Formal observation is a different skill from peer observation because it has paperwork and stakes. Her first attempts: agree aims and concerns beforehand, condense six pages of notes into one A4 per teacher, rank points with traffic lights, then talk.
Procedure she arrived at
- Before: agree lesson aims and the observee’s own concerns (she learned to ask this).
- During: full notes.
- After: condense to one A4, grouped by category with the DoS; rank with a traffic-light system.
- Feedback meeting; paperwork on time.
Her honesty
The feedback meeting was the most stressful part; the conversations helped her more than her observees.
Apply (Claude)
- Traffic-lighting is a good antidote to feedback overload: one red, two ambers, the rest green. That matches what we know from written CF, where focused feedback beats comprehensive.
- Contrast with developmental observation (describe before interpreting); the two shouldn’t be done by the same person in the same visit.
Connections
Observation for development - describe before you interpret · Reflective journals and critical friends