Observing - Using Evidence

How many of us have received observation feedback about our teaching or observation notes that were riddled with the observer's ideas about what happened in our classes, rather than some straightforward evidence-centered notes capturing what they saw? How many of us have gotten feedback that sounded something like this: "You are doing such a great job!" "Your lesson was strong - I loved it!" "You are trying really hard, but your lesson was off pace." "The students were not engaged" or "The students were engaged."

Now, I'm not one to say that a kind word or an opinion about improvement is to be excluded from observation feedback completely, but such feedback, especially if it stands alone without some captured evidence for collaborative reflection with the observer, leaves little to go on regarding reflective thought. I believe observation notes that capture as much detailed evidence as possible about what transpires within a given lesson - around a clear area of focus for the observation - is perhaps the strongest entry point to facilitate thinking about pedagogy with ANY teacher.

The two observation techniques I use most often are Selective Scripting and Movement Patterns/Seating Chart. When using Selective Scripting, teacher and student actions, around an select observation focus, are noted in two separate columns labeled "T" and "S". The time is noted on the side. The Movement Patterns/Seating Chart includes a drawing of the layout of the classroom and then involves noting evidence of what is going on in the class, usually with shorthand.

After years of conducting at least 500 evidence-centered observations, I've found that keeping the focus on writing down what is happening, as exactly as possible, leads to a few important outcomes. First, I always notice something about my mentee's classroom and students that I never recognized before as a result of the evidence I'm capturing -- this opens up future topics for conversation and a deeper understanding of my mentee's professional growth potential. It often leads to mentees noticing something about their classroom practice that they never noticed, either. I've witnessed many, many big "a-ha" moments when teachers review the observation notes I've gathered for them. Additionally, by virtue of capturing evidence, rather than opinion, it often happens that trends around equitable participation, equitable access to the curriculum, the nature of teacher talk, the nature of student talk, the nature of teacher questioning, learning needs of English language learners or special populations students, or the impact of teacher actions on student behavior are revealed. This is important, because the evidence speaks for itself, and if my mentee doesn't see it, I can then coach him or her to see it. From here we can often problem solve together around next steps to take pedagogically.

Here are a few ideas for capturing evidence when observing:

• Use exact numbers -- numbers of students with their hands raised, numbers of students who are present, number of minutes a teacher gives for an activity and the number of minutes it takes, number of available or unavailable materials, etc.
• Note the time regularly and randomly - this can be used to reflect on pacing in the debrief
• Use direct quotes
• Use student names when possible
• Capture exact student language - especially when they are working in small groups
• Capture exact student questions and "side talk" - especially when the student is confused
• Use drawings of the room layout to note where the teacher moves, to tally nature of student participation, to record which students are absent, to quote students based on where they sit.
• Note where boys and girls are sitting and capture their levels of and nature of participation if appropriate for the observation focus.
• Capture specific notes about focus students whenever possible.
• Talk to students quietly during independent practice time about what they are doing, what they understand or don't understand, what questions they still have, what they are learning, etc. Write down the questions and the students' answers.
• Use shorthand -- some shorthand I use includes S for student, T for teacher, R for redirect, A for answer, CO for called on, an up arrow for hand raised, a down arrow for called on, ? for question. Often the shorthand emerges within the observation based on what patterns are emerging that need to be captured. Just be sure to make a list of what the codes mean.

Debriefing observations will be the topic of my next blog entry. The debrief is a world of its own - but I'll sign off by saying that the notes are the entry to a collaborative conversation that consistently leads to learning and next steps when they are treated as such. Capturing precise, thorough observation notes lend themselves to an engaging, thoughtful debrief.

If you have any tricks or strategies that have proven effective when taking observation notes, please share them in a comment!

Thanks for reading!

Alison.