Classrooms, whether physical or virtual, are where the action is for a school, but all too often school leaders and their teams do not get to see them. There are many distractions every hour but should this really keep us from observing the teaching and learning taking place for our kids? For the vast majority of circumstances, the answer is a resounding no.
School leadership teams should schedule and execute frequent classroom walkthroughs to generate informal feedback for teachers. This practice norms leadership teams, raises expectations for instruction, helps with managing classrooms, and makes students and teachers feel noticed by administrators.
In my own work, I have found leadership walkthroughs be transformational. They have been instrumental in developing teachers and leaders and help shape student culture.
Managing Classrooms with Leadership Walkthroughs
- Schedule a minimum of one 40-minute walkthrough for all leaders to attend together.
- Plan to see at least five classrooms for each walkthrough in order to give informal feedback and generate trends across the school.
- Spend five to ten minutes in each classroom observing for student engagement and school wide priorities.
- Each leader should calculate the student on-task percentage while observing the teacher.
- Debrief the observation in a private space where leaders can feel free to be candid with their thoughts and share their on-task percentage.
- Norm around the on-task percentage, affirmations for the teacher’s work, the impact that action had on their students, and one piece of critical challenge feedback you want to share with them (AIC feedback)*.
- Assign one leader to meet with and share the AIC Feedback with the teacher.
Here is the link to a helpful walkthrough tracker. It will be your one stop shop for which of your teachers have been observed, what the student on task percentage was during the walkthrough, and what feedback was to be delivered.
By Chris Cantu, CT3 Associate
Check out CT3 Education programs such as No-Nonsense Nurturer, Real Time Teacher Coaching, and Real Time Leadership Coaching to find out more about Professional Development for Teachers and Leaders, classroom management strategies, and building relationships with students and their families, and properly addressing important issues in the classroom and school.
Category: Education, Leadership, Teaching
