Examples of a Teacher with Engaged Students and a Questionable Observation

One must be inspirational and emotional in the classroom but must also be un-waiving and robotic in their grading methods to keep a balance both in their grade books and their student bodies. Also vital in measuring a teacher’s abilities, assessment is an important tool of administration.  “Performance assessment is key” (Roth, 1998).

The author has had a tremendously beneficial experience with assessment in a highly unorthodox manner this past school year. He had his 7th grade music students in three classes do a three wee, three classroom session, analysis of the music of Cirque du Soleil’s “La Nouba” (Cirque, 2008). The students created wonderful reports and the teacher did not implement the rubric for his assessment tool. Instead, he sent them to Orlando to Walt Disney World management where they were forwarded to the performers of “La Nouba.” The performers graded the reports! This assessment tool is not only impressive to all those involved but highly inspirational.

However, not every experience is a good one. The author had a pop observation done of a 6th grade class on the 4th week of a project concerning the musical “Calamity Jane.” The students were analyzing specific songs and specific choreography in class. The final day was spent watching the scenes they had analyzed in class. It was both a culmination in the form of enjoyment and in the form of final assessment as the students had not yet seen their analyzed sections in their entirety. Despite submitting the entire month of lesson plans, the Principal of the school documented the teacher as “failing to engage the students” for her assessment of the teacher’s abilities during that portion of execution and assessment.

No matter how good the teacher or how effective the lesson, fault will be found by someone for something. The best advice is the most difficult to take. Even though the Principal’s opinion determines whether or not you return as a teacher, you ultimately have to make the student’s succeed. Some Administrator’s are blind.

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