A Lesson Teachers Can Learn From Grey's Anatomy

For the past few months, I've been watching old seasons of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix. At the end of a long day, it's easy to queue up another episode, recline on the couch, and lose myself in the social and professional difficulties of the show's main characters.

One critical aspect of Grey's Anatomy, is that the primary setting, Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital, is a teaching hospital. This setting drives the plot of the first eight seasons--a group of doctors progress through their residencies towards becoming attending physicians. These residents learn from their mentors in labs, patients' rooms, operating rooms, and the operating rooms' observation decks.

An observation deck is often the setting for scenes. Viewers see characters seated above an operating room, and the observers are regularly taking notes on the proceedings below. It's clear that residents are expected to observe operations and learn from what they see and hear attending surgeons and other residents doing and discussing in the operating room.

But it's not just residents who frequent the galleries during operations. Attending surgeons are also seen watching procedures, and taking notes. It's clear that these characters, who have already established themselves in their careers, are still interested in learning from their coworkers. And it's here that teachers can learn a lesson--observation is a powerful way to improve one's practice.

Over the holiday break, my principal sent out an email to teachers in the building. She asked for volunteers to have administrators in the district come to a class and observe us teach. The purpose of the observation was for the administrators to practice using a new evaluation method that will be implemented across the district next year. I volunteered.

This past Thursday, four administrators came to one of my classes to observe me teach. Even though I knew this observation was for them to learn, I was nervous. I hoped that all would go well--that students would be on task; that the discussion I had planned would be lively; that I would not have time to kill at the end of the lesson. A few hours after the administrators left, one sent me an email, thanking me for letting them observe me. In her email, she used the terms "daunting," "well above any job description," and "this risk" to describe the observation.

I find it regretful that an observation of a teacher, done by other educators and meant for the purpose of learning to become better at one's job, is an anomaly that garners the above thinking from both myself and the observers. I should have been at ease in this situation, and the administrators should have seen this as just another of many opportunities to become better at leading teachers to being better teachers.

So, I've decided that it's time for me to do my part to make a change. Just like the Grey's Anatomy attending surgeons, I intend to make it a regular part of my practice to observe my coworkers. I can learn ways to improve how I teach from watching any of my coworkers--those with 30-plus years of experience, and those with less than five; those who teach the same subject as me, and those who teach other subjects; those who are currently teaching 8th graders like me, and those who are teaching 5th graders.

And I plan to make more of a point of inviting my coworkers in to watch my classes. I enjoyed the conversation I had with the administrators on Thursday after the class was over. As we talked about the lesson, I found myself reflecting on what I'd done and making mental notes of how I would adjust the lesson for the next class. Being observed helps me be more mindful of my techniques, of all the little things I do and don't do that may or may not make a lesson a success for the students.

I'm a teacher. But I'm also a learner. And while learning to become a better teacher through attending workshops, doing independent reading, taking part in book studies, and taking graduate classes are all valuable, I should also be taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge and skill in teaching that surrounds me by both observing my coworkers and being observed by them while we teach.