Once a teacher has been trained and posted to his or her work station that should not be the end of their learning process. They ought to constantly engage in other simple learning processes that will help them remain relevant and adopt new and better teaching methods. This is possible with the development of the instructional rounds program where teachers learn from their colleagues.
These rounds are not tools that can be used throughout but only once in a while. It is recommended that a teacher uses them once a semester though it could be more depending on their availability. They are availed to the teachers who want them by a lead teacher. The lead teacher should be respectable, a professional and preferably the head of a certain department or class.
In some schools they are also called instructional coaches, people who other teachers can listen to. Some people feel uncomfortable with such arrangements thinking that they are being valued, which is not necessarily the case. The teachers who are observed do so on a voluntary basis. However, some veterans in the field can also be chosen to demonstrate how it works to those who are new to the rounds. Any teacher can volunteer his or her class for the rounds.
The groups do not exceed five people counting the lead teacher too. More people would also work but this would disrupt the class too much as they settle down, they would be harder to control and the discussion would take less. The students require to be informed too before the time arrives as they are also part of the process. This is a learning process for the teachers as it usually is for students.
The rounds are done in a real class, during a real class time and with real students. This is because a practical lesson ought to be as it will be in real life. The learning process will be more fruitful this way too. There are seats at the back of the class preserved for them. They need to avoid any noise or disruptions to the class as much as possible. Failure to this, they will end up being more of a bother to the students which is not worth it.
The rounds take no more than fifteen minutes to avoid too much disturbance to the students as well as so that the teachers can go back to their classes. The teachers need to take notes for future reference and also so that they cannot forget any point during the discussion. Moreover, they have to be very keen on what is going on since they have to try by all means to get something good from the lesson.
After the class, they meet after the classes for a discussion. They bring up the positives about what they observed after which they bring up the negatives. They do not dwell too much on the negatives neither do they bring them up bluntly and rudely. Actually, the negatives are brought up as questions in a bid to be polite and thoughtful.
The positives are mentioned first. The negatives are not brought out directly but as questions or just raising concerns. This helps the teacher who was being observed noting the practices they should continue to use, those they should change and the observers also learn what to adopt as well as those they should not adopt.
These rounds are not tools that can be used throughout but only once in a while. It is recommended that a teacher uses them once a semester though it could be more depending on their availability. They are availed to the teachers who want them by a lead teacher. The lead teacher should be respectable, a professional and preferably the head of a certain department or class.
In some schools they are also called instructional coaches, people who other teachers can listen to. Some people feel uncomfortable with such arrangements thinking that they are being valued, which is not necessarily the case. The teachers who are observed do so on a voluntary basis. However, some veterans in the field can also be chosen to demonstrate how it works to those who are new to the rounds. Any teacher can volunteer his or her class for the rounds.
The groups do not exceed five people counting the lead teacher too. More people would also work but this would disrupt the class too much as they settle down, they would be harder to control and the discussion would take less. The students require to be informed too before the time arrives as they are also part of the process. This is a learning process for the teachers as it usually is for students.
The rounds are done in a real class, during a real class time and with real students. This is because a practical lesson ought to be as it will be in real life. The learning process will be more fruitful this way too. There are seats at the back of the class preserved for them. They need to avoid any noise or disruptions to the class as much as possible. Failure to this, they will end up being more of a bother to the students which is not worth it.
The rounds take no more than fifteen minutes to avoid too much disturbance to the students as well as so that the teachers can go back to their classes. The teachers need to take notes for future reference and also so that they cannot forget any point during the discussion. Moreover, they have to be very keen on what is going on since they have to try by all means to get something good from the lesson.
After the class, they meet after the classes for a discussion. They bring up the positives about what they observed after which they bring up the negatives. They do not dwell too much on the negatives neither do they bring them up bluntly and rudely. Actually, the negatives are brought up as questions in a bid to be polite and thoughtful.
The positives are mentioned first. The negatives are not brought out directly but as questions or just raising concerns. This helps the teacher who was being observed noting the practices they should continue to use, those they should change and the observers also learn what to adopt as well as those they should not adopt.
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