Our building's Model Teachers helped make this round of Learning Walks go off without a hitch. They jumped in and helped modify the experience to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency for teachers. We took feedback from past learning walks and were able to modify our routine for the day. We arranged for subs to come in for the classroom teachers rather than the specials and special education teachers. The past two times our classroom teachers went on their walks during their prep time. Our special education teachers had substitute teachers hired for the past two Learning Walks, but this time they were able to go during their prep time. You can learn more about our past Learning Walks at my post here. This time we were able to take 30 to 60 minutes for each team of 3-4 teachers to go on their walk. It felt more laid back and I think the observations and conversations were much more rich not having to rush around to 4-5 classrooms in 30 minutes like during our past two walks.
We had teachers take a feedback survey to gauge how they are feeling after three sessions: December, January, and April. It's apparent from the results of our survey that teachers find value in Learning Walks.
It's also apparent that teachers have a variety of different purposes when they enter each other's classrooms. Classroom management techniques and student engagement are two of the top look-fors.
The goal of Learning Walks is always to get teachers out of their comfort zone and into other classrooms to learn from each other. There is SO much on teachers' plates, we know they are not looking for another thing to add, but this gives evidence that they find it valuable enough to go to each other's rooms to learn from one another outside of the designated Learning Walk times.
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