Department leaders and grade level team leads/liaisons are in many ways the unsung heroes of the school. They have the incredibly tricky dual audience of admin and faculty colleagues. They have their feet on the ground, busy doing the work of teaching, but additional nagging responsibilities, like “oh yeah we have a meeting coming up!” or “have we completed our class observations yet?” or “which students get in the honors and AP classes?”
One aspect of the incredibly important department leadership job involves visiting classrooms and offering feedback/coaching. I think having this support from a colleague that is literally engaged in the same pedagogical and content pursuits is powerful, and the fact that it’s not your supervising boss in the room freaking you out is a bonus too. Hey, there’s a picture of one below!
Side note: I knew Marty was a great department chair before I officially joined the department to teach a section, but let it be known that now that I claim her as MY department chair, she is officially #winning every day. She is incredibly organized, a brilliant teacher to learn from, and 100% without a doubt on my side. This job is hard. So that last one goes a long way.
Anyway, Marty recently shared some notes from her class observations of our upper school English faculty that blew me away with their insight. Her level of precision in the observational write-up actually gave me a few teaching moves to steal, and I thought they may do the same for you. I invite you to summon your 10th-11th-12th grade selves and envision what it’s like to be in Cullen, Matt, and Paul’s classroom through the pen of Marty. (Also, to those that taught these 10th-12th graders once upon a time: look how great they are doing in English class now!)
Stop 1: Dr. Brown’s 10th Grade English
The first very “that’s so Dr. Brown” moment happened almost immediately as Ashton Busby has an incident with his waterbottle that results in water all over him, and Dr. Brown promptly redirects the class’s attention to a humorous story about himself jumping in the reservoir instead. As class begins in earnest (diving into Sir Gawain), it becomes clear that names are important. Just in the short time I was there, Dr. Brown used the names of 12 different students in the room, usually to validate or refer to a comment just made. As students offer observations about the reading, Dr. Brown keeps them grounded in the text by calling their attention time and again to various pages and passages, often reading them aloud. Rather than superficial affirmation, Dr. Brown re-emphasizes student points with phrasing such as “You seem to be noting [insert observation]” and to the student whose interpretation may have missed the mark, “Possibly! I haven’t thought about it in that realm.” Finally, after some discussion about the topic, Aarya ventured, “What’s a girdle?” I am reminded that even when our students are doing really highbrow analysis, they sometimes need help with the “more obvious,” and Dr. Brown has fostered a safe, respectful environment for students to query even the seemingly simplest questions.
Stop 2: Dr. Luter’s 11th Grade English
By the time I arrived, the students have already engaged in a writing activity in which they described a time in which they were “in awe” of something. They had also responded to the question, “What is something you know is true even though we can’t see it?” which Dr. Luter also posed to me upon my arrival. Apparently Phen Chandler and I said the same thing about dogs being good judges of character… All of these exercises prepared the students for an introduction to transcendentalism. As observed in the past, Dr. Luter continues to use language that prods students to think further, saying, “Keep going,” and “What do you mean?” Thoughtful of student limitations, Dr. Luter also alerted students to upcoming shifts in class with forward-looking language such as “I’m going to stick in lecture mode for 2 minutes longer,” and “One more paragraph before mid-class break.” Asking the students to signal with “nods or shakes,” Dr. Luter also stayed attuned to student comprehension along the way. I know that I should remain objective here and not compare, but having taught these students in 9th grade, I could not help but notice that several who did their best in 9th grade to go completely unnoticed in class were now freely offering their opinion and even detailing their personal experiences watching a meteor shower and floating in a mangrove forest. Dr. Luter (and Whitman) is right: they contain multitudes!
Stop 3: Dr. Smith’s 12th Grade English
The vibe of Dr. Smith’s class always makes me envious: slow, steady, patient. As a teacher of only 9th graders, I am used to a *slightly* more frenetic atmosphere. Dr. Smith’s class has time for silent space in the conversation, time for mulling and observing, time for the students to gather courage about speaking. Despite (because of?) its beautiful slow-ness (and I mean that with the highest regard possible), in the short time I was present, 8 of the 14 students offered observations. Many students used the phrasing “I noticed…” or “I found it interesting…” when offering their commentary. Even in a conversation about the complicated topic of surrogacy, the students used careful language while making it clear they shared differing opinions. Dr. Smith’s primary role is just facilitator (a sarcastic “just” there), keeping students grounded in the text by pointing them to different excerpts and then letting students guide the way by asking deceptively simple questions such as “Any thoughts about that?” and “How do you read that?” When students respond, Dr. Smith does not offer meaningless responses such as “Good job!” or “Perfect!” but often acknowledges the response with “uh huh” (not as a dismissal but as an invitation) and lets the ideas hang in the air, giving space for all to absorb and time to respond if desired.