Six Things I Look For When I Visit A Classroom

Who’s doing the thinking?

When I observe a classroom, I pay close attention to who is doing the bulk of the thinking. I want to see teachers asking questions that require more than a rote response. I want to see teachers posing what if questions, asking follow-up questions that demand elaboration, and pushing students to dig deeper and go beyond the surface answer. I want to see teachers proposing interesting problems where the answer is not always so obvious and neat, and then scaffolding students to figure out the solution on their own. If the teacher is asking simplistic and leading questions, elaborating on students’ answers rather than pushing the students to go deeper, or solving problems while students watch, then the teacher is doing the thinking and not the students.

What is the level of instruction?

There are typically four stages of rigorous learning: acquisition, application, assimilation, and adaptation. When I visit classrooms, I try to figure out at what stage of the rigorous learning process is the instruction. Are students learning concepts or skills for the first time (acquisition)? Are they learning how to apply thinking skills to what they have learned (application)? Are they learning how to integrate individual thinking skills into a thinking process (assimilation)? Or, are they learning how to adapt what they know already to new, novel, or real-world situations (adaptation)? Paying attention to what stage of the rigorous learning process helps me to understand the purpose of instruction and give teachers feedback on how well their instructional activities match their intended purpose.

What is the objective?

When I visit a classroom, I don’t immediately look on the board to see the posted objective. I try to get a sense of the objective from the instruction itself. Once I think I have come upon the objective, only then to I look at the posted objective or essential question on the board. I am looking to see if the instructional strategies – from the warm-up, to the direct instruction, to the assignments and assessments – actually matches and moves students towards the objective.

How are the students engaged in the instruction?

When I can, I try to engage at least two or three students during my observation or walk-through. I want to see if they understand the purpose of the instruction or assignment and can explain to me what they are doing and what they are supposed to learn from it. If students consistently give me the same answer, I can tell that the teacher has done a good job of setting the purpose for learning. If students shrug or explain the work, as “this is what she told me to do” then I know that the teacher needs to do a better job of helping students understand the purpose of the learning.

What is the quality of the teacher-student relationship?

I pay close attention to how the teacher manages class behavior and engages with students. Does there seem to be a positive student-teacher relationship or is there tension, passive-aggressive animosity, or even open contempt? Do students seem to feel socially, emotionally, and psychologically safe, able to take risks, and willing to engage in instruction? Does the teacher seem to like his/her students? Relationships largely determine classroom climate which in turn it impacts student behavior and learning. Thus, it is important to me to see the teacher do things that convey high expectations for students, care and concern for their growth, and a real passion for their students’ learning.

What is the ONE thing that would immediately improve the instruction?

There is always room for improvement. I try to find at least one piece of advice I can offer that will improve the segment of instruction I’ve observed given who the teacher is, the students are, and the instructional goals. I don’t try to rewrite the teacher’s lesson plan, or offer how I might teach the class. I look for what that teacher can do given her lesson plan, teaching style, and instructional strategies. Because I am only observing a small slice of classroom instruction, I try to offer something tangible that the teacher can implement right away to immediately improve the lesson I saw rather than offer general advice about his/her teaching.