As I sit here in our bimonthly meeting at the District Office with Principals and Directors discussing our APPR process, I am struck by something a principal says to the group. While several administrators are bemoaning the proverbial teacher "Dog and Pony Shows" that they’ve observed during lessons this year, she has the audacity to come to its defense!  What is she thinking?

Please allow me to give you a bit of the back story. Many teachers in our district had not been observed in their classroom for years before the new regulations. Instead they created plans for their professional development goals and were evaluated based on meeting those goals. With the implementation of 3012c their doors were opened and administrators have been spending a considerable amount of time within classrooms that they might not have visited before.

Principals and Directors have spent innumerable hours training, practicing and finally employing our new evaluation rubric. We meet regularly to discuss the process and to continue discussions around what constitutes good teaching. And that's when Kathy spoke up. Her argument was interesting and stimulated a lively further conversation that still has me thinking.

So what is really wrong with the Performance Lesson? Oh and don't think for one moment that the administrator is ever fooled by this strategy...at least one student in the classroom will find an opportunity to whisper in her ear "we've never done this sort of thing before!"  A friend’s son recently confided in me that he can tell when a teacher is about to be observed because, "so let me guess, when teachers get observed they have to show technology, partner work and some sort of quiz." The kids will appear uncomfortable and move erratically through small group and collaborative activities, the teacher will fumble for materials and the technology will invariably break down. Students appear as deer caught in headlights by a dynamic lesson delivery when they are used to the "Sage on the Stage" or the "King of Dittos".  A veteran administrator can spot an over-staged plan very quickly and is not usually thankful of the extraordinary measures a teacher has gone through to create it. 

But a teacher who prepares a Dog and Pony Show is preparing.  Because of the new APPR process I have been in classrooms this year where I have watched teachers literally physically sweating it out.  I have heard from faculty members that their colleagues have approached them seeking fresh activities, cool websites, different instructional techniques and new resources.  I've spoken with principals who have had to coach a hysterical teacher who appeared in their office at 4:15 freaking out about an upcoming visit from District Office. The heightened sense of awareness that someone is coming in has caused some veteran staff members who haven't opened a professional journal, turned on a Smart Board or thought about formative assessments to force themselves to learn something new.  Maybe they’ve only internalized this information for a short period of time, but they did learn something.  And if it worked out?  If they earned a high score? Wow!  What a way to emotionally support them! What an epiphany for a stagnating teacher. Perhaps this could be the opportunity they needed to climb out of a slump.

My hope for teachers currently pulling out the Dog and Pony Show lesson is that they will have a positive experience with it.  Maybe it will encourage them to continue seeking ways to improve their professional practice. Perhaps it will snowball and effect their day to day instruction and in the words of my colleague John, "wouldn't it be nice for the kids if every day were a dog and pony show?"