Teacher Evaluations: What's the point?

If a teacher evaluation was optional, would you volunteer?  I’m sure that many of you have already answered with an emphatic “no,” but you should probably reconsider.  Why?  Research consistently shows that effective teaching is the single most important factor contributing to student academic achievement. It’s such a game-changer that many states require performance-based teacher evaluations, focusing on a teacher’s planning, teaching, assessing, and quality of student learning.

Ideally, a teacher evaluation is performed by a well-trained, qualified observer and is meant to provide constructive, actionable feedback that accurately identifies a teacher’s strengths as well as areas in which they need to improve.  These opportunities help all teachers to become good teachers and good teachers to become even better.  But, not every teacher has the opportunity to go through scheduled and unscheduled visits designed to review and rate teacher performance and effectiveness. 

So, how do you know if you’re up to par and contributing to student academic success without a teacher evaluation?  What about self-evaluation?

Unfortunately, we are not in the best position to evaluate ourselves.  It’s true.  While it might be easy to point out the things we do well, it’s a lot more difficult to identify and correct our weaknesses and our blind-spots!  According to Gallup research in StrengthsFinder 2.0, a weakness is defined as an area where less talent exists.  We usually don’t enjoy activities that require our areas of lesser talent, so we creatively avoid them, work around them, or stay away from them all together.  (Example:  I’m not a language arts expert, so I avoid giving my students writing assignments.  I wouldn’t know how to grade them or provide useful feedback anyway!)  Another dilemma we all face is called a blind-spot.  Gallup defines a blind-spot as a trait derived from one of our natural talents that causes us to overlook important considerations.  Simply put, a blind-spot is the over-use or abuse of a talent, and it can have an adverse effect on the individual and others.  (Example:  I love teaching science, but I spend so much class time talking about the lesson that my students often don’t have time to ask questions or complete their assignments.)  Since weaknesses and blind-spots can stand in the way of effective teaching and student learning, partnering with a qualified observer can help you identify, manage, and improve them in order to grow as an individual and become more effective in the classroom.

If you have the opportunity to receive periodic teacher evaluations, consider yourself fortunate and carpe diem!  These opportunities serve to develop your skills and help you master the art of effective teaching!  If you don’t have the opportunity to be evaluated, ask your school administrator for help.  Homeschool educators might consider locating a licensed, certified evaluator in your state to provide valuable input. Keep in mind that there are many helpful tools available online, including research-based teacher evaluation rubrics and/or frameworks to follow.  Making yourself aware of your strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots is just the beginning.  Proven guidelines and professional evaluations will help you achieve success!

How to Choose the Best Homeschooling Curriculum

SPOILER ALERT:  I’m going to get personal and invite you to ask yourself some tough questions. Stay with me. I promise you'll be glad you did!

At a recent educator’s convention, I interacted with a parent and teacher who was searching for a Grammar and Writing curriculum.  I gently offered her some verbal information, a flyer about Shurley English, and gave her some space.  I observed her leaf through the pages of an older, black and white version of the curriculum with convincing focus.  Then, a confused look on her face invited me to initiate further conversation, so I asked her if she was looking for anything specific… “Grammar and Writing” was her response.  I assured her she was in the right place and began sharing with her the big picture of how Shurley English makes the Grammar-Writing Connection.  I let her know that our latest edition was in a digital format, she immediately said, “This isn’t for my son; I don’t want him on the computer because he gets too distracted,” and she bolted out of the booth.  A surge of questions rushed through my head as I was choking on the dust her trail left behind.  The question that lingered in my mind most was, “Is this curriculum not a good fit for YOU or YOUR CHILD?"

Learning styles are groups of common ways people learn.  We all have a mix of learning styles that may suit us, and some learners have a dominant style.  We utilize different styles based on the situation we are in, too.  We are able to develop our less dominant learning styles and further develop our preferred style.  This experience really nagged at me because the next question that popped up in my mind was, “I wonder if she even knows what type of learner her son is, and does she know what type of a learner she is?”  Whether you’re teaching one child or 30 children, knowing students’ preferred learning style is vital to being an effective teacher!  As a side-note, as an adult and life-long learner, life can be much simpler if you understand YOUR preferred style of learning.

Get familiar with these different styles of learning:

1. Verbal
2. Visual
3. Auditory
4. Kinesthetic
5. Logical
6. Social
7. Solitary

Source Credit: https://bonniegillespie.com/is-your-learning-style-the-problem/

Sadly, many schools and teachers still use more traditional teaching methods which equates to a limited range of teaching and learning techniques.  Sitting in individual desks (cubicles) and book-based teaching with lectures, reviews, and exams work for some learners, but not all, and many that don’t fit into that box have been labeled with behavior issues, learning disabilities, and even less intelligent.  Hmmm?  That would explain why I struggled in certain subject areas growing up, and why the field of Teaching was so appealing to me; I knew there were multiple ways to learn.  We are all different, so why would anyone think that there is just ONE way to learn? 

If you’re teaching Shurley English, I don’t have to tell you that our method of teaching and the strategies used are for ALL STUDENTS…Shurley students SEE IT, HEAR IT, SAY IT, & DO IT!  As for my convention experience, I respect the parent-teacher’s opinion and decision, but I can’t help but wonder, “What if her child doesn’t learn in the exact same way she does?  What if the child could be engaged in learning and not distracted while on the computer?”  Did this teacher fail to consider the topic of learning style and just miss a huge opportunity for her son/student to become a competent, confident communicator…for life? Being an effective educator is not just about reading from the teacher’s manual in each subject, it’s all about getting below the surface-know your child, know your students, and know the curriculum you teach!

How to Create a Positive Learning Experience

Remember a day when you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, spilled your coffee on your way to work, your students ended up not being the angels you taught the previous day, and it was nowhere close to being Friday.  Can you remember how you approached teaching your students that day?  Were you “on-edge,” grumpy, upset, impatient, irritable, or even lacking compassion towards them?  Don’t forget, YOU’RE HUMAN and this happens because life happens!  My point in bringing this up is to remind you that your students respond to your approach to teaching them; they sense the positivity or negativity you bring to the lesson and will model themselves after their teacher.

Simply put, the KEY ingredients in creating a positive learning experience are...

1. your attitude,
2. your energy,
3. and your vibe.

I believe this information is valuable in teaching, especially when teaching Shurley English, because your attitude/energy/vibe can directly affect student engagement, and by now you know how much student-teacher interaction is incorporated into the curriculum.  Whether you’ve had a sub-par day or you haven’t quite fallen in love with teaching Shurley English yet, your students are still depending on you to deliver the tools they need to become good writers.  If you approach teaching Shurley English with an open mind, some humor, and an intention to have fun while learning, you and your students will be set up to have a positive learning experience.

If you, the teacher, have not been properly trained, have questions or concerns about the curriculum, and have a difficult time trusting the process, your students may be modeling your current viewpoint, which could be resulting in a lack of participation and overall interest in the subject matter.  The K-8th grade Shurley English curriculum is designed for your students to “See It, Hear It, Say It, & Do It!”  All the teacher has to do is approach each lesson with some positive enthusiasm and raise his/her eyebrows every once in a while to get a few smiles and 100% participation.  Don’t hesitate to call our corporate office to get your questions answered, schedule a webinar training, or invest in some on-site training with one of our Certified Consultants; we truly want you to have a successful year teaching Shurley English. 

I previously posted a blog called, The Perfect Shurley Teacher, which might be helpful if you feel like I’m speaking to you.  Also, consider this…when I lead teacher trainings, my goal is to make sure everyone sees and understands the big picture of what Shurley English was created to do while also stressing the importance of consistency and using the curriculum with fidelity to give your students the opportunity to be the best writer they can be.  Shurley English is a treasure chest full of gems waiting for you to bedazzle your classroom, so do what you, personally, need to do to give your students the BEST version of their TEACHER and have an enjoyable Shurley experience!