My next evaluation got rescheduled last minute (for Friday). I will now be observed during my reading class. We are currently reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (just over half way through). Does anyone have any good ideas for activities I could use? I usually start by having my kids write either a summary, free response or prediction. Then we review the reading from the previous night, review the vocab and then get into the new reading assignment. Any help would be appreciated!!!
For your evaluation, your administrator wants to see what you do every day, not something 'wow' that you create just for that day. If you have a routine in place, stick with it; the students will be better behaved than if you throw something new at them. I would just do what you already have in your plans. Good luck! I booked my evaluation the other day, although it isn't until February. I told my principal that it didn't matter when she came in, because she wasn't getting anything different that what I would typically be doing.
I agree! The principal wants to see how you teach everyday. I would keep your routine in place. My suggestions, write out your questions that you want to ask or have a bulletin list of talking points. This will help keep the discussion focused as well as make sure that you hit the higher order thinking questions. Another thing I've found...admin have strange things that they look for. Ask around for what to be aware of. For example, one of my admin counted the number of times you called on boys vs. girls. Another admin timed teacher talk vs. student talk. Another teacher kept track of where I stood in the classroom. Very strange...but something to ask your fellow co-workers about.
I'd do what you have planned, but also as mopar suggested. Make sure you include higher order thinking activities (something you should be doing anyway) for your observation.
Many admins will give you this information themselves. Part of our evaluation process in my district includes a pre-observation meeting where the supervising administrator outlines everything they're expecting and wanting to see. Their goal in an evaluation isn't to try to trip us up or catch us doing something wrong; their goal is to observe how we teach and interact with our students. They give us what we need to know in order to be successful at that. And yeah, just do what you always do. You should already be addressing things like higher level thinking skills, frontloading, etc. They're all just the components of an effective lesson.
