Recommendations for promoting video in your organization – TeachBoost Pro

Important: This feature is an add-on. To inquire about our video tool, please contact your customer success manager or reach out to support.

When you're including video within your workflows, first decide upon the purpose of digital observations in your coaching or evaluation processes and communicate it with your staff. This will help align all educators and leaders in understanding how video will be used and viewed at your organization.

We recommend you start small when introducing video, perhaps choosing from a single one of the items listed below:

To promote self-reflection
To spark peer collaboration
To serve as a less intrusive alternative to in-classroom observations

Build a foundation of trust

Trust in why and how video is being utilized may be one of the greatest challenges you'll face when introducing video in your organization. TeachBoost customers have shared some of these fears with us:

"Video has been used as a gotcha/weapon in the past."
"Teachers sometimes exhibit a lack of willingness to be vulnerable with their coaches and peers."
"There is a fear that video will be used as a single point of data."

Building trust with your educators and unveiling the wizard behind the curtain are imperative in ensuring buy-in. Below, find a few ideas on how to foster positive sentiments around video observation at your organization.

Open the floor to questions and suggestions

Facilitate a conversation with your teachers about the benefits and concerns with video observation along with anonymously collecting data (survey). Once aggregated, disseminate the findings and address them publicly. More than this, teachers' concerns and thoughts can inform the policies and protocols you implement around the use of videos. A teacher-led, inclusive strategy reassures staff about the integrity and objectivity of using digital tools.

Set up a pilot program

Send out a call for volunteers when you pilot the use of video. The initial participants in your program can share their experiences with their peers and help school leaders steer how video is used according to your organizations culture and theory of action.

Encourage familiarity with the video process

Create a peer-to-peer or self-reflection video observation activity. If you can show teachers what it's all about, you can remove the mystery and thus soothe fears of the unknown. Having a low-pressure way to practice the logistical aspects of recording and uploading video can help take some of the anxiety out of the process for those less familiar with that technology.

Reassure staff about video privacy

Communicate how video privacy works on TeachBoost. For example, show that videos housed on the app are confidential and can only be seen by the teacher and administrative staff. Alternatively, should a video file be intended for peer observation, then the peer observer will only have access to that one file and will not be privy to any other videos connected to the teacher's collection.

Consider adjusting evaluative language

Modify the framework and/or rating scale that is connected to video observations as a powerful way to ensure buy-in. For example, instead of having an explicit rating scale of 1-5, you simply change it such that evidence can only be categorized as an "area for growth" or "area of strength". By removing evaluative language from the equation, the feedback and exercise (in general) reassure staff the focus is on growth rather than "gotchas".

Involve teachers in the decision-making

Empower your educators to select their videos for observation, granting them ownership in the coaching and evaluation process. To this end, create a protocol in which it is the teacher who determines which video to select for observation, leaving them secure in the knowledge that the purpose of video is to support their PD and will not be used against them.