As a school administrator, I go to quite a few classrooms. A few years ago, something started to rub me the wrong way. I thought I was doing a great job. I was going to multiple classrooms every day and observing what was going on. I was taking data, lots of data about what I observed. We used the data to inform our instructional practices; according to my job description I was on-point. What was bothering me though was how robotic I felt in my classroom visits. Checking to see if lesson objectives were posted, documenting whether or not technology was being used, looking for Schlechty's design qualities, and checking for what level of Bloom's the students were engaged in always left me wanting more from my classroom visits. Visiting classrooms and collecting data will always be a part of my job and for good reason, it's a valuable tool. I just didn't want it to be what kids remembered about my visits to the classroom. It just so happened that a teacher at my school asked me a pretty simple question that has ultimately paid huge dividends. She merely wanted to know if I would be willing to share an experience with her class. The experience? Adopting my daughter from China. She's a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher and the story fit her curriculum. I was honored and took her up on it. I've been doing it for years now and across multiple campuses. It's really helped me in two very important ways. The first is being able to reconnect with what it was to be a teacher. As an administrator, you should never lose sight of what it was like to be in the classroom. The second, it helps you build relationships with kids in an authentic setting. Kids got to see me pull back layers and be me in a very human way. Finally, it led to one of the best compliments that I have ever gotten from a student. I've posted it below (with the students permission, of course): Visiting classrooms is great but don't be afraid to engage in a classroom. Get up there, teach, tell a story or whatever else you can do. It's a great we to live out your purpose and inspire someone else along the way.
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AuthorJeff Lahey Archives
January 2020
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