Totemic Figure

I think it's natural that students find it a little intimidating that there is someone else other than the teacher in the class. Students tend to become very alert that there's a person behind them and they do divert their eyes to the person behind every now and then.

Well, not really ALL the time.. just enough to make it a distraction.

Especially if the person seems to be observing the classroom while ticking boxes in his/her checklist. It becomes a distraction because students want to know what's going on. Of course, being the usual spontaneous me, I NEVER tell them when there is an observer and they are always caught by surprise. I want that genuine response and I don't want them to fake it out when they know another teacher is going to observe them the next week.

It looks like sometimes, this can backfire. They aren't going to be themselves anyway. They become very reserved, more tentative and less daring to try the things that you throw at them in the class. It's a complete back-flip to what I usually get in the class if not worse.

Should I tell them the next time? 

Maybe I should.