Recently I was asked by some of the teachers on my grade level team if they could come and watch me teach a close reading lesson. The thought that immediately entered my mind was, "Please don't come watch me teach reading. I don't even know how I am doing in reading right now. If you only knew how much I want to observe close reading myself." However, because they were on my team and it is my job to support them in whatever way I can, I just smiled and asked, "What time do you want to watch me?" I didn't realize it at the time, but by simply agreeing to allow them to observe me I had made our first grade team stronger.
I was more than a little nervous. My students entered the room and I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. They were so excited to have the other first grade teachers watch them I found them even more engaged than usual. I had not realized until I watched the students interacting with the other teachers during the lesson that the students had developed strong bonds not only with me, but also with my team. The lesson ended and I looked at my teammates as if to say, " Okay, tell me how I can do it better." Instead I got a big hug and a few thank yous. More than that, we were able to improve our plans for the next few weeks. Now we were all able to look at close reading with the same perspective. I was able to pull ideas they used during guided reading and incorporate them into my close reading lessons and they were able to use what they saw during my lesson as well. Later that day during faculty meeting we were blessed to get to do learning walks in three of our other colleagues classrooms. They were also focusing on guided reading and close reading. Now we had a first grade perspective and a perspective across the grade levels as well.
Teachers observing other teachers is a daily occurrence at Jones. We all know that we can expect learning walks in our classrooms. The key is to remember they are 'learning' walks. The purpose is not to compare one another to see who is the better reading teacher. The point is to learn from each other. In my opinion, watching another teacher teach a subject I am struggling in is the best professional development I can attend. My best ideas are generated when I collaborate with someone else. I feel blessed to work with others who are not afraid to be transparent and let me learn from them. So take those opportunities to watch others teach and don't be afraid to share what you are doing in your classroom. If I had been unwilling to trust my team then I would have missed out on some valuable input from my colleagues. It is our willingness to learn from each other that makes us stronger and ultimately is what makes our instruction work.
Recently I was asked by some of the teachers on my grade level team if they could come and watch me teach a close reading lesson. The thought that immediately entered my mind was, "Please don't come watch me teach reading. I don't even know how I am doing in reading right now. If you only knew how much I want to observe close reading myself." However, because they were on my team and it is my job to support them in whatever way I can, I just smiled and asked, "What time do you want to watch me?" I didn't realize it at the time, but by simply agreeing to allow them to observe me I had made our first grade team stronger.
I was more than a little nervous. My students entered the room and I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. They were so excited to have the other first grade teachers watch them I found them even more engaged than usual. I had not realized until I watched the students interacting with the other teachers during the lesson that the students had developed strong bonds not only with me, but also with my team. The lesson ended and I looked at my teammates as if to say, " Okay, tell me how I can do it better." Instead I got a big hug and a few thank yous. More than that, we were able to improve our plans for the next few weeks. Now we were all able to look at close reading with the same perspective. I was able to pull ideas they used during guided reading and incorporate them into my close reading lessons and they were able to use what they saw during my lesson as well. Later that day during faculty meeting we were blessed to get to do learning walks in three of our other colleagues classrooms. They were also focusing on guided reading and close reading. Now we had a first grade perspective and a perspective across the grade levels as well. 
Teachers observing other teachers is a daily occurrence at Jones. We all know that we can expect learning walks in our classrooms. The key is to remember they are 'learning' walks. The purpose is not to compare one another to see who is the better reading teacher. The point is to learn from each other. In my opinion, watching another teacher teach a subject I am struggling in is the best professional development I can attend. My best ideas are generated when I collaborate with someone else. I feel blessed to work with others who are not afraid to be transparent and let me learn from them. So take those opportunities to watch others teach and don't be afraid to share what you are doing in your classroom. If I had been unwilling to trust my team then I would have missed out on some valuable input from my colleagues. It is our willingness to learn from each other that makes us stronger and ultimately is what makes our instruction work.
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