We may never pass this way again (Seals and Crofts)

Photo by sergee bee on Unsplash

After the first round of my Four Minute Walk-Through (4MWT) process/regime for the year I have a few random thoughts to share:

My writing is hard for people to read but, meh - my brain is reading/ decoding/ reflecting/ observing/ synthesizing/ concluding/ questioning and you want to read what I have written? I get that, but something has to be sacrificed.

Questions. I aim to provide one or two questions to get staff to reflect on their practice. Nothing heavy, mind. Nothing existential LOL. More like, what will you do to...?
 Or, How do you know...?

I have John Hattie in my ear as I visit: 'Teachers can and usually do have positive effects, but they must have exceptional effects'.

Via the 4MWT I can get a sense of what is really happening. Teachers often get a mini fright when they look up and register my presence in the room (having entered as unobtrusively as poss).

Younger kids love seeing a visitor in the room - they rush to show me what they've done; older kids are wary of visitors and are reticent to show me their work. Why is that? When did that change?

Back to my hurried scrawl as I visit: do I need to take notes as I go? Pretty much yes, I forget stuff. But maybe I should wait - I don't want the 4MWT to be evaluative if I can help it.

This is where learning takes place and as the leader of learning it's where I can help make a difference. Once I'm in the 4MWT groove, I don't want to stop.