woohoo! My observation

I had my "annual" observation two weeks ago now, and we sat down to my post-observation meeting this Monday. I don't think it could have gone better. (Other than throwing my back out in an effort to show I really do know how to walk through the classroom and check-in with every student.)

I had two administrators doing the observation. They both caught all sorts of things that I try to use in my class, so that was cool. They both had Spanish in high school, and asked me about two things they caught in my class. 1) el problema - it is an irregular masculine noun meaning that it looks like it ought to be a feminine noun. 2) bve largo vs. bve corto - the letters "b" and "v" are homophones in Spanish and I clarify this the way I learned in Chile. "B" is bve largo (long bve), and "V" is bve corto (short bve). The really cool thing is that I apparently repeated both of those items enough times that both administrators caught them.

My one administrator told me in the meeting that he had really been enjoying the dictation because he was just starting to feel like he was understanding what was being said. He was sad when that was over and we went on to the next activity. And then he was happy because the story we read had all the same vocabulary and structures in it, so he really did understand! And that is really the woohoo moment for me. That I was going slowly enough and had enough repetitions that he actually "felt" that comprehension!

Both administrators also commented on how engaged the entire class was. They did ask why I checked in with the same students more often than others, but when I explained the concept of barometer students they were pleased with my answer. (A barometer student is a student who is really trying, but processes information slower than most of the class - I check in with these students often to make sure I am pacing myself well and that every student can understand.)