What Do Great Principals Look for in an Observation BEFORE the Teacher Begins Talking?

Michael Keany

October, 2026

A principal walks into a classroom. The teacher hasn't begun the lesson yet.

Is there anything worth observing?

Absolutely.

Great principals know that teaching begins before the teacher begins talking. The physical environment, student behavior, materials, routines, relationships, and expectations already provide important evidence about the learning culture the teacher has created.

Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching recognizes the classroom environment as a major component of effective teaching, including respect and rapport, a culture for learning, classroom procedures, student behavior, and the organization of physical space. These conditions aren't separate from instruction. They make instruction possible.

So what should a principal notice before the first instructional words are spoken?

1. What Are the Students Doing?

Start with students—not the teacher.

Are students entering calmly and purposefully? Are they getting materials without repeated directions? Are they talking productively, preparing for class, or beginning an assigned task?

Or are they waiting for the teacher to create order?

Well-established routines reduce the amount of attention students must devote to figuring out what happens next. Research-based guidance emphasizes that clear routines create predictability and help students become ready to engage in learning.

A strong classroom often seems to start itself.

2. What Does the Room Say About Learning?

Look around.

Is student work visible? Are there books students can access? Are instructional resources within reach? Does the arrangement of desks support the kind of learning expected?

Most importantly, does the room appear designed primarily for adult convenience or student learning?

The Institute of Education Sciences recommends deliberately arranging classroom environments to support attention and engagement and reduce conditions contributing to disruptive behavior.

The question isn't whether the room is beautiful.

It's whether the room works.

3. Do Students Know Why They're There?

Before the teacher speaks, can students determine what they will be learning?

Perhaps today's learning target, essential question, agenda, problem, image, quotation, or “Do Now” is visible.

A principal should distinguish between learning and activity.

“Complete questions 1–10” describes work.

“Determine how an author uses evidence to strengthen an argument” describes learning.

Moss and Brookhart's formative walkthrough approach specifically encourages observers to focus on what students are learning and doing rather than merely documenting teacher behavior.

4. What Do Relationships Look Like?

Watch faces.

Do students appear comfortable approaching the teacher? Does the teacher greet students? Do students interact respectfully with one another? Is there evidence of warmth without chaos?

Some of the most revealing evidence may occur before formal instruction begins: a teacher quietly checking on a student who was absent yesterday, welcoming someone by name, noticing a new haircut, or asking about last night's game.

Those tiny interactions accumulate.

They tell students: You are known here.

5. Who Owns the Classroom?

Look for evidence of student agency.

Do students independently retrieve materials, submit work, check directions, move into groups, use classroom resources, and solve small problems?

Or must every action wait for teacher permission?

An effective classroom doesn't eliminate teacher authority. It uses routines to make students increasingly responsible for their own learning.

6. What Is the Emotional Temperature?

Finally, pause before judging.

Does the classroom feel anxious? Chaotic? Flat? Energetic? Purposeful? Welcoming?

Climate is difficult to reduce to a checklist, but it matters. Danielson's framework specifically identifies safe, respectful environments as conditions supporting student success.

Great principals therefore don't enter observations waiting for teachers to perform.

They observe before instruction officially begins.

They watch students. They notice routines. They examine the environment. They look for independence, relationships, purpose, and belonging.

Then the teacher begins talking.

By that point, the observant principal has already learned quite a lot.

Because some of the strongest evidence of great teaching can be found in what happens when the teacher doesn't have to say anything at all.

References

1. Danielson, Charlotte. “Observing Classroom Practice.” Educational Leadership, ASCD, 2012; and Danielson Group, Framework for Teaching.

2. Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom. U.S. Department of Education.

3. Moss, Connie M., & Susan M. Brookhart. Formative Classroom Walkthroughs: How Principals and Teachers Collaborate to Raise Student Achievement. ASCD.

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Prepared with the assistance of AI software OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT (5.2) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com