Comments on: Was I just caught with my pants down?

By: LAM Brewster

LAM Brewster — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:49:00 +0000

I can TOTALLY relate to this experience. Luckily for me, when my impromptu visitors came in, a student said “Ms. Marcoccio is a good teacher!” … This sort of gave me a silent mental boost and to even make things better, when one of my students noticed me trying to write the missing objectives on the board, he said “…Miss, are we STILL elaborating and extrapolating words?…” I said, you bet ya and changed my position in the room altogether… I gave my dry erase marker to a student and let her teach how to use the FRAYER model. Now they are volunteering to go to the board frequently to demonstrate how to use the Herringbone graphic organizer + write a one – sentence main Idea statement + one to three line summary… I don’t know about you but I am REALLY tired of the unannounced visits. No one EVER sees the “I do” or “We do” or “You do” crap we are being asked to perform religiously and of course, where is everyone when we have those wonderful “teachable moments” or our kids have that “Ah Ha moment”? I didn’t sign up to be an actress. I don’t want to memorize scripts and I find all these “suggestions” fake and God Knows, FASTER DOES NOT = RIGOR….Grrrrrrr… I will stop here. But, you get it. Why? Because we ARE competent. We CAN think outside the box. So why is EVERYONE trying so hard to stuff us into one?

By: A Teacher’s Lessons from Writing, Part 2 » Edurati Review

A Teacher’s Lessons from Writing, Part 2 » Edurati Review — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:21:53 +0000

[...] classroom can be intimidating. Many of us have experienced the administrator and clipboard fly-by described by Alan Sitomer, which was most likely followed by a brief discussion in the administrator’s office with the [...]

By: Jim Jordan

Jim Jordan — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:12:00 +0000

Interesting metaphor. Somehow I do not believe you are ever unprepared in the classroom. When an admin comes into my classroom, I am excited that they are actually observing the teaching process in action. Seeing real kids in the process of learning.
I enjoy it most when we are able to have a dialogue about what they have seen and what my goals were. But that will not always be practical. I am just excited that they cared enough to come in to see what matters MOST in schools-the interaction between students and teachers.

By: Rodney Turner

Rodney Turner — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:24:00 +0000

I know what you mean! In my district we have the fly-bys, but our admins are good about telling us that they are coming through. Even our Super does fly-bys, but our admins tell us she is coming and when. The way I feel about it is that if my pants are down when they are not to be, then I need help to make sure they stay up. If the pants are up and I hear nothing about it then I’m doing fine.

By: Tweets that mention Was I just caught with my pants down? Â» Alan Lawrence Sitomer -- Topsy.com

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:19:31 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by kdwashburn and Shelly S Terrell, Alan Sitomer. Alan Sitomer said: Was I just caught with my pants down? http://bit.ly/5bn0gL [...]

By: Jim Jordan

Jim Jordan — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:12:29 +0000

By: Rodney Turner

Rodney Turner — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:24:29 +0000

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:15:00 +0000

My school does this… but I have the P the VP AND a ‘Teaching Coach’ that is supposed to help us with classroom management and instructional strategies… during one 8 day period I had 6 such observations… it made me feel like a criminal… Big Brother is watching…

We get a copy of the page that they mark down everything they see on… whether there is student work up (why do they always come just as I’m changing my boards?) whether the teacher is instructing at the bottom of Blooms (why do they come when I’m reviewing?) whether the students are behaving (why do they come the day of the pep rally, right after there has been a fight in my hall, and WHY do they visit my worst class 2 times for every time they come to a ‘good’ class?)

I’ve given up being worried about these visits. If I am such a bad teacher they would have fired me by now!!

By: Miss Cheska

Miss Cheska — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:39:00 +0000

When I student taught, the thought of observations, especially by the principal, was really nerve-wracking. I remember spending days and weekends reading everything I could on classroom management and interesting techniques to teach content in new different ways, so that I could blow everyone out the water with my stellar lesson plans. Thinking back, I wish my supervisor, or cooperative teacher–someone– had told me to take it easy. To refocus my attention. To shift my lens back to the students, and not on the principal or some other administrator, in hopes of making a good first impression. After all, those adults weren’t *really* the ones I was working for.

By: lucerom

lucerom — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:15:40 +0000

My school does this… but I have the P the VP AND a 'Teaching Coach' that is supposed to help us with classroom management and instructional strategies… during one 8 day period I had 6 such observations… it made me feel like a criminal… Big Brother is watching…

We get a copy of the page that they mark down everything they see on… whether there is student work up (why do they always come just as I'm changing my boards?) whether the teacher is instructing at the bottom of Blooms (why do they come when I'm reviewing?) whether the students are behaving (why do they come the day of the pep rally, right after there has been a fight in my hall, and WHY do they visit my worst class 2 times for every time they come to a 'good' class?)

I've given up being worried about these visits. If I am such a bad teacher they would have fired me by now!!