Teacher Evaluation

Having taught in various international schools as a music teacher, I have been evaluated for my teaching ability, skills and approach yearly.  Though I have taught  for many years, going to school on the day of knowing someone is coming to "evaluate" and "inspect" me still makes me nervous as it puts pressure on me. Having said that, I want to receive appraisal for the betterment of my teaching.


I have taught both in British and American curriculum schools and would like share the difference between these two teacher evaluation systems.

When I was teaching at a British School in Beijing, it used the OFSTED ( The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills of the UK government) teachers standards  https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283566/Teachers_standard_information.pdf for teacher inspection.

Every teacher is being inspected twice yearly; the beginning of the year by the principal, and end of the year by the head of department. They will check the box to inspects if the teacher:
1) Sets high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils
2) Promotes good progress and outcomes by pupils
3) Demonstrates good subject and curriculum knowledge
4) Plans and teaches well structured lessons
5) Adapts teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
6) Makes accurate and productive use of assessment
7) Manages behavior effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment
8) Fulfills wider professional responsibilities

At the end of the inspection, the teacher is being graded as "Outstanding", "Good", "Satisfactory" or "Inadequate" and a follow-up debrief is carried out between the inspector and the teacher.

In my opinion, this kind of observation is rather dictatorial. In the first place, words such as inspect and inspector don't sound friendly to me. (Literally, these words are printed on the evaluation form.) They sound like someone is walking into my classroom to scrutinize me, and I cannot be myself. Furthermore, I have to conduct all the eight tasks well to be graded as outstanding and good in one 60 minute class; this, to me, is not a fair evaluation. Having only two evaluations with a long gap in between, and by two people giving me different sets of opinions is not helpful for my professional and personal growth as an educator.

At my present school - an American curriculum school- I am more pleased with the way I am evaluated. My supervisor, who is also the Elementary school principal, runs five informal walk- in, unannounced observations with me and calls for me for a debrief after each session. The formal observation is conducted towards the end of the year. I like this approach very much as it is likened to a formative assessment, whereby I get to reflect through the five informal observations and work towards reaching my goals and showcase my growth and strength in the formal and announced observation. As the informal observations are unannounced, I find myself more natural while teaching and am oblivious to the supervisor's walking in to my classroom. I am always truly myself in such situation. The informal observations leading to a formal one display a progression in my professional development. I see that my this year's  performance is better than last year's. In my observation, I am evaluated for:
1)  Appropriate instructional planning
2)  Effective organizational and management of classroom
3)  Proper and sufficient instructional strategies
4)  Fair and consistent teacher/student interaction
5)  Appropriate and effective evaluation of student performance

Just comparing the two sets of criteria between the British and American systems, the adjectives used in the former system put tremendous pressure on me to perform to be an outstanding teacher. Whereas with the latter system, I feel relaxed and know how to find my means to teach appropriately and effectively.

With regards to proposing elements on which I think I should be judged as a teacher... again I don't like the word "judge". Why should I be judged as a teacher ?

Tying in with the imminent clinical practice I will be doing, I would like my mentor to give me honest and genuine as well as constructive feedback on my 1) teaching skills and approach  2) interaction and rapport with the students  3) personality as a teacher. These are the elements that will raise the bar for me to become an effective teacher.

Pre-Assessment for Differentiation

Pre-assessment is also known as diagnostic assessment, whereby students are assessed on what knowledge they have already known to move on to a new topic of learning. Pre-Assessment is important for the teacher to know how many students have already mastered the knowledge needed to move on to the next level of learning; how many need some additional help, and how many more still need a large amount of help. This pre-assessment data is very useful for teachers in planning and differentiating future lessons so that every student could succeed.

To develop a unit on creating music using the 5-tone (pentatonic) scale, I will give a diagnostic assessment to my student using the following 6 items:

Diagnostic assessment

1)   Clap an 8-beat rhythm pattern using quarter note, eighth-note, 16^th-note, and quarter-note rest.

2)   Sing an 8-beat melody pattern using all the notes of the 5-tone scale (la, so, mi).

3)   On the worksheet, organize a 8-beat rhythm pattern using each of the following note values:

       

4)   Use a non-pitch percussion instrument to perform an 8- beat rhythm pattern.

5)   Group in fours, choose a pentatonic song and perform to the class.

6)   Play a 4-beat melody pattern on the xylophone.

Innovative Differentiation Strategies:

The five students who answered most of the pre-assessment items correctly will work as a group. They will immediately work on a project called the Orff ensemble with the following steps.

