Yes in the district where I live in order for the teacher to be observed by the principal they must be notified ahead of time. I believe it is 24 hours. The principal may not just come in and watch. Ad I'm not 100% sure of this fact but I do believe they are only allowed so many observations per year. I am 100% sure about the notification. If they don't want the princ. watching they just keep the door closed and if it has a window they cover it. I also know not all teachers get observed every year.
Are you serious? That would never fly in my district. They come in whenever they want and for whatever subject they want. Some of the administrators will tell first year teachers a date for their first observation because they want them to be a bit more relaxed. Personally though, I don't want to know when they are coming because I would end up over thinking things. If you do your job everyday, then no need to worry.
Observations in my district have to be done by March 31st so any time between September and April is fair game. Non-tenured teachers get 7 "official" observations and tenured get 3, but as I said before, we get many unofficial ones as well. The official ones are full write up, go in your folder observations. There is no limit to the unofficial ones. My VP usually follows up with an email if she has comments, praise or suggestions.
We also can't cover our windows, that's a big no-no. When they walk in, you better have your planbook open on your desk so that they can see what you're teaching and the standards you are meeting. We also have to post our objective for each subject on the board each day.
Most districts have a policy in place about this of some sort. In our district you were observed the first two years several times. After that it was every other year.
After several years they would just come in for about 10-15 min. a couple of times if you had previous excellent reviews. After I became a school counselor I was told that teachers have a reputation and admin. knows which ones are towing the line and which aren't.
I get this. Teachers who constantly send out kids because they can't handle their classrooms, teachers who have a lot of complaints from parents, students who admin hear complaints about over and over from students, well, word gets around. The opposite is also true.
Maybe I'll try telling my principal "not now" when he comes this year and see what he does
Dawn
Wow, wow, and wow. Our observations are for the full period. That's 40 minutes for SS, Science and Health and 80 minutes if they come for Math or Literacy.
See that's where I have the problem with this merit pay thing. I ALWAYS end up with rough kids because I can handle them. I just got my class list on Wednesday for this year and I can't tell you how many kids I've already been warned about. One of the 3rd grade teachers would ask me almost every day last year about a boy she had the year before. I think she wanted me to have problems with him so that she could prove it was him and not her that was the problem. I loved the kid.
Every class I ever took had the majority of the students doing what they needed to do to succeed. That included doing homework, participating in class, interacting with the teacher, etc. Yes there were always some bad seeds but the majority of the kids were there to learn.
I think it's just an excuse to say, "oh well there might be situations at home that prevent the student from .. blah blah blah." Those situations are few and far between and if most of the kids are scoring well, the teacher is doing their job. You're gonna tell me that when 90% of a teachers students score poorly, all of those kids have issues at home that prevent their learning? Get outta here... that's why education in the country has gone down the absolute tube the past 20 years.
In middle and upper middle class schools, I'm sure that's the case. However, we don't all teach in those near perfect settings. In your mind, every student, or almost every student pays attention, does their work and goes home to a happy home. That's not everyone's reality though.
Did you ever have to steal from your school's cafeteria so you could bring food home to your younger siblings? Ever go to school in the dead of winter without a coat? Ever not been able to go on a class trip because the two dollars that it cost wasn't in the budget? Then you really can't talk.
I have kids with one or both parents in jail, kids that were placed with grandparents because mom was a junkie. One year I had a girl whose father beat her baby brother and killed him as she watched from another room. The mother was also sent to jail because she stabbed the father after watching what he was doing. Mom and dad both in jail and the girl was sent to grandma's. I've had kids whose fathers were killed in gang related shootings and kids that themselves at 9 and 10 were being recruited into that gang lifestyle. My very first year, one of my girls told me that her mother's boyfriend was touching her inappropiately and when she told her mother, she hit her and told her to stop lying. I could go on and on.
It's nothing like the school I went to growing up and it was a huge culture shock my first year. The easy answer is always, "well you don't have to stay". My answer is, "Then who will teach these kids?" I love my job, as tough as it may be. I don't think I should be penalized though for things that are way beyond my control.
Teachers currently teaching are just looking to cover their behinds. I'll trust Arnie Duncan, you know, the guy who is the boss of all the teachers.
Why are you listening to Arnie Duncan? He's not an educator. He doesn't have a degree in education. He tried this whole pay for performance thing in Chicago and it was a failure. Why would he or anyone else think it would work now?
