observe so that they can be better. It's not an evaluation. It's a simple activity that can boost teacher performance, build collaboration among teachers, and make the building as a whole stronger.