Amy was one of my former students. She was bright and hard working. She was a new teacher in a school and she learned a good lesson about teaching during her first observed lesson.
Off and on, she heard of many horror stories about new teachers being observed by their supervisors or principals. She wouldn’t believe what those people said that the formal observation was one of the most nerve-wrecking experiences. She thought to herself: As long as I am well prepared, I am confident that I can do a good job.
The day came very soon after she started her teaching career. Per her principal’s request, she presented three different time slots and three choices of lessons that she was to teach for the pre-conference meeting. The stern, authoritative principal discussed with her about the lesson and procedures, and set a time to observe her teaching.
Being young, energetic, and passionate about her work, she tirelessly prepared for the first observation. She wanted the lesson to be exciting and engaging. She rehearsed a couple of times and she even visualized the lesson in her head the day before the observation. She knew she had everything under her control. The principal came a few minutes earlier and sat in the back corner. She started the lesson with her best effort. The activities went smoothly. Her students enjoyed the lesson activities as they eagerly participated in the lesson activities. The principal remained his stern and authoritative look till the end of the lesson. He left without saying a word.
On a request for a post conference the following week, she went to the principal’s office. When asked to make a self-reflective remark, she expressed her satisfaction about her performance. She believed she did an excellent job: the lesson was successfully delivered and Students enjoyed the lesson very much.
To her surprise, the principal disagree with her. He said, “Although your lesson was very exciting, and your teacher presence and demeanors were good, you did not teach students any significant new stuff. Your lesson was filled with bells and whistles. However, I did not see new learning taking place. Students had a good time with the activities, but they did not accomplish anything but fun.”
Teaching is an act in contrast with learning. If students did not learn anything new, the teacher did not teach.
Jenny was another example. She was one of my former student teachers. Per my request of lesson observation, she tried to teach a lesson to a fifth grade class. She picked “My Many Colored Days” by Dr. Seuss. After reading the book out loud, she arranged a simple activity for the fifth graders to choose to draw an object and pick a color to fill. They would then each describe why they chose the color for the object. In her lesson objective, she stated that students will be able to describe their feelings with colors.
What an annoying lesson! Why can’t she find something more adequate to teach to these students?
