Want to impress your principal with your ability to confidently run a complete math program in your classroom? Do you worry about whether you will be able to answer all of their questions about how you teach and assess math? Use these strategies for leading discussions as you confidently talk to your principal about math.
Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. I will walk you through the main talking points you may want to use when meeting early in the year, mid-year, and at your final meet-up to discuss your evaluation. Hopefully, this will spark ideas about what you may want to learn more about and things you might want to try in the years to come so you will always feel comfortable talking about great math instruction!
Before we get started with the nitty-gritty teacher talk, if you are working on transforming your math classroom into a space where students actively engage in their learning to practice fluency and math concepts, grab my 10 Free Math Activities. No gimmicks, no sales, and no nonsense with this freebie- just one way I can help with making math hour the favorite part of the day for every student!
Don’t Wait Until Spring to Talk To Your Principal About Math
Spring is here and with it comes evaluation meetings with your principal as you get close to wrapping up the year. Your principal has probably been in your classroom several times observing lessons and having short conversations with you about your lesson preparation, how your students are learning and how you are planning to grow your teaching skills.
Don’t wait until your final, end-of-the-year evaluation meeting to begin discussing all of the great things you are doing in math to help students learn. Start the year out talking confidently about your math program, the skills and conceptual learning you will be working on with students and how you will interpret, track and monitor their progress. You can also discuss what you will do when students fall behind, and how you will differentiate for all of your learners.
Goals For Your Students
The purpose of your very first meeting with your principal is usually to establish some learning goals for your students and to narrow down what you want to focus on in your teaching practice. By now, you probably have a good idea of what your students are like, including their dispositions, their strength and their needs.
Thinking about your class as a whole and what issues have been popping up, you will probably have an idea or general skill, or disposition will move your students ahead. For example, you may have noticed that students lack stamina and give up easily. You may want to work on building perseverance. Or maybe you want to build students’ confidence with their computational skills. Maybe you notice they have a difficult time making connections.
Knowing what your students need to make them competent and confident with math works in tandem with the new skills and concepts you are teaching them everyday. Every group of learners is unique and brings a certain disposition to the classroom. Once you identify the overarching need of your students, you are not only preparing them to learn math in your class, but you are setting them up for a future of success.
What Am I Going To See When I Walk Into Your Classroom?
This is a classic question that administrators ask teachers when they are about to do an observation. This could be addressed in so many different ways. You could talk about your basic math program and generally what you have students doing every day like justifying their answers, or that you weave hands-on exploration to strengthen students’ conceptual understanding.
It can also be a great time to mention the instructional strategies you are using like using wait time to create the expectation of participation from all and asking specific questions to uncover misconceptions. Remember to always go back to what your students are showing you that they need. It might sound something like this, “I’ve noticed my students are reluctant to discuss their math with each other, so I have researched and am using a new method for students to record their work that makes it easier for others to see what they’ve done.”
Talking to Your Principal About Assessment
I love when principals ask this question because it is what we are doing every day, all day long! It may be one of the reasons we are exhausted by the end of the day. We can set the stage by mentioning all of the ways you determine how much a student knows or understands about a new skill or idea.
Listening, questioning, observing, reviewing work samples, making notes, watching them work, interpreting non-verbals, and paying attention to what they are asking are all valid talking points when talking about assessment. There are more ways to assess students, but when it comes to assessing student understanding, use what you feel comfortable with.
You may get a question about how you use tests and quizzes to assess student learning. Unit tests and quizzes are an important part of determining student learning, however, by the time you’ve given the end-of-unit test, you probably already know how students will do. If your conversation “zeros” in on the summative assessment, a great conversation to have is using this type of test to give you feedback on how effective your interventions throughout the unit were and what supports you will consider moving forward. Remember, just because you finished rounding in October, doesn’t mean you are done with it for the rest of the year. Students will have opportunities to put skills and concepts they’ve learned to practice throughout the year.
A Great Discussion About Differentiation With Your Principal
The key to talking about differentiation is knowing your learners and tying the differentiation to the needs of the student. If you have a small group of students that you read the math problem to, talk about the fact that this is your way of making sure these students can access the problem and get a good start.
Some great ways to differentiate in the math classroom include:
- Making manipulatives available to all students at all times
- Invite collaboration during specific times
- Use problems with multiple entry points
- Create opportunities for small successes
- Provide additional visual tools and/or models
After Talking To Your Principal About Math
Think back to the way you described your goals for your students. If you know the principal will be dropping by for an observation, think about what lesson or activity will support your goals. As long as you are clear about what your students need and you plan accordingly, your administrator will know you are student centered, and student-focused in your teaching repertoire.
More Resources
For more tips on how to prepare for an evaluation read Suzanne Capek Tingley’s How To Prepare For A Teacher Evaluation.
Need more instructional strategies for teaching math? Check out Larry Ferlazzo’s blog 4 Teacher-Recommended Instructional Strategies for Teaching Math.
Looking for a fun and engaging beginning of the year activity to amaze and delight students? Check out my recent blog post about the Magic Problem at Sweet-Life-Learning.com.
For a free resource A Guide To Talking With Your Principal About Math visit my TPT Store and download the free guide.
