At Gering High School, teachers do, of course, have to have observations in order for the administration to see how teachers are doing in class. I have never been a fan of these observations because I do not think they accurately show how a teacher is teaching in class. What I sometimes think administrators fail to realize is that the very presence of a Principal or Assistant Principal in the classroom completely changes the dynamic of the room. I do think they have their place, but I do not think they are an accurate and fair way of assessing how well a teacher teaches (and neither are standardized tests for that matter).

At Gering, Probationary Teachers have to have two formal observations each year, one in the fall and and in the spring. Once you gain tenure, you are only observed every third year, but still have to fill out lots of paperwork to show how you are achieving professional development and meeting professional development goals (this is true in most school districts).

In addition to all this paperwork and formal observations we have, here at Gering we have what is known as the “informal walk-through” (I got one of these in my email yesterday). Every so often, one of the administrators will walk into your room to see what is going on. I honestly do not see the point of this and especially the little form I get in my email saying how I was doing. The issue I have about this is that teachers are supposed to be professionals, yet I always have this feeling that administrators don’t think teachers are doing their jobs properly.

I do wonder if this is the way other people are treated in other professions. After all, teachers have to have the minimum of a bachelors degree to teach and many, like myself, have a master’s degree too. I would think that, after all this education, a person would be trusted to do the job they have been entrusted to do with a certain level of independence. Unfortunately, in U.S. education this appears not to be so and teachers have very little control over what they teach and also in regards to school policy. I have worked in other school districts that often treated the teachers as little more than hired help. If this is the way teachers are to be treated, then you have to wonder why you need someone with a college degree teaching students.