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Session 3. Observation Tools and Trust
Objective. Choose and use a simple paper observation tool for an agreed focus, record evidence without opinion and keep a clear confidentiality agreement.
An observation can either help a colleague see their own lesson or feel judged by it. The difference lies in what you choose to record and how you treat the notes. Simple paper tools, used with the colleague's agreement, are enough. This lesson goes deeper than the key ideas: how to match a tool to a goal, how to keep your own opinions out of the record and what trust looks like on the day you sit at the back of a classroom.
Key ideas
Before you go in
- Hold a 10-minute pre-observation chat: which lesson and which 10 to 15 minutes, what the goal is, what you will record and where you will sit.
- Ask the colleague: 'What should I look for, and what should I ignore?' The colleague chooses the focus; you choose the tool that fits it.
- Agree how to introduce yourself to pupils: 'I am here to learn from the lesson, not to check you.'
Four simple paper tools
- Tally: marks for who answers, or who starts work. Question log: the teacher's exact questions in order, with who answered and how long the wait was.
- Work-time clock: the minutes in which pupils work on their own. Script notes: the exact words of one moment, such as an instruction, in a short box.
- Pick the tool that answers the goal. One page, one tool, one focus. Add a column 'I wonder' for questions, not judgements.
Evidence is not opinion
- Evidence is what a camera would show: numbers, words, times. 'Eight questions, four pupils answered' is evidence. 'The lesson was boring' is an opinion.
- Keep the two apart on the page. Interpret later, together with the colleague, who knows the class.
- Write pupils as seat numbers or initials. Names in notes can hurt a child if the page is lost.
Trust and confidentiality
- Trust is built by small acts: arrive on time, sit quietly, do not interrupt, do not mark the register or correct pupils, and thank the colleague afterwards.
- Agree where notes are kept (with the pair, in a closed folder), who may read them, and when they are given to the colleague or destroyed, for example at the end of the cycle.
- Never discuss a colleague's lesson in the staff room. The only exception is risk to a pupil; then follow school rules and tell the colleague first.
Evidence and opinion
Evidence
What a camera would show
- 8 questions in 10 minutes
- 4 different pupils answered
- 2-second wait after one question
Opinion
What I think it means
- The lesson was dull
- Pupils are not interested
- The teacher is nervous
Match the tool to the goal, and know its limits
Each tool shows one slice. A tally of who answers tells you about participation, not about understanding. A question log shows the kinds of questions and waiting, not whether pupils learned. A work-time count shows how much practice pupils got, not how good it was. Choose the slice that answers the colleague's goal, and say what it cannot show.
Define your words before you start. What counts as an 'answer': one word, a full sentence, a chorus? What counts as 'working alone'? Two observers using the same sheet can differ if the definitions differ. Write the definition at the top of the page and show it to the colleague. Research on observation tools also suggests using them for reflection and feedback, not for judging teachers.
Evidence, interpretation and the observer's presence
Evidence is what a camera would show; interpretation is what you think it means. Keep them in two columns and share the first column first. Often the colleague supplies the meaning: 'Those four are the only ones who sit near the board.' Your interpretation might have been wrong.
Your presence changes the lesson a little; that is unavoidable and acceptable. Reduce it: arrive before pupils, sit where you can see but are not the centre, say nothing to pupils, and do not react with your face. Afterwards, ask: 'How typical was this lesson?' If the answer is 'not very', say so in your notes and consider another slice.
Examples from the classroom
The same lesson, three counts
Scene. Three teachers in Samarkand each count 'answers' in the same Grade 5 maths extract. One counts only full sentences, one counts one-word answers, and one includes chorus replies. Their numbers are 2, 6 and 7. They then write a shared definition: any answer by a named pupil, chorus counted separately. The new counts match.
Insight. Defining the words first makes the tool fair.
The notebook with names
Scene. Malika observes in Tashkent and writes pupils' names in her notebook. When she realises that a parent volunteer sits near her desk, she writes seat numbers instead and keeps the page in a folder in her bag. In the agreement meeting she had said: 'Notes live with me and you, nowhere else.' She keeps her word to the end of the cycle and then hands the notes to the colleague.
Insight. Small habits with seat numbers and storage turn the agreement into real trust.
Not typical
Scene. Aziz tells Jasur before the lesson: 'I will watch the first 10 minutes for how many pupils answer.' On the day there is a fire drill, and half the class arrives late. Aziz writes the tally and a line: 'Not typical: late start.' In the meeting Jasur says: 'Come on Thursday.' They repeat the slice.
Insight. Naming what was untypical protects the colleague and the data.
Common pitfalls
- Using a tool that does not match the goal, such as a general impression sheet for a participation goal.
- Writing names, adjectives and verdicts in the notes.
- Leaving notes on a table or in a shared folder.
- Observing the whole lesson and recording everything.
One Lesson, Three Tools
- Trios (20 min): in the Kit is a 10-minute lesson extract. Each person uses a different tool on it: A, a tally of who answers; B, a question log with wait time; C, a work-time count. Then compare results in the trio.
- Pairs (10 min): match each of four coaching goals in the Kit to the tool that would answer it, and say what the tool would NOT tell you.
- Pairs (10 min): in the Kit, six observer notes. Mark each EVIDENCE or OPINION and rewrite each opinion as evidence.
- Second short activity (10 min): in pairs, write six ground rules for your observation notes (where kept, who reads, pupils' names, how long, what about risk, what you say in the staff room). Swap with another pair and add one rule.
- Alone (5 min): write your school-based task from the Kit and choose your tool.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Did your three counts match? Where did they differ and why?
- Which opinion was hardest to turn into evidence?
- Which rule in your agreement would make a nervous colleague say yes?
Reflect
- What would make you feel safe if a colleague observed you?
- Which opinions do you often write in your own lesson notes?
- What do pupils think when a stranger sits at the back? How would you prepare them?
Try it tomorrow
- Choose one tool from the lesson and write its definition (what counts) on top of a blank page.
- Practise the tool for 10 minutes in a meeting or a recorded lesson at home, using seat numbers, then check each line for evidence.
- Write six ground rules for notes and give a copy to your colleague before you observe.
Further reading and links
Pick one tool for the colleague's goal, record only what a camera would show, and keep the notes inside the pair.