            Step 1

a)    Two students will work together to create a 16-beat melody on the xylophone.

b)   One student will create an ostinato (a 4-beat melody pattern that repeats until the 16^th beat.

c)    Another student will create a bordun (a 4-beat pattern using only “do” and “so” of the pentatonic scale) on the bass xylophone.

d)   Still another student will create an 8-beat melody pattern on the Glockenspiel

         Upon completion of this step, the teacher will assess the students’ work.

           Step 2

          All the students will write down their parts (first, they write down the   

          rhythm patterns, then they notate the solfege under them) on the work sheet  

          and show to the teacher.

          Step 3

          5 students will play together all their parts, keeping a steady pulse and    

          work on blending their parts into a fine-tuned performance.  The teacher  

          will finally listen to the performance assess if the students have met the 

          standard.

The 12 students who have some knowledge about the topic, but need to develop higher order thinking skills.  ( This group of students will defer to work on the Orff ensemble project but just focus on creating 8 -16 beat melody )

  

Step1

All students will individually create an 8-beat melody. The teacher will assess their work after that.

Step 2

Those who can play fluently will continue with another 8 beats to complete the assignment, and then write down their composed work on the worksheet. For those who need more practice on creating melody, the teacher will demonstrate again and ask the students to try, and then the students will play to their peers while the teacher works with other groups.

 Step 3

Those who are making 16 beat melody can now write down their melodies and then, with teacher help, group themselves to play different parts like the high achievers. If the second group succeeds in playing their 8-beat pattern now, they can proceed to the next 8 beats, and then write down their melodies too.

The 5 students who appear to have limited knowledge about the topic.

Step 1

The teacher will sit in front of these students, practice with them the “I play, you play” approach on the xylophones. She plays four beats, and the students echo. Gradually, the teacher has the students make up their own.

 Step 2

Two students will pair up and play a “call and response”, whereby one student plays a four-beat pattern, the other echoes. The teacher will come round and listen to them and give feedback.

Step 3

The students will learn to continue with creating 8-beat melody pattern after practicing step 1 and 2. Due to their limitations, these students will only create a 8-beat melody for their assignments.

High Stakes Assessments

I teach at the International Christian School in Hong Kong, which places emphasis on high-stakes assessments. Its assessment practices have been adopted with an intentional and clear connection to student learning.  At every level the assessments are chosen to accurately and consistently measure the curricular aims of the school and to make an instructional contribution. 

 The students at ICS currently take : 

1) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP).

It is chosen because of its reliability and high quality comparative data which helps ICS make inferences and decisions about its program.   In addition, the MAP test provides formative data that can be used to both inform instruction and monitor progress of individual students and provide feedback.   Students who take this test are from Kinder-9th grade.

2) PSAT, SAT and ACT

ICS students take the SAT and/or ACT exams on a voluntary basis as these are mostly useful for students going to U.S. universities. The Testing Coordinator arranges for the SAT and ACT exams to be offered at ICS on various Saturdays throughout the year. The majority of ICS students do take the SAT and/or ACT.  The ACT has only recently been offered at ICS, but there has been significant student interest.

SAT results show ICS students not only performing well above U.S. norms, but also above International norms. SAT results are used primarily in the university application process. Since the ACT has only recently been offered, the school does not have much data about ICS students’ ACT performance. Students in grades 10 and 11 have been required to take the PSAT as preparation for the SAT exam.

3) Advanced Placement

AP results have been strong year on year, with ICS easily outperforming global averages, and also outperforming Hong Kong averages in nearly all subjects.  Students take this voluntary test to accumulate credits for their university placement. AP teachers also meet individually with the HS principal to review the detailed grades, summary reports, and consider the implications for course planning and student learning.

Students who take this test are currently 10th , 11th, and 12th graders.

In summary, ICS high school prepares and guides the students for the above tests, especially for students seeking AP endorsed performance for university placement  and SAT results for university  acceptance.  Middle and Elementary schools, students take the MAP tests twice yearly to i) generally inform teachers and the school about individual student progress, and ii) specifically inform curriculum and program review committees about relative strengths and weaknesses. Students who did not perform well in the tests have no consequence to bear, but teachers will give extra support to their academic growth.

 ICS teachers, especially high school teachers will teach to the test for the AP courses but are not held accountable for the students' scores. The school does not evaluate the teachers' performance based on the students results.

