New Teacher Observation Tips: From Planning to The Follow-Up

I’ve observed hundreds of teachers over the years and let me reassure you: If you’re feeling anxious about your formal teacher observation, you’re not alone. Nerves hit even the most seasoned teacher when an evaluator walks into the room.  

Unfortunately, it simply isn’t possible to control every aspect of the lesson.  Your chance at a perfect lesson increases exponentially if students are not present.  (This is both a joke and 100% true.)  When you deliver a lesson to real students, anything can happen. 

There are a few things you can do to make the experience a little less stressful, and maybe even more productive. Here are 9 tips for planning, executing, and later debriefing your teacher observation lesson. 

Most Evaluators Have Been In Your Shoes

Most evaluators want you to succeed. The fear that the evaluator is looking for ways to mark you down during your teacher observation is largely unfounded, although unfortunately not unheard of.  Ideally, your school culture is supportive and growth-focused.  If so, it’s highly likely that your evaluator will continue that practice in your evaluation.  

Nine Tips For Your Next Teacher Observation

1. Keep it in perspective

The reality of the job is that teachers work with young people.  As a result, your lesson will probably not go exactly as planned.  Try not to worry about it; some things are simply out of your control.

If an incident occurs during your observation, your evaluator will likely care more about how you handle the situation rather than the fact that the student had an outburst. Revert back to your classroom management basics.  Stay calm and remain friendly, yet firm, with your tone.  Look for opportunities to de-escalate.  

If you experience trouble spots — maybe starting class slowly or having a few clunky transitions — don’t feel defeated.  Most evaluators, once new teachers themselves, are understanding toward those minor issues. At your post-observation meeting, acknowledge those rough spots as areas for growth.

2. When planning the lesson, focus on the basics

While it is important to keep your observation in perspective, you still want to take it seriously.  Create a formal lesson plan.  Print out the lesson plan, along with any lesson materials or handouts, and have it all ready for the evaluator when they walk in.  

When you plan the lesson, stick to a few basics of sound instruction.

• Make sure that you have an opening activity 
• Incorporate 2-3 different instructional activities 
• Include some type of formative assessment 

3. If you do decide to try something new, tell your administrator first

Have an exciting new lesson that you think your students would love?  Go for it!

But it’s a good idea to let your evaluator know that this is a new type of lesson for both you and the students.  Informing your evaluator will ease the pressure if things do not go as planned.  It’s probably a good idea to let your students know a few details beforehand as well.

4. Don’t surprise the kids with new policies and procedures

The desire to impress evaluators can cause teachers to try out new routines on observation day.  Stick to your regular policies and procedures. If you change things up, the students may respond with confusion — not exactly what you’re going for.

For example, a teacher projected a seating chart with student names highlighted by color to indicate groups.  Students walked in, found their group, and class began.  It was clear that the seating chart/group work chart was part of their everyday routine.  

Novelty is a good thing for students.  But, if you’re not sure your class can adjust on the fly to a new way of doing things, it’s best to stick to the established routines.

5. Show off the students, not yourself

It’s natural to feel like the spotlight is on you during the observation.  And it is! But think of it as an “indirect spotlight”.  Most evaluators base their observation notes primarily on what the students are doing.  With that in mind, it’s a good idea to incorporate a few student-centered strategies.  

• Look for opportunities to incorporate student talk time and student interaction 
• Don’t be afraid to choose lessons with you taking a facilitator role rather than being center stage. 

One note: Direct instruction is a fine teaching method.  However, it can be a bit too teacher-focused.  The risk is you’ll have a classroom of passive students during your teacher observation.  If you plan to do direct instruction, be sure to break it up with opportunities for active student engagement.  Remember: I do, we do, you do. 

6. Choose a class where you are teaching the lesson for the second time that day 

Do you always feel bad for your first-period class because your lesson gets better as the day goes on?  It’s just a fact of life for teachers.  Keep this in mind when scheduling your observation.  

If you’ve had a chance to teach the lesson once or twice already that day, you’ll better anticipate potential challenges and have time to make adjustments.  Most importantly, you will feel more confident.

7. Keep in mind school-wide initiatives or your evaluation goals

Whichever lesson you schedule, it should highlight your teaching at its best.  However, there are other things you may need to consider.  If there is a school-wide initiative on formative assessment, for example, make sure that you include formative assessment. The same goes for other school-wide learning outcomes or values that your school is focused on this year.  

Similarly, if you created evaluation goals for growth, think about how you might address those during your observation lesson. While not essential, it is nice to see these big-picture goals come to fruition in a lesson. 

8. Help your evaluator by providing context for your lesson 

This isn’t so much about making their job easier.  It’s more about helping them better understand your teaching practice.

An observation is one small snapshot of your teaching.  Whatever context you can provide will help the evaluator better understand where the lesson falls in your unit.   

Even if you are not required to provide any supporting materials for your observation, it is helpful to have a lesson plan, handouts, and any other relevant background information waiting for the evaluator.  

A lesson plan can help the evaluator see how your instructional strategies match your learning goals.

9. Prepare for the after-conference

Most evaluators view the post-observation conference to be an essential part of the observation.  This is the opportunity for you to be reflective.  Your evaluator should start the conversation with questions that give you that opportunity.  

In the follow-up meeting, your evaluator wants to sense that you possess a general awareness — let’s call it “with-it-ness” — about what went well and what didn’t go well during your lesson.  You also want to show that you’re reflective and that you see areas for improvement going forward. 

The questions below are ways your evaluator is opening the door for you to show awareness and an understanding of how you might improve.

• Did the lesson go as you expected?
• Was there anything challenging about the lesson?
• Was what the students produced in line with what you thought they would produce?
• Where do you go from here?

It’s best to be forthcoming or candid during the follow-up conversations.  If there were behavior issues or if the learning goals were not met, just say that.  Openly sharing those difficulties demonstrates that “with-in-ness” quality and can lead to deeper conversations and growth.

Conclusion

While all of the nervousness cannot be taken out of the process, keeping these key points in mind will help to prepare you before, during, and after the observation.  This, in turn, will help to make the process more growth-focused and a genuine opportunity for learning and improvement.

Amanda Melsby has been a professional educator for 20 years.  She taught English before working as an assistant principal and later as a high school principal.  Amanda holds an Ed.D. in Educational Practice and Leadership and is currently a dean of teaching and learning.