Classroom visitations

I am so excited! In two days I will be visiting my alma mater to observe English classes.

My motivation is twofold. First of all, I believe it’s incredibly important to keep developing as a professional, and I believe that part of that is observing other teachers, no matter what grade level or subject matter. I’ve observed teachers in my department at the school that I work at, and now I’m going to observe teachers at a school that is almost the complete opposite of where I work. Secondly, I want to see what a “non failing” school looks like. I have the sneaking suspicion that I’m not going to see anything “amazing” happening. Not to say that I will not see great teaching, I’m sure I will, just that I will not see as big a difference in the teachers or the teaching styles as I will see in the students sitting and learning.

I think the disparities in public education in this country stem from the socioeconomic status of our students, in addition to the bureaucracy that keeps butting their noses in. There are few other occupations where the government feels the need not only to tell you what you should be doing in your job, but exactly how you should be doing it. People who have not set foot in the classroom for years, and people who have not set foot in a classroom since they were a student are continually telling us how we should run our curriculum.

So, my hypothesis: the teaching will look like what we all know good teaching to look like, and the students will be an entirely different group from what I’m used to.