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.
The rounds cannot be used every now and then since in that case there would be nothing new you are learning from your colleague. However, they are organized once a semester or once a year where there is bound to be something new to learn. It is also meant to give the other teachers to practice the positives that they have observed from their counterparts.
The schools that are seriously into this have permanent lead teachers who run the process. There are some teachers who do not like the process as they think they are being analyzed or judged. They have to get taught to believe otherwise if they have to learn maximally and benefit a lot as well. No teacher should be forced into the group, it is completely voluntary. The very experienced teachers are chosen to begin with as the new ones have more to learn from them.
Smaller groups for conducting the rounds are preferred. A group of three to four teachers is okay not counting the lead teacher. The teachers have to alert their classes that they will receive other teachers in their class room for the exercise. The students have to understand that the teachers are learning from each other, just like what students do.
The observing teachers arrive when the lesson is going on. They knock at the door and once they are allowed in, they slowly walk to the back of the classroom and sit. They should not disrupt the class whatsoever. They take notes and observe how the instructor of that class works. They may choose to observe on a general level or just what interests them.
The observation takes no more than fifteen minutes. They have to take notes of both the good and the bad that they observe. This is not a rating exercise but one where they learn from each other on the best teaching methodologies. Once the observation exercise ends, they leave the class not forgetting to thank both the teacher and the students.
As soon as the observation period is over, they have to meet and discuss what they noted down. They take turns to each bring out their points and finally the lead teacher summarizes the discussion. The discussion is not to portray the teacher negatively but to encourage them to continue with their strong points and drop the bad ones. For this to be possible, rules have to be set and followed.
The positives have to turn out more than the negatives, otherwise this will discourage the teachers from participating. Rules are very important in such a forum as there are some teachers who might choose to annoy others just for the sake. Those who cannot follow them ought to be ejected from the group before they destroy relationships between them and their colleagues.
The rounds cannot be used every now and then since in that case there would be nothing new you are learning from your colleague. However, they are organized once a semester or once a year where there is bound to be something new to learn. It is also meant to give the other teachers to practice the positives that they have observed from their counterparts.
The schools that are seriously into this have permanent lead teachers who run the process. There are some teachers who do not like the process as they think they are being analyzed or judged. They have to get taught to believe otherwise if they have to learn maximally and benefit a lot as well. No teacher should be forced into the group, it is completely voluntary. The very experienced teachers are chosen to begin with as the new ones have more to learn from them.
Smaller groups for conducting the rounds are preferred. A group of three to four teachers is okay not counting the lead teacher. The teachers have to alert their classes that they will receive other teachers in their class room for the exercise. The students have to understand that the teachers are learning from each other, just like what students do.
The observing teachers arrive when the lesson is going on. They knock at the door and once they are allowed in, they slowly walk to the back of the classroom and sit. They should not disrupt the class whatsoever. They take notes and observe how the instructor of that class works. They may choose to observe on a general level or just what interests them.
The observation takes no more than fifteen minutes. They have to take notes of both the good and the bad that they observe. This is not a rating exercise but one where they learn from each other on the best teaching methodologies. Once the observation exercise ends, they leave the class not forgetting to thank both the teacher and the students.
As soon as the observation period is over, they have to meet and discuss what they noted down. They take turns to each bring out their points and finally the lead teacher summarizes the discussion. The discussion is not to portray the teacher negatively but to encourage them to continue with their strong points and drop the bad ones. For this to be possible, rules have to be set and followed.
The positives have to turn out more than the negatives, otherwise this will discourage the teachers from participating. Rules are very important in such a forum as there are some teachers who might choose to annoy others just for the sake. Those who cannot follow them ought to be ejected from the group before they destroy relationships between them and their colleagues.
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