| Body | This activity is designed to help educators who are establishing or who have established a Professional Learning Community (PLC). It involves the Peer Classroom Observation Report, an adapted classroom observation tool originally developed by Dr. Julie Sykes.
Learning Objectives: Educators will be able to:
- Provide colleagues with clear, objective feedback on their teaching.
- Identify and evaluate evidence of contemporary pedagogical approaches to language acquisition in the classroom.
- Build a shared vocabulary to inform subsequent discussions related to language education.
Materials Needed: Colleague Classroom Observation Report
Procedure:
- Select a colleague that you would like to observe. While unnecessary, it is recommended that you all engage in reciprocal observations (you observe one another).
- Agree upon a time (at least 20 minutes) in which to execute your observation(s). Shorter time periods are perfect for observing targeted best practices, while longer observations allow for more comprehensive insight.
- Engage in the observation. As you observe, fill out the Colleague Classroom Observation Report. Be as objective as possible. For example, comments like “Learner was on his phone during video” are more helpful to debriefing with your colleague than “Learner was unengaged while the video played.”
- Schedule a time to debrief after your observation. If you decide to engage in reciprocal observations, it is best to debrief simultaneously.
- Provide your colleague with the Colleague Classroom Observation Report that you filled in either before or during your meeting to debrief.
Notes:
If you want to observe your colleague but your schedules don’t align, it is fine to record your classes and share the video recordings to inform the observations. Not all classroom interactions will be visible, but this approach is nice for its capacity to facilitate collaboration across various campuses.
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