As we continue to evolve in improved instructional practices at Hadfield School, recently we introduced the School District of Waukesha (SDW) walk through tool with teachers. This tool directly aligns with Hadfield's school improvement plan (SIP) on focusing on 1 high leverage strategy, "evidence of student thinking."
Every building in SDW will be utilizing this " tool" to collect data on classroom practices related to evidence of student thinking and to provide a reflective question to teachers from the observer. You can see the screen shots below from the actual tool below. These walk throughs are approximately 2 minutes in duration.
At Hadfield, we will have the official launch of "evidence of student thinking" during the October 30th professional development day. Teachers can expect a healthy dose of Depth of Knowledge (DOK), Enduring Understanding, and Essential Questions to help support them in developing instructional practices that support student thinking in writing and communication.
Mini Observations
We are using this tool in addition to "mini-observations," which are 15-20 minutes in length. The mini-observations will continue take place in Teachscape and serve a different purpose in terms of feedback to teachers as evidence is collected primarily in domains 2 and 3 of the Danielson framework. Minimally, teachers can expect 1 mini-observation per month at Hadfield.
Providing meaningful feedback and creating professional dialogue with teachers around their instruction is a significant factor in improving student achievement.
Providing meaningful feedback and creating professional dialogue with teachers around their instruction is a significant factor in improving student achievement.
