The most important of our best practices is confidentiality. Nothing discussed between two peers should ever be shared without both parties' consent.
The second is to have fun! The goal of this program is not only to develop better teachers, but also to create close relationships among RIO librarians.
“Partners need to meet before one partner teaches a class. There are at least six reasons for this meeting:
“The pre-observation meeting is also a time to delineate expectations of one another. Partners need to verbalize fears about the process and examine what boundaries each partner needs to observe during the class and post-observation conference.” (Levene)
“A peer observer will ‘identify two compliments and two suggestions for improvement.’” (Snavely)
“One observation method that may be used is called scripting or mirroring. With this technique, the coach provides the instructor with times when certain activities or concepts are taught….Instructors may want their coach to provide this type of information to see how they divide the class time, how much time is actually spent on a concept, or how the instruction is organized.” (Levene)
“Another technique is a verbatim log or identification of selected focus points.” (Levene)
“Another method that can be used is a checklist of items that both partners have agreed upon. Appropriate items for the list are behaviors.” (Levene)
“The observer is encouraged to:
“A post observation meeting...discussion might include these elements:
“During the post-observation session, the librarians who were observed take responsibility for leading the discussion.” (Levene)