March 31, 2022 | Teacher/blogger Larry Ferlazzo asked panelists on his Education Week blog, Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo, about their best PD experience, and McREL Senior Managing Consultant Tonia Gibson shared hers: peer coaching with a colleague from a different grade level.
Why pair teachers from different grades? Tonia and the other teachers at her school in Australia (where there are no formal, high-stakes evaluations) found that a little distance made it easier to focus objectively on teaching practices. Visiting one another’s classrooms four times a year, the peer coaches learned to focus on what students were learning as opposed to what they were doing.
