Last week, all seven of the Puxi High School Chinese teachers participated in Learning Walks within their department, which were organized and facilitated by our school's Instructional Coach. Each teacher had the chance to observe 3-4 of their colleagues and then discuss their observations and wonderings with one or two other colleagues. During a short "Hall Chat" which took place in between each classroom visit, teachers shared what they noticed during the visit and any questions that came up. The teachers reported that this structure was helpful for them in terms of reflecting on what they had just seen, as well as hearing other's perspectives about the lesson. By far the biggest benefit of the walks was seeing the strategies that their colleagues are using in action. Emily reflected, "I saw innovative and effective teaching strategies which really make the classes engaging." Vikki added, "I liked having the chance to visit different level classes to get to know other teacher's teaching style and strategy."
Several teachers put what they learned right to use, incorporating a new strategy or tool into classes later in the week. After seeing a sentence generation and peer review strategy that YiYun used with her IB students, Holly was excited to try it with her own class, but she wondered if incorporating a gallery walk would be an effective way to organize the peer feedback process. When YiYun went on her learning walk two days later, she was able to see how Holly had adjusted the activity, which gave them the opportunity to discuss pros and cons of both approaches.
All of the teachers agreed that doing the walks was a positive learning experience, and they have decided to engage in a second round in April. After debriefing the process, the group decided to make some changes in the next round so that teachers will have more context about the lesson before visiting each class. Another thing that teachers wanted more of was feedback, but the challenge was finding the time for visitors and hosts to debrief in a timely fashion. The team decided that they would each individually connect with the host teachers after a walk, but because giving others feedback can be a delicate process, the instructional coach will work with the team to design and model a frame for the conversation that will focus on sharing observations and wonderings.
The Chinese Department incorporated learning walks into their department goals, as part of their focus on differentiation. "When we set this goal," Holly said, "we were confident that we would be able to benefit greatly from it, but we had no ideas as to how to make it happen structurally." Having an instructional coach to take care of the scheduling and logistics was a great benefit. While some were nervous at first about their colleagues observing them, afterwards they appreciated the fact that the process was not disruptive to the flow of the lesson and they are excited about the potential for walks to enhance the collaborative process on their team.
