Innovation: Start with the Basics

2nd in a series about teacher innovation

As an 18 year educator, I've been through many evaluations.  Do you know what point in every evaluation cycle I dread?
The point when you sit down with your evaluator after a formal observation and he/she asks "How do you think that lesson went?"  I always feel like I'm sitting at a car dealership negotiating a price: sound confident, but don't overdo it.

Here's the question I want evaluators to ask instead:
"What was your impact in that lesson?"
Who cares how I thought the lesson went?
What I care about is this: Do we know if meaningful student learning happened?

And this is where innovation comes into play.
You can't innovate unless you clearly know what your impact is on a lesson-by-lesson basis.
John Hattie's mantra of "Know Thy Impact" must be pervasive throughout a school in order for teachers to measure their impact, increase impact, and make their practice better.

If a teacher can't tell you what his/her impact in a lesson was, that's not a problem.
It's a starting point!  Let's help you find ways to measure your impact.
How about learning targets that are more focused? How about trying some exit tickets?
Let's do some meaningful group discussion.  Let's look at some student work.
Once you know what your impact is, the natural goal of a professional is to increase that impact.
And THAT takes innovation!

My two favorite resources on this topic are Formative Classroom Walkthroughs (Brookhart & Moss) and Leading with Focus (Mike Schmoker).  Although Formative Classroom Walkthroughs sounds like a book for principals, it is a great book for teachers to really rethink the basics of lesson design and evaluate impact.  "Learning target" has a different meaning to everyone, but if a principal can leverage a single definition of learning target and success criteria, a school can increase achievement. Remember that "teacher clarity" is a top-tier Hattie strategy.
The book Leading with Focus reminds principals that focusing on the basics of solid lesson design will always produce achievement.  But we need to get into classrooms often enough to see impact and coach impact.  No matter what other initiatives come along over the years, solid lesson design that measures daily impact will keep the ship steady.

You can't get to your destination unless you know where you are.
And you can't innovate unless you know your impact.
Sometimes innovation isn't about the latest, greatest thing.

Sometimes innovation is just about getting the basics right so we can get ... better.