As a Music teacher, I am not familiar with these standardized high stakes tests, but I interviewed a teacher who teaches high school Physic at an AP school in Shanghai to find out how the tests work in his school; he said the teachers would teach the curriculum for the AP courses, but would not teach to the test as the school stresses more on student learning than test taking.

I also talked to an Elementary classroom teacher at an IB World school in Busan; he told me that  the Elementary students in his school would take both the MAP and ACER tests but would not be affected by the scores. It was interesting to know that the parents didn't even care if their children passed the tests.

In conclusion, different schools hold different perspectives in approaching the high-risk tests.  Generally, Middle and Elementary schools do not regard the MAP test as pressurizing because it has no effect on them. Again, for the high school test, it all depends on individual students how important the tests are to them.

Formative Assessment For HS Choir

Formative assessment is an indispensable classroom learning tool. It is important for the students to have formative assessment to account for their personal growth academically and behaviorally. It is also important for the teachers to know whether their teaching styles work for the students and any modifications are needed to enhance the learning procedure.

I am planning a lesson for my high school men's choir with this lesson objective singers will interpret a musical piece and sing with each of the following dynamics: shaped phrases, loud and soft, crescendo and decrescendo.

I have chosen the song and I will explain the music concepts in class. I have created three formative assessment activities to ensure students are learning towards meeting the objective.

Assessment#1

Self evaluation among small group members

Within a group of six, create a checklist to evaluate on the performance of the specific dynamics and compare notes among each other after each singing session. They grade themselves to observe their progress and submit their checklist to me.

Rationale: This is for the students to help each other out; to be on the same page knowing exactly how to shape and make the nuances for each phrase.They will also be aware of where and when to make a crescendo and decrescendo.

Assessment#2

Video recording of student performance

While the students are singing, record a few students at a time to watch their postures, mouth positions, facial expressions, and performance of dynamics.

Rationale: The video recorder is the most honest and fair judge of all. Video recording the students' performance can help them eliminate bad singing habits while maintaining the good ones. They can also work on their singing skills to shape the music and sing with dynamic levels. I can also keep a record of their progression.

Assessment#3 

Student conductor

Students will be placed in groups of six. Each student will be the conductor of the group to conduct the song, emphasizing on how he wants the music to sound. Have the others in the group sing exactly to the conductor's gestures. I will also record the activity for peer review.

Rationale: Being the conductor, the student needs to know the interpretation of the song very well to lead the singers. He needs to feel the music in his own body in order to convey the dynamic nuances through his hand gestures and have the singers perceive and interpret his ideas. Each conductor has a different style in leading the singers. It is interesting to watch each one's creativity and how the singers respond to the interpretation. This activity helps students to develop a sense of singing sensitively with music dynamics as the elements are gradually growing in their inner-self. I am also able to gauge their progress .

A Reflection on Undersatnding and Applying Standards

This unit is indeed one of the most practical and beneficial lessons I have ever read. All the three activities are very useful for me to create not only my lesson and unit plans but also my entire curriculum for the courses I am teaching. More importantly, they are cornerstones for me to become a very successful teacher.

Unpacking a standard

By dissecting each standard into three parts: the skill, the concept and the context, I have come to understand the 11 anchor standards for music so much clearer and can immediately outline my unit plans based on the standards with clarity. For example: what to teach? how to teach? And what context to cover? As soon as I outline my unit plans, I am able to constructively write my lessons for each unit. I can also revise and update my curriculum map in specific details. The students will benefit from a more specific curriculum and be clear of the course outline they are to study. This will eventually help students to be successful during self-directed learning.

Backwards mapping

I have in the past been writing my lesson plans using this approach that is seeing the end from the beginning. I know what I want my students to achieve from the very beginning and put in the nitty - gritty to reach that achievement. However this week's activity helped me to organize my skills far better by teaching me to come up firstly with the outcomes, then create the assessments to achieve the outcomes and lastly develop the lesson plans that are accessible for assessments. This is in fact a very systematic process for teachers to do their planning as well as students to know their ultimate goals and learning directions.

SMART goal

Writing these goals gives me a precise knowledge of 

i) what I am teaching the students 

ii) how I am assessing the students' knowledge and learning. 

iii) what the students' capabilities and limitations are.

iv) what the time frame for learning a unit should be so that no students become bored or anxious.

I have learned that in my future lesson plans, I must include this goal when developing the lesson objectives. Students will know exactly what is expected of them and how to revise and study the subject with specific directions.

