Teachers Notebook

How have I improved my teaching practice in the last 5 years? One simple answer I have watched other teachers teach.

I first took on a student teacher in 2019 and so the mentor role was all new to me. Previously just as a classroom teacher I had only reflected on my own practice, never line managed or formally observed other teachers. So I was enthusiastic to ensure that I got everything right this first time. I remember how I saw my PGCE mentor in my training schools, they were the teachers that I wanted to copy and become. They were the teachers that taught me the basics of everything I know today. With that in mind, I ensured that every time the student teacher taught one of my lessons, I would write a running commentary of their lesson, interjected with questions about points in the lesson where I felt they could make improvements. As I sat there in lessons, I began to then think ‘oh I do that’, ‘oh that’s how where I stand has the impact’, ‘oh that’s what they do when my attention is elsewhere’. And I began to change my own practice, so as I was helping to develop the student teachers practice, my own was changing too. Then it got me thinking, after your initial teacher training and if you have no responsibility you actually don’t ever see other teachers in their element!

After my mentor role I then moved and trained to become part of the instructional coaching team. Again, every time I went in to watch someone teach, now experienced teaching staff, I reflected on my own practice too. So how can I help other classroom teachers have that experience that I have felt has made such an impact on my own practice. That’s where I developed the WOW (watch others work) Week initiative.

As my role as Pedagogical lead alongside our instructional coaching team programme I also organise regular WOW weeks within each term. My first challenge was the logistics of organising how to get teachers into other classrooms outside of their departments. My aim was to get people to see past the subject matter and to watch the elements of teaching and learning. I launched with a google sign up spreadsheet that all teachers can access and modify. They sign up with their lessons that they wish to invite other teachers into. WOW week runs over a fortnight to ensure that we have enough time to get out and see each other. Teachers then can look at this spreadsheet and just go along to that lesson. There is no sign up or register for observers. After they watch a lesson, they are encouraged to complete a positive Steplab shoutout highlighting a great T&L technique that they saw.

The first WOW fortnight began slowly, 73 lesson invitations were signed up over the 2 weeks. We had a variety of different departments, but I found that it was mostly experienced teachers. However it was received well by staff, the initial fear that it would be a judgemental lesson observation was soon squashed as people who went along and visited a lesson began to shoutout the positive things that they saw. I sent out a feedback form and key takeaways that people gained were:

• Wait time and show me.
• Seeing our school norms applied in other subject areas and staff getting onboard with the culture.
• There is always something to learn from colleagues.

It was great to see that those that visited lessons gained a valuable insight into the impact of our school T&L strategies in the ‘real world’. I also asked about barriers had prevented people from visiting and with all things in teaching – time came up as the main barrier! I also asked for suggestions for how we could improve WOW week next time:

• Maybe promote it a bit more make it an event.
• Maybe a few of us could cover colleagues for a few mins to allow them to visit other lessons.
• Keep doing it to normalise this approach.

Following the feedback my focus then turned to ‘Time’. I included my non-contact time on the signup spreadsheet and promoted during the briefing that I was more than happy to come and cover lessons to release people to watch other. I also personally approached people (with a box of chocolates in hand) and asked if they would like to sign up. Sometimes it’s the direct method that works! The second event we saw an increase to 166 lesson invitations over the 2 weeks which was amazing to see. These invitations included a wider range of subjects however again most teachers that had signed up were experienced members of staff. During this second WOW event there was a buzz and also students were starting to notice that we were going into each other’s lessons to watch in a positive way.

I had the momentum, so we kept this going and for the third event we saw 178 lesson invitations offered and new teachers, including ECT’s were beginning to get involved. After each event I reported the progress back to staff during our T&L briefings and teachers that signed up were included in a ‘Wheel of Names’ lottery for a chance to win chocolate. This surprisingly has been a big success, and we get a drumroll each time I spin!

The most recent event hasn’t seen any increase in uptake despite me setting a target for 200 lessons, however 178 is still an impressive change in culture from the original 73 lessons that we had on the first event. We also had a lesson signed up for every teaching period in the fortnight. But I do need to consider the timings of these events. The school calendar is always jampacked and residential school trips and GCSE master classes clashed with this fortnight.

During this most recent event we have had new teachers who previously were nervous to get involved. My question to a teacher who was unsure about signing up was ‘How do you feel when you go in and watch another teacher?’ and their response was ‘It’s really nice to see someone else teach’. That is how people will feel when they come to see you! There is absolutely no judgement or critic of lessons, the main drive for WOW week is built upon positivity.

We have one more WOW event planned for the final half term and I’m again aiming for the 200 lesson sign up. Next year I hope to run this again and make it the norm to watch each other teach. One potential improvement I would like to make is to ask for a list of teachers who want to get involved and during the fortnight all their lessons are open for others to pop in, doing away with the lesson sign up sheet. This will be a big move and I have to ensure that staff continue to see that this is all about the positives. Building a positive culture takes time and staff participation has to be encouraged and nurtured. I have also found that chocolate is the way to a teachers heart!