The beginning of a new school year brings many new opportunities to your school. The new school year brings new teachers, new students, new initiatives, and often new opportunities to learn and grow in your profession. Among the many opportunities for us this year was the first full week of school and the official beginning of our walk-through visits.
In our school, each administrator is expected to conduct at least ten walk-throughs a week. Some weeks we meet our expectations. Some weeks we do not. Some weeks we may even exceed our expectations. Fortunately, this year we got off to a good start.
The graphic organizer that is on the whiteboard in my office showing the Walkthroughs completed this week.
The chart shown in the image to the left allows me to monitor our walkthrough program and ensure we are visiting our classrooms as expected. This chart holds us accountable for getting into class rooms and observing our great teachers as they work with our students. Walkthroughs are so important to what we do, that it is the first thing we discuss during our administrative meetings each Monday.
As you can see, we did pretty well the first full week of school. Our Walkthrough program afforded us the opportunity to visit 65 classrooms. 65 opportunities to experience learning in our school.
When do you ever have 65 opportunities to do anything?
65 opportunities to experience learning in our building
65 opportunities to spend time with teachers and students
65 opportunities to build relationships
65 opportunities to build trust
65 opportunities to identify expert teachers
65 opportunities to provide support
65 opportunities to provide accurate information to parents
65 opportunities to monitor instructional initiatives
65 opportunities to ensure our school year gets off to a great start
65 opportunities to develop professional learning
65 opportunities to talk with students
65 opportunities to provide meaningful feedback to teachers
65 opportunities to create professional dialogue
65 opportunities to develop teacher leaders
65 opportunities to encourage teacher reflection
65 opportunities to influence positive change
65 opportunities to improve our school
65 opportunities to support our school mission and vision
65 opportunities to make a difference in the lives of young people
When do you ever get 65 opportunities to do anything? When you commit to visiting classrooms and participating in your school.
If you find this information useful or if I can assist you with other educational endeavors please leave a comment or contact me directly at sean.kelly@douglas.k12.ga.us