Build a Culture of Transparent Teaching, Routine Feedback, and Shared Learning

Though you have the best of intentions when it comes to classroom walkthroughs, teachers can still feel anxious, judged, and evaluated when they see you “watching” them. Foster these eight conditions to create a culture where public practice is welcomed.

1. Let teachers know WHAT is being observed and WHY. As Marcus Buckingham notes, “Clarity is the antidote to anxiety.” Teachers feel more at ease when they know the focus and purpose for the observations. Be a curious learner with your observer’s hat on.
2. Partner with teachers in the feedback process. Provide them with observational data and invite them to “review, reflect on, and make sense of the feedback together.” Videoing students during class and watching the video together can be powerful; teachers often do not notice what’s happening for each and every student during a lesson.
3. Celebrate the positives. After collecting data across classrooms, communicate the strengths of the full staff you observed. Celebrate what you noticed that’s working well. Reinforce what you want to see more of! 
4. Create structured opportunities for teachers to observe each other. This is one of the most powerful ways to build teachers’ self-efficacy, which leads to collective efficacy. When teachers see other teachers’ best practices, it gives them confidence in their ability to implement that practice into their own teaching. By scheduling and expecting these types of teacher-to-teacher observations, you build capacity among staff and advance your vision of high quality teaching and learning.
5. Communicate your vision X10!! “Leaders must consistently communicate where the school is going, why it matters, and how they will get there together.” This communication “keeps classroom visits aligned to purpose rather than perceived as personal scrutiny.”
6. Make learning visible. If you’re utilizing the Four Disciplines of Execution (4DX) process, make your scoreboard visible. Post learning standards and related student work. This sends the message that we all own the learning, and our learning is transparent so that we can learn from each other.
7. Be the lead learner. Set the example for deprivatized learning by engaging in learning with staff, talking about learning you’re doing with other leaders, asking for feedback, and modeling vulnerability. You set the tone for your building. You make it safe to take risks and fail forward. These leadership behaviors all serve to build trust.
8. Always come back to the WHY — our students deserve our best. Reinforce that these students are all “our” students, and walkthrough data helps us collectively improve so that we can be our best for each and every student. Ideally, staff will understand and value walk throughs as an improvement strategy rather than worrying about being judged or ranked.

Read the full article, and check out this resource from Kim Marshall regarding classroom visits as your most powerful leadership strategy; or you can listen to Kim Marshall discuss classroom visits with Adam Welcome in this podcast.