Chapter 9 raises some worthwhile points about observation and assessment. Throughout the comp tales, we see observation in the form of experienced professionals to new teachers, teachers to students, colleagues to teachers, and teachers to self. Each of these create a problem of hierarchy and intimidation in the academic sphere.My first evaluation as a teacher this semester went very well. I received almost entirely positive feedback and felt that my teaching was "up to code." Since receiving the first drafts of papers for the unit I taught, I have come to realize the ugly truth behind evaluations, observations, etc. of teachers. Though I believe I taught a good unit filled with creative lessons (i.e. dirt pudding), my students' papers have been...sub-par...to say the least. I got positive feedback from my mentor, observer, and fellow GAs, but the proof, as they say, was not in the pudding as far as the papers were concerned.
Someone recently told me that course evaluations are to make better teachers. If I had been in a laughing mood, I would have been on the floor. Perhaps this is the more cynical side of me coming out, but these evaluations and observations seem to be nothing more than vestigial organs from a primordial era of teaching when everyone did it the same way. Now, everything is subjective from the efficacy of a teacher's style to the involvement of the students. I understand there are many factors at play here, but the argument stands to reason that observations don't really prove much.
Perhaps I'm just bogged down by the fact that judgment is modernity's answer to a call for a capitalist aesthetic in everything from education to movies. I'm tired of telling people what they need to improve on and how to change. And I'm tired of being told those things, as well. Yes, there's always room for improvement, but my measure of that should come from me--not from some subjective outsource. I guess I will just take my grandma's advice and "thank them for their time and move on about my day. You can't please 'em all, and you shouldn't have to."
I do think it's important to keep in mind that observations and evaluations are there to help you. As a program, there are certain goals and standards that have to be met in our classes. Evaluations are just that -- are you meeting those standards? Beyond that, things do get more subjective. Like Nicki mentioned in class yesterday, an evaluator counted the number of times a student teacher said "um" in her lecture. That shows what that evaluator values, not what is necessarily important to the instructor. So it is important to keep that in mind -- you may not value what your observer values, so it might not be something you need to think about too much. But you should also be open to their suggestions. They have more experience and their advice can come in handy when you're making sure your students are learning what they need to learn.
ReplyDeleteI agreed. They observe or evaluate to help your career. After you teach many years in a future, If you find the first evaluation reports in your old folder, you will smile because you will find you already overcome the one you were struggled in the first semester at BSU....
ReplyDeleteMy recommendation is to think about the patterns of problems you're seeing with your students' papers and try to think of ways you might better address those problems next fall if you teach 103 again. Try not to get discouraged, but keep improving. Like you say, though, improve because you see areas of improvement--even if your mentor or students don't recognize those areas.
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