Peer Observations, a Tool for Growth

In the private business world, to organize groups of people who can work together and determine the most effective and efficient way to carry on a task or reach an objective is very common, and has had excellent results.

Given the nature of collective and cooperative learning in the education environment, it also makes a lot of sense for teachers to work together to improve their results, skills and practices. It is also very difficult, at least here in Costa Rica.

The word may be “observation”, but the feeling most often is that of being judged, and all kinds of alarms start to go off when that happens. That’s why I think that to create the right environment is crucial, as well as to have a set of criteria, developed also as a team.

When I do an observation in a class, it usually is in response to a request from one of the teachers, who would like some feedback on a particular student, situation, or to have another set of eyes which can assess the impact of a new methodology.

We usually talk about it before, and organize what we are interested in observing. After the session, we exchange our observations about what we experienced, and discuss the different points of view. It is a joint learning process, much more than an evaluation.

Unfortunately, it is not a well established practice yet, and there are teachers who react very defensively, as well as the students who also have to be brought into the dynamic in a positive way. 

I believe that the more we teachers change the way we perceive the role of assessment, and the way we do it with students, the more open to these types of peer observations we will become, and their benefits will grow.

About Journal Writing

I believe in the power of reflecting about something, and it has been many a dawn when I have been awakened by the sudden insight on something that had been bothering me or a call of attention about something I had not noticed before. I have used journal writing to keep track of life’s turning points and their aftermath. I’ve use them also as an escape valve, when there was no one I could or wanted to turn to.   I used to keep my writings, so I could check how things were going or had changed, but with time, I stopped doing it: I preferred to continue silently and without witnesses with my ruminations. It feels very estrange to write what you think, and worse yet, to have somebody read about it. It seems an invasion of privacy, and yet, I recognize that there is also a weird attraction in baring yourself in such way, it is sort of liberating.

In addition to the above mentioned motivation, there is the fact that is a requirement of the course I’m taking, so although in the fast world we live in, finding the time to sit down and write about what you think, what worries you, or an idea that might be good to try to implement, is difficult,  I can see its value, and I’m game.

A Mantra

Tho’ much is taken, much abides; 
and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, 
that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, 
and not to yield.

Ulysses by Lord Tennyson

About this Blog

This blog might have been born out of the requirements of a curriculum, but it is much more than a task. It is a chronicle of a wonderful journey, a journey through life in which I am both learner and teacher of my own path.

It is a construct enriched by many sources; some are the people I encounter, and others have to do with the moment or situation I go through. There are some which are full of noises, others full of tears, and many full of laughter, and then there are those I treasure the most, the quiet ones when everything comes together and it fills like some part of me has gained a measure of peace.  

I am honored and grateful for the opportunities and people that have crossed my path, and have allowed me to learn so much about the world and about myself. And yet, I feel that I’m just beginning…

Every day brings a new discovery, a new joy. Not without effort, not without pain at times, but with a deep desire that overflows every pore of my being. I am alive!