How do I handle the "dog-and-pony show" when I walk in?
Some teachers will change what they're doing the moment you appear — switching to a more impressive activity, making an announcement about your visit, or putting on a performance that bears little resemblance to everyday instruction. This is a rational response to feeling observed and evaluated.
The best prevention is frequency. When you visit regularly, there's nothing special about your presence. The novelty wears off, and teachers realize they can't sustain a performance three times a month.
The worst thing you can do is tell teachers in advance what specific strategies you want to see. That virtually guarantees a performance. If you want to know whether teachers are using a particular technique, ask them in conversation — they'll give you better information than you'd get from observation anyway.
When a teacher does put on a show, don't call it out directly. Just note what you see, continue visiting regularly, and let the pattern normalize over time.
I address this dynamic in Now We're Talking!, Days 15 and 20.
From the Book
Now We’re Talking! 21 Days to High-Performance Instructional Leadership
About the Author
Justin Baeder, PhD
Justin Baeder, PhD is Director of The Principal Center, where he helps senior leaders in K–12 organizations build capacity for instructional leadership. A former principal in Seattle Public Schools, he is the creator of the Instructional Leadership Challenge, which has helped more than 10,000 school leaders in 50 countries around the world:
- Confidently get into classrooms every day
- Have feedback conversations that change teacher practice
- Discover their best opportunities for school improvement
Dr. Baeder directs the Instructional Leadership Association, the premiere professional membership for school leaders, and is the author of three Solution Tree books on instructional leadership:
- Now We’re Talking! 21 Days to High-Performance Instructional Leadership
- Mapping Professional Practice: How to Develop Instructional Frameworks to Support Teacher Growth (with Heather Bell-Williams)
- Cultivate and Activate: Building Teacher Capacity for Instructional Leadership (with Keith Fickel)
Justin is the host of Principal Center Radio, a long-running audio podcast featuring more than 400 education thought leaders and more than 500 books, as well as The Teaching Show and The Eduleadership Show. A prolific education commentator, he has more than 250,000 followers and 30,000,000 annual impressions on social media, and is frequently consulted by major media outlets on issues of education research, policy, and practice.
As a consultant, trainer, and speaker, Dr. Baeder has worked onsite with groups across the US, Canada, and Central America, and virtually with groups across the Middle East, Australia, and around the world. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, and regularly provides administrator professional development on classroom walkthroughs, teacher evaluation, and instructional leadership.
He holds a PhD in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from the University of Washington and an MEd in Curriculum & Instruction from Seattle University, and is a graduate of the Danforth Program for Educational Leadership at UW.