Teacher appraisals will be happening in most schools over the next few months. Most teachers are appraised every year, although some lucky ones are appraised less often, sometimes as infrequently as every five years.
But for most teachers, the biggest question surrounding appraisals is this: "Will I get advance notice of my appraiser's visit?"
The answer is probably, but not necessarily.
The scheduling of appraisals is an area that is primarily left up to individual campuses to deal with. The law allows advance notice (at least we don't have mandated "surprise!" appraisals), but does not require it. This means that overworked and disorganized appraisers, who may intend to stick to an appraisal appointment schedule, simply don't. Most campuses do give advance notice, although it is common for last minute changes to be made which, in effect, give very little notice. Other campuses schedule appraisal blocks, where the teacher is told the appraiser will be visiting a certain week, but the exact class period is not known. Other appraisers may simply walk in and ask "is this a good time?"
All of these approaches are legal. Some districts have local policies on how appraisals are scheduled, and the district must follow those. Otherwise, anything goes (within reason, that is).
Most appraisers are aware that some class periods lend themselves better to observation than others, and if you are asked whether it is a good time to observe you, be honest. Let the appraiser know your preference. If you're not asked, do the best class you can and then take the opportunity afterwards to meet with the appraiser and explain what was going on that might have impacted what was observed.
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