An old school LYS Principal shares the following:

SC,

As you are aware, I have been using PowerWalks since it was first introduced.  It was a pretty exciting instrument then, but nothing compares to the new version that was launched this school year.  PowerWalks 2.0 is amazing! 

I love how you can see the scoreboard for schools and users right when you open the program.  This has been very motivational for my team of observers.  They have been working hard to get their classroom visits completed and keep us in the top schools.  The benefit of this is that we began sharing data with teachers by the first week in October.  This is the earliest, by far, that we have collected enough data to begin sharing. 

In addition to the scoreboard, the quick reports that I am able to run for observers, teams, and teachers are terrific.  And the enhanced e-mail features have made it possible to send the administrative team the counts for each of us every Friday afternoon.  No one wants to be the one that didn’t get his or her observations done!  What a great use of positive peer pressure!  We use the reports for our counts, observers inter-rater reliability reports, and department level reports as a regular part of our administrative meeting each week.  It is making a huge difference not only in the number of observations being done, but our understanding of what is going on in each classroom.

Now the best part of the program has to be the survey instrument itself.  The changes are brilliant.  You have trimmed down the indicators being monitored without sacrificing the critical items that help identify great teaching practices.  The cleaner version is easy to understand and makes it less likely that those doing the observations are rating indicators differently.  Lastly, the reports for teachers are so much easier to build and run.  The charts are clear and concise, making them easier for teachers to pinpoint areas that they want to focus on for improving their craft.

If it is not already clear, I love PowerWalks 2.0.  I appreciate your dedication to education and providing us with a quality program that helps us do our job better.  I am a lifelong fan.

SC Response Wow!  Thank you very much.  And you aren’t alone in your observations.  The feedback on the new version has been 100% positive.

And for everyone else in the LYS Nation who is stuck using a lesser system for classroom observations, the time to change is now.  Either click on the link to set up your subscription or you can always call Jo at (832) 477-5323.

http://www.powerwalks.com/Account/Subscription.aspx

Think. Work. Achieve. Your turn…

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• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
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