Being on the other side

It's the time of year where teacher appraisal is happening, this is the first year where I have been on both sides of the process (thanks to the tech goals our school has and my role as tech coach).

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Like most things, I've been totally unaware of how others approach the idea of appraisal. I have been through a number of appraisal methods, and to be honest, none have really worked for me. Regardless I have tried to make the most out of each method and I feel I have grown personally and professionally in all my jobs. 

Being on the other end and being responsible for appraising is much more difficult than I originally thought.  Everyone I work with approaches their appraisal different.  Some just want the box checked and do it superficially, some write out everything they do, some have meaningful reflections but about things I haven't thought of, or thought would be on an appraisal sheet (I do find them incredibly interesting though), in short I guess, I've learned a lot more about being on the other side. 

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For almost anything, being able to empathize and think about where others are at help us to grow and develop.  I talked to a colleague last night about the importance of qualitative data when doing appraisals.  For me, qualitative data is just so much more important than quantitative.  By having teachers write what they're thinking, without it being in a small little box, we can really think about how we want to develop, get away from the traditional appraisal system and create ourselves. 

Reading the qualitative reports from my colleagues helped me to understand them better, but also helped me to reconsider my goals and ambitions. I fully believe my reflection process has improved as a result of this process, so I'm really thankful. 

From acceptable to empowering

Working with Mel and Nate, like I said before has been a great experience.

I know there are a lot of options for learning together online, and as a group we didn't talk about this it reminded me of the power of asynchronous learning.

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One of the greatest things about googledrive in my opinion is the ability to learn together without having to always work together.  We commented on each others thoughts in our own time, and didn't always have to have those conversations in real time.

This worked out really great for me since I was out of communication most weekends and we live in different places.  

We started off looking at the user policies at Mel's school and my school, and then we thought about what they really meant, and who they were directed towards.  In both of our documents it seemed as though we were directing our conversations towards adults rather than students.  One of Mel's primary concerns and I had to agree was that we need to focus on students and how we can communicate directly with them. 

We ended up revising the policy and Nate used Comic Life to make the rules look a little less formal and more focused on what students might want to see. 

We tried to use positive language and stay away from "don't" type of material.  I feel great about the whole process, taking away negative language, asynchronous communication, working together, everything worked great for me.

Thanks Mel and Nate