TN teacher evals: that time when I learned I wasn't perfect

I'm back -- with striking brown eyes. See above.

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There's often a gulf between how ed reform ideas look on paper and how those ideas play out at the classroom level. In other news, sugar tastes good and the Cubs won't win the World Series this year.

So I'm going to be discussing over the next few posts how some of the big reform pieces have affected my classroom. I'll start with an update about how Tennessee's new teacher evaluations impact me.

The headline is that the new evaluation process significantly improved my teaching. I've been evaluated by the old system in a district school and the new system in a charter school. I got better scores on the former; the latter was more honest and actually helped me do my job better.

That's due to both the rigorous rubric and how the dean of instruction at my school scrupulously implemented it. Sure, I could quibble with a few details, but the process as a whole is solid. It's impossible to construct an evaluation process that leaves everybody happy. Given the purposes of evaluation, it's going to bruise egos. Mine certainly was -- and that's a good thing for both myself and my students.

"If there's anything more important than my ego on this ship, 

I want it caught and shot right now."

***

Teaching is, above all else, a skill. As such, it requires an outsider's perspective to polish it. I can't think of a skill -- throwing a football, playing the piano, cooking a soufflé --  in which coaching isn't necessary.

But the process of coaching isn't easy because nobody likes to be told they aren't doing something well. The process is even harder if, like me, you've taught for several years and are used to running class a certain way.

The thing is, the feedback that I got was in no way earthshaking. She wanted me to improve the depth of my questioning. It wasn't rejiggering my classroom setup or chucking out huge parts of my classroom. It's just a seemingly small technique that's easy to overlook during the day-to-day grind of teaching.

It has also made a significant difference.

Before the evaluation, I knew my classroom culture needed a jolt. Students were doing the assignments that I asked, but quiz results showed they weren't absorbing knowledge at the rate they needed to do so. When teaching students that are several years behind, there's an impetus to learn quickly. Time is an enemy. 

In the classes following my evaluation, I paid more attention to asking questions. This meant slowing down class and scheduling fewer activities, but staying with those activities for a longer time. Some students hesitated when being asked to show deeper levels of knowledge. We didn't exactly produce material for an inspirational montage, á la Freedom Writers. 

There was, however, improvement in ways measurable and not. Sure, my pride took a minor hit when the problem was identified and most kids were caught off-guard when pushed to explain and analyze in new ways, but it helped them learn. That's why the taxpayers are paying me.

A rigorous evaluation engenders some anxiety. I was more than a little nervous on the day of mine. The bottom line, though, is that it's a reasonable process and necessary to actually improving the delivery of instruction. 

If done correctly, it shouldn't be comfortable. It will, however, help with teaching the kiddos.