Standards and Backwards Mapping

Here is the standard I am using to create a unit for my first grade Music class,  the National Core Arts Anchor Standard # 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

I choose this standard to teach students how to organize pitch and rhythm into musical ideas and further develop the ideas into a musical work.

At the end of this unit, first graders will be able to achieve the following three proficiencies:
1) Use musical pitches and rhythms to organize sounds into short four - beat musical ideas or patterns called motif.
2) Describe an emotion such as happy or sad in the motif through organizing the tempo ( fast and slow), dynamics (loud and soft), pitch and rhythm.
3) Organize the motifs to develop a musical work.

The students' progress and success will be evaluated through the following three assessments: 
1) Students demonstrate their work through playing on the instruments.
2) Teacher records students' performances via digital devices.
3) Students show their musical ideas using iconic notation.

The students will work on the following three activities to achieve the target.
 1) To organize a motif:
Students will explore  la, so, mi pitches on the xylophone to create a four-beat pattern using quarter and eighth notes.
2) To describe an emotion
Students further explore and focus on  the combination of tempo, dynamics, pitch and rhythm to specifically create a happy or sad mood.
3) To develop a musical work:
Students plan on developing a structure for a musical work by creating two motifs, and then repeat or alternate the motifs. For example: AB, AABB, ABAB.


Examples of iconic notation

Positive Reinforcement and Appropriate Actions to Maintain A Healthy Classroom Environment

In my Music class I firmly establish a set of rules and procedures at the beginning of the school year and run through my expectations of following them with my students regularly. There is consistent positive reinforcement to give incentives to enhance student learning and participation.

Below are the positive management strategies I implement:

Verbal Affirmation

I always praise the students aloud for specific good behaviors and good performances.  For example: I would say, “ Thank you Jane for singing so beautifully, I can hear that you are projecting your voice.” This does not only have a positive influence on Jane, but the rest of the class too. I will continue to praise many others that I see singing well and I will normally end up saying, “ Wow! I really love how you all are singing. You are using your head voice to sing and you are pronouncing the words so clearly.”

Stickers

Following the praise, I immediately stick a sticker in the student's shirt. Also, for the purpose of encouragement, there are times the whole class gets stickers even though not everyone gets praised. This typically happens when there is no misbehaving in class.

Bee Cards (reward coupons)

I give out Bee cards to the students who work cooperatively throughout the lesson. They put their names down and tick what positive behaviors they have exhibited and turn in to the school counter. Upon collecting 10 Bee cards, the students will get a prize reward from the school.

For example, Susie is absolutely focused and cooperative while performing as well as responsible and mindful in handling the musical instruments. She thus deserves a Bee card.

Class Dojo

At the end of each lesson, I will fill out the students’ Dojo scores to keep track of their behaviors.  Sometimes, I encourage students to be honest and evaluate their own behaviors. When the class consistently fares well, the students celebrate at the end of the month by having a class party. Parents will also receive a message about their child’s positive behaviors.

Award certification

After rounding up the Dojo scores, high scorers will either get gold, bronze or silver certificates for being cooperative in Music.

 

In my Music class, two very common negative scenarios are students getting off-task and not following instructions. I have to carry out actions to help them realize their undesired behavior and find means to help them get back on track.

Actions to modify classroom misbehavior:

Close proximity and a nudge.

I constantly practice “withitness” during lessons. When I see that a child either gets off task or act silly while participating, I go close to him/her and sometimes give a nudge to express disagreement. The student generally shapes up.

Verbal warning

If the undesired behavior persists, I give a warning to the child by firmly saying “2^nd time” and expect the student to get back on track.

Withdraw from the activity

If verbal warning doesn’t work, I withdraw the student from the activity and have him/her sit aside for five minutes to watch how one should be behaving in that moment and have him/her tell me what the observation is. I expect the child to get back in the group with a better attitude. At this stage, the child will shape up as he/she has not only observed what is right but also missed out five minutes of fun learning.

Dojo Scores

The score will be affected for misbehaving students and communication with parents via Dojo messages will take place at this point.

Reflection note

On a few occasions, the really rebellious child has to write a note reflecting on what his/her undesired behavior is; what would have been a better choice; how will he/she not behave in such a manner in the future; and finally he/ she needs to let the parents know and get their signatures to submit the note to me. I go through the note with the child and keep him/her accountable for what has been written.

When the class management system is well articulated and executed, the students will know what is expected of them and the expectations will positively impact the learning environment.

This flow chart gives a summary of my classroom management: