This week LHS embarks on our first set of instructional rounds. This is something that the Campus Design Team has been working toward since last summer. Instructional rounds consist of teachers visiting other teachers classes (3 teachers for about 10 minutes each for this first round) in order to just observe what is happening. No names, no PDAS implications, just teachers walking other teachers rooms to see what is happening at LHS.
After walking classrooms teachers debrief and identify patterns and contrasts that were seen in all classes. Ultimately we will identify a "problem of practice" for LHS, which is just pedagogy talk for a goal to work on as a faculty and campus. What makes this different from every other set of walkthroughs? This is teachers walking, teachers observing, teachers identifying trends, teachers choosing a goal, and teachers planning to achieve that goal. Rather than relying on data handed to us by outside consultants, we are taking responsibility for our own community and deciding how we want to proceed. Hopefully this will lead to some really productive discussions and teachers taking ownership for implementing positive changes.
On a personal note I am excited about getting to walk through and see some of the fantastic things that other teachers are doing. We all tend to get comfortable in the activities that we do and not branch out or push ourselves. Instructional rounds give me time to gain some new ideas and steal them for my classroom.
To learn more about instructional rounds check out the article by Elizabeth City in Educational Leadership, or you can just email me and I will send you in the right direction!
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