Why you should be on the ball every day.

There is a lot of talk in schools, especially with the number of observations we get.

I am supposed to get something like 1 walkthrough a month (5-7 minutes), 3 informal observations (10-20 minutes), and 3 formal observations (an entire class period, advanced notice with a pre-conference and a post conference). 

I'm going to be honest... it doesn't bother me. I wish people came through more often actually. 

But there are a lot of teachers it does bother. And I can understand it - it is really nerve wracking to know someone is coming to judge how you are doing - it could be a bad day, and activity that isn't going well or something you haven't tried before and are unsure how your students will react. 

But here is why you should be on the ball every day.

Today, for 20 minutes, with no notice given to me, the superintendent and the assistant superintendent watched my class do a lab. 20 minutes is FOREVER in middle school time! 

Here is what was awesome about that...

1: It was a lab! We do at least one a week but I was SO glad she caught us on a lab day!

2: It used the iPads. Literally only as a stop watch and then a calculator but I don't think they caught that part...

3: The kids were working in collaborative groups. Ever since the Kagan's became super famous in education collaborative grouping is a buzzword. 

4: They got to see my kids transition from gathering data to analyzing the data. Yay!

5: My outfit today is pretty cute... (not totally relevant for education but also relevant to life)

Here is what was not so awesome...

1: I got really excited when I saw them coming and started sweating. And then she took a picture with me. 

2: I had plan period afterwards and no one answered my excited phone calls to tell them about.

But if any lesson is to be learned from this - be on the ball every day! I usually am (and I'm not sure how people aren't... have you seen our pacing guides?!?) but this was a great extra reminder.