Lesson Observation Tips

Before Your Observation

Whether you love or hate teacher observations, they happen. A lesson observation can be one of the most stressful parts of being a teacher, but it can also be gratifying. No matter how confident you are in your teaching skills or how well-behaved your students are, observations can be stressful. However you feel about lesson observations, here are some tips for doing BEFORE your observation to make it go smoothly!

Implement daily routines before the lesson observation

Instead of waiting until an observation happens, start implementing daily routines into your classroom. Keep them simple and real, and natural. Trust me, your admin will know if they’re not natural.

Have your materials prepped ahead of time

Try to get everything managed well by prepping your materials ahead of time using routines and rituals in the classroom.

Prepare for misunderstandings

Misunderstandings are bound to happen, especially if these systems are new. Prepare some responses, so you are ready!

Have a few ways to show mastery based on different levels

Plan your lessons based on showing off things you have mastered. However, this shouldn’t just be present in your lesson plan. Make sure it is based on different levels.

Use participation and engagement strategies

Tone and a variety of techniques can help your students engage with your lesson. Your observer will be watching to see if your students volunteer to answer questions, lesson, interact with other students when it comes to learning, and stay on task.

Have students move around

Help fidgeting students by encouraging them to move around. This could be using a thumbs up and down system to show they understand something or walk around the room to discuss topics with their classmates.

Have students self-assess and check for their own understanding

You can do this by using rubrics and other tools to complement your lesson plan.

Focus on student actions, not teacher actions.

The goal of an observation is to see how you are doing as a teacher and how your students respond to you. Keep this in mind as you prepare.

Have standards-based goals/objectives

Go into your observation with a plan! Make standards-based goals and objectives for the day, so you know what you are working toward!

Be able to show student learned evidence

Strategic questioning can be great during observations! Stretch your students’ thinking beyond simple yes and no questions and ask them strategic questions to help showcase their level of understanding.

Make sure you have time management strategies in place

As teachers, we are always battling the clock! Make sure that you’re using your time effectively. Don’t spend half the time teaching concepts only to have your students run out of time when it comes to getting the work done. However, you also don’t want to rush through your lesson so fast that your students don’t understand the concepts. Make sure each part of your lesson has plenty of time.