Shadowing

· **  OVERVIEW   ** *Shadowing is the process of following a student or educator through one day, part of a day, or longer, experiencing what the person experiences *Teachers can shadow in their own schools or other schools, individually or in a group · **  RATIONALE   ** *Shadowing provides an authentic experience of school *Shadowing is cognitive and emotional *It is job embedded * Shadowing begins with a real-life experience and ends as participants take what they learned and implement it in the classroom · ** STEPS  **  o **  FOR SCHOOLS HOSTING SHADOWS   ** *STEP 1- __Prepare to Host__ (discuss the reasons for doing it to be sure the experience will provide real benefit) *STEP 2- __Prepare for the Visit__ *STEP 3-__The Shadowing Experience__ *STEP 4-__Debrief__ (Steps here include: writing about the experience, sharing observations, the “what”, the “so what” and the “now what”   o **  FOR EDUCATORS WHO ARE SHADOWING  **      *STEP 1- __Prepare__      *STEP 2-__Shadow__      *STEP 3- __Debrief__      *STEP 4-__Implement__    · **  VARIATIONS  **      * Individuals or groups      *Teams of teachers or mixed teams (principals, district level administrators etc.)      *Non-educators      *Staying more than one day and doing a research activity      *Students shadowing adults    · **  CRITICAL ELEMENTS  ** *Must have a worthy purpose *Attention to all steps *A coordinator (contact person) is necessary *Opportunity to learn  · ** CONCLUSION  ** A school that hosts shadows has its culture changed. It is hard to stay static when visitors hold up a mirror to what you are doing. The staff, the students and the visitors learn.
 * Chapter 20 Shadowing  **