Wednesday, May 13, 2015

How To Conduct Effective Classroom Walkthroughs

By Tammie Caldwell


It is already in the middle of summer. Vacation is almost coming which makes every student excited. Yet there are things that the school principal and teachers must do to validate everything everyone has done inside the learning area. School leaders are the ones who are assigned in administering a classroom walkthrough to ensure the improvement of the teachers, students and the school.

School leaders are generally the ones who are appointed in observing the teachers during classes. It is essential that they remain focus on the observation process. Classroom walkthroughs are important because it allows the school leader to know what things must be done in obtaining a good educational institution. A walkthrough is also called as a classroom observation or learning walks. It is a process wherein it guides to the professional improvement of the teachers.

Before starting the walkthrough, the school leader must know things that reflect to the method first. Though observing the class may only take you a minimum of three minutes yet there are still a wide variety of things that you must do. It is advised to have the observation only for a few minutes. It is not only the school leader who is involved in this procedure but the executives, instructional leaders and the educators are also part of it as well.

What matters most for the observation is it can give opportunity to give feedback to the teachers. The feedback can aid them in having reflections of their practice. It also aids in the improvement of the student achievement towards its goals.

During the walkthrough, observing the performance of the learners also matter since they are part of the learning environment. Even by just watching them for a few minutes will already give you perception about how active and engaging the learners are during the lesson sharing. What these students do, so you will know their engagement, is the way they take down notes, listen to the discussion or interact to the teacher.

Ethical standards must be shown during the lesson proper. It is fundamental that the learning objectives are related to the curriculum. Instructors must always do it to ensure students understanding towards the lesson given. It is inappropriate that educators will jump from a single lesson to another topic which is already far away from the preceding one.

The connection of the lesson absolutely matters. You have to observe about the connection of the lessons to the previous learning objectives. It is important that the matters are in connection since it can greatly affect the learning of the students since lessons are basically done in a step by step process. It is not right that a teacher will jump into another lesson far away from the previous objectives since students will find it hard to connect the lessons.

The instructional strategies used by the teacher also matters in the development of the learners. The way he gives the lessons can greatly give resonance to the acquisition of the children. There are known to be a lot of strategies every teacher administers during the learning session. They can pick out the one which they think is effective in allowing learners to understand the lessons effectively. Students will naturally be seen jotting down notes or answering problems.

Informing the staff before administering the walkthrough is crucial so they will all be ready. Everyone must note safety and health issues. If you want to spend more minutes during the process, telling the teacher about it must be done. It is crucial for every educational institution to do walkthroughs since it is a great aid in knowing what things to improve and what ways are already effective.




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