"Sigh"

So, here is what I have decided after trying to figure out Blogger.com last night.  I was having such a "frustrating" time trying to figure out how to add attachments to the blogs, as I did with the Blogger on Laulima, and thought that it was a pain to have to upload the documents into gdocs and then copy and paste the link to Blogger.com (unless there is an easier way and if there is, please share it with me).  The Blogger on Laulima lets you attach the files easily (you just have to remember to click on that "Add to document" button in the Text tab before switching to the Files tab -- lesson learned the hard way).  However, last night, I didn't fix the "Take 3 . . . " post on Blogger.com and upload the attached files, thinking I would do it this morning.  This morning, I decided to check the website (wmke.blogspot.com) to see what it looked like and I found out that the links that are attached to the blog after I copied and pasted from the Blogger on Laulima actually take you to the files that are attached on Laulima.  So, I'm going to continue to post on Laulima, but copy and paste to Blogger.com.  I would rather do that than do the upload to gdocs and copy and paste the link (as I did with the "My first attempt at a blog" post -- I ended up repasting the links to Laulima on that post because the files look nicer this way).  I am not the most "technologically savvy" person and my patience is not the greatest, so I tend to end up doing things differently just to save my sanity.  However, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  =)   So, with that out of the way, I am attaching my observations to this post.  I ended up doing my 30-minute observation at Dave and Buster's this past Saturday.  I had lunch there with friends and thought that would be a great opportunity.  I had expected to see a lot of families with children, but there seemed to be more adults than children there and they did not look like adults who would be playing games upstairs later.  Of course, I'm making assumptions.  Maybe they did go upstairs later.  I think it is interesting how you can make assumptions based on what you observe (as the gentleman at the back of class, I really need to remember names, had done with his observations at Campus Center . . . I also need to remember places.).  When I wrote up my observations, I tried to keep my assumptions out.  In my notes, I had husband, wife, mom, dad, but I replaced them with general terms -- woman, man -- because I thought we had to be more objective and just write what we saw.  However, during the observation, I made lots of mental notes.  For the man and woman who ate quietly and did not make eye contact, I assumed they were either upset or on a first date.  For the woman who was not paying attention to her son as he played with the knife, I assumed she rarely paid any attention to her children and was more concerned about herself and her best interest -- I know he was not going to slice his arm off or anything with it, but still.  For the lady who was watching her boyfriend, I assume, talk to the waiter for 20 minutes, I could hear her thinking, "Can you just shut up so we can go?"  I think it is important to recognize what is really there and what you are bringing to the scene; however, I think it is also important to be able to read people.  If someone is anxiously looking around the restaurant and trying to catch a waiter's attention, you can assume that is someone who needs to be attended to.  If someone is grasping at his throat and gasping for air, you can assume that he is choking.  I suppose being able to read people is more important for evaluative purposes, though.

D&B map.doc
30min.observation.docx
 

Educators tend to observe a lot, whether they are observing students, teachers, or administrators.  As an administrator, I have had to observe teachers for evaluative purposes as well as to offer support.  In order to determine how a teacher is doing, I have to also observe the students in the class.  This is where, I think, it is important to be able to read people -- who looks bored, who looks lost, who looks engaged, who looks like they are up to no good.  However, I cannot just base my evaluation on observations alone, I need to support my observations with interviews.  I need to speak with students and I need to speak with the teacher.  This will help me to get a more complete picture of what is going on.  What would give me an even clearer picture is to look at student work and student assessements to see what learning is actually taking place.  In thinking about teacher evaluation, I know I would need to observe classes in order to get a better idea of what teachers should be evaluated on.  Teachers should be evaluated on what is observable, but not only on the data collected through an observation. I did appreciate the suggestion for my project for the class -- looking at teacher evaluation through the eyes of a teacher, an administrator, and a state-level personnel.  It actually made me think about looking at the current teacher evaluation tool and using that as a starting point towards what an effective teacher evaluation should look like.  The current teacher evaluation tool does not help in offering teachers the support they need to be more successful in the classroom nor does it even indicate how well a teacher is doing in the classroom.  The process in which teachers are evaluated also needs to be looked at.  Teachers are evaluated once every five years (unless non-tenured) and by one evaluator.  I'm just thinking aloud . . .  I guess the good thing is that I'm thinking about it.  I was also thinking about how grounded theory -- since that was our framework yesterday -- could fit into the picture . . . since there is no true performance-based teacher evaluation tool being used here.  I'm not even sure if teacher evaluation has even been really studied here.  I'm sure there's data . . .  It would be interested to talk to personnel at the school-, district-, and state-level to hear their thoughts on teacher evaluation and see what the "central phenomenon" is.  That may help to determine what teacher evaluation should center on.  Something to think about . . .   Sorry.  I know my thoughts are all over the place.  Thanks for getting me thinking!