The Value of Observation

I had one of those "ah ha" moments this week. I know teachers watch and listen to their kids, but to put it in terms of observation really interested me. The first thing that came to mind were the teachers I have had or worked with, that if they weren't directly teaching, they were sitting at their desk on their laptop in the back of the room. I assume catching up on work, communicating with parents or planning for later in the day or week. All of which is valuable, but I think there must be a better time to be doing these types of things. Or will we be so busy that we have to sacrifice observing our students in order to play catch up? What opportunities did these teachers miss by, for example, checking email instead of sitting with one of the small groups while they did math, or walking around the room to check for understanding? Does that mean that the only form of assessment they were left with were tests? I think in some cases that is probably true. That may be the only form of measurement for a teacher who isn't connected, observing, and listening to their students. If I spent a good amount of time observing, I think I would be much more in tune to what the students are interested in and could develop a better understanding of the types of learners I have in my room, and frame our activities around that.
I agree with Rachael and her need for a beautiful, orderly environment like Montessori talks about. I think it really helps children feel like their classroom is their community when they can contribute to this beauty as well. When they feel connected to their environment, I would hope that respect for that environment would follow. A room that is messy might not impact one student, but it might make another one become frustrated and change their experience at school. It came up in science, "what if a science experiment does get chaotic/messy/out of control?" While listening to this discussion, I went back to Montessori's ideas of having supplies accessible to students, and in a very organized manner. If supplies and materials were this way, it would be much easier to hold the students accountable and encourage them to be responsible with their behavior: clean up after themselves, do not misuse the supplies, put things back where they go, use safety at all times and value what we are privileged to have in our classroom. Setting those standards for respect seems much easier if the students could see that you cared enough about the supplies to keep them clean and organized and within reach.