An evaluation is a stressful and overwhelming process. The teacher, in some cases, is required to maintain a professional portfolio to be referenced for the evaluation (this is on-going throughout the school year). The evaluation of the teaching depends on the number of standards that the state has developed/required and the teacher needs to at least "meet expectations" on each of those standards (or a certain percentage of the standards). The lesson should include all parts that are relevant to that particular day or unit of instruction. Copies of all materials will need to be on hand for the administrator to review and or file. This collection of documents can be very detailed and can included pre-assessments, assessments, rubrics, activity sheets, project examples, plans for modifications and materials needed for those, transition activities, the physical lesson plans with standards and curriculum cross referenced on the document, documentation and plans for any differentiation and any materials which will be needed for those students who require that, data analysis of students' success or challenges, and any other documents as requested by the administrator. All of this takes place prior to the observation. The teacher is also required to complete a pre-observation form, including demographics and other pertinent information and submit to the administrators in advance of the observation. The teacher is required to meet with the administrator and discuss the pre-observation form and the lesson that is to be observed. At this point, the administrator observes a lesson. After observing the lesson and reviewing the materials, the administrator scores the evaluation, meets with the teacher, and discusses all relevant points or issues.
I have not mentioned that in many cases, the lesson could possibly be derailed due to the students' success or lack of success in previous lessons, the observation time slot can be re-scheduled with little notice, you could be sick on the day of the observation, or any other situation that can arise at any time. If this is the case you are probably going to have to start all over at "square one" on a new lesson. Ergo, teacher frustration. Teaching is not a process of "one day we do the first step and the next day we do the next step." Lesson plans can not be written in "stone;" the plans will always be fluid if the teacher is doing his/her job right. The fluidity is based on the students, it can be very unpredictable. Some days you can predict, others you can not.
As a teacher, I have some issues with administrators who have or had not been in a classroom as a teacher for an extended period of time. It is a very common practice for administrators to be placed in administrative positions with only 3 to 5 years classroom teaching experience. As a veteran teacher, I can honestly say, that in a period of 3 to 5 years you will not have "seen it all." I am still seeing and learning new things about education and students on a daily basis. As a veteran teacher, I have difficulty in taking advice from an administrator that has considerable less experience and in many cases less educational college/research experience than me. These administrators rely on what they are told by others, read, or attend seminars and conferences on “what good teaching looks like.” Weak administrators do not have the hands-on experience to actually know what good teaching does look like.
I have had the opportunity to observe many teachers. I have seen some very good lessons. I have seen some mediocre lessons. I have seen some elaborate “dog and pony shows” where all stops are pulled and the individual teacher is in a hyper compliance mode. I believe, in most cases, that the “dog and pony shows” are only for the administrators’ sake and for the sake of a good evaluation. The more emphasis which is put on compliance to “do this” and “do that” to exhibit good teaching will only encourage bitterness and burn-out; thereby defeating the purpose of mentoring a teacher toward new growth.
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