The unexpected

I had a lesson observation done today. I wasn't particularly bothered but it was with a difficult year 9 group and I was prepared to be fairly assertive. In the event the presence of someone strange in the room had a soporific effect on the pupils. Some of them wanted to know why there was someone strange in the room and the rest seemed to be more attentive than usual. It wasn't that the observer had any obvious interactions with the class other than to chat with the odd one on an informal basis but the impact overall was quite noticeable. I think a good teacher has a sense of the class. I know immediately there is someone new in the room or a certain student is present. I suppose we must all act in a similar way in the presence of our peers but I wonder if we would recognise this?