Apple Maps is a bit of a disaster. It's a good first effort by Apple, but could be a lot better. Apple Maps is an excellent illustration for my first observation conference.
In reviewing the video from the conference there are several strengths and also improvement areas regarding the environment and tone of the conference. First, the seating arrangement for both of us was off-putting. Having the table between us made the conference feel almost punitive. I began to feel this early on and worked hard to put her at ease and be disarming. Also, she pulled her chair far up to the table due to the table so close behind her. I didn’t want to make her feel crowded, so I backed my chair out a bit as you can see in the video. One area of strength is the collegial tone that the two of us have, and this is a result of having worked in the same department since she began working at this school.
I feel as though I need to improve my confidence. As I mentioned earlier, I was trying hard to be disarming as she is a young, female teacher and I am somewhat physically intimidating. To that end, I tended to couch my suggestions in too much hyperbole. In part that comes from the fact that this is only “practice” and I don’t have any real authority. I didn’t want to come across as though I was a real administrator when I am in fact, not. Another area I need to improve on is my unwillingness to be more direct. This is related to the first area for improvement. I did feel as though my suggestions were strong and well-received. I will follow-up to see if the suggestions are implemented and whether or not the implementation is successful. Also, there was no real collection and/or sharing of data.
As for behaviors, I tried to use listening, but I’m not sure I did a good job in that. I also tried to be non-directive which goes against my personality. I am also not terribly certain that attempt was successful. I was somewhat taken aback by the question about her lesson, as I had focused so much on the questions she asked beforehand about classroom management that I did not think enough about the lesson itself.
cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by bindermichi: http://flickr.com/photos/bindermichi/3678439687/
