Lenses for Observation

I once read a parenting book that encouraged, "Executive Parenting", basically choosing to be the CEO and putting as much investigation, research and executive thinking into your parenting as you would if you were running a company.   I think this operational approach is basically what this article is encouraging of us as educational observers and as educators.  

I find myself more overwhelmed than motivated by the article though it certainly provides many useful tools and ideas.  I think it mostly cautions us though to not let our own biases unduly impact our observations and teaching, to look for data and not jump to conclusions, to keep looking to observe and improve our own teaching methods and to look to mentor teachers for input and inspiration.

Especially helpful to me were the eight areas on which to focus observation.  I thought the suggestion to observe how the children feel about themselves, about one another nd about their classroom is particularly important as we spend so much time thinking about what the teacher is doing and the objective assessments but we haven't discussed much yet the notion that the classroom climate is also reflective of the overall experience.  I wonder how to apply that to some of the classes we've seen at Amadon.  Are the children peaceful and cooperative or scared and subdued?  

My two rotations have been with older populations in non-traditional settings and I look forward to keeping these tips in mind when I finally make it to a classroom!