Building a Process from scratch is not the only way to get started. Sibme ships two ready-made Processes — the First Year Teacher Cycle and the Experienced Teacher Cycle — that lay out a full year of observation Steps for you. Instead of starting with a blank Process, you can copy one of these, adjust it to fit your Account, and publish it.
You never edit a Pre-Defined Process directly. Instead, you duplicate it, which gives you an editable copy and leaves the original untouched so it is there the next time you need it. This article explains where the Pre-Defined Processes come from, what each one contains, and how to turn one into a Process of your own. For the basics of creating a Process, see How to Create an Observation Process.
Who Is This Article For?
Using a Pre-Defined Process is the Process Manager's job. An Account Owner or Super Admin chooses who the Process Managers are in Account Settings > Observations, and a Process Manager can be any User level. If you cannot duplicate or edit a Process, ask your administrator whether you have been added as a Process Manager. For more on setting that up, see Observations Settings.
This article is for these User levels, when they have been named a Process Manager:
User
Admin
Super Admin
Account Owner
Where the Pre-Defined Processes Come From
When Observations is first set up on your Account, the two Pre-Defined Processes are added to the Unpublished tab of your Process list automatically. You do not create them, and you do not have to use them — they are there as starting points.
Because they are meant to be copied rather than edited, the Pre-Defined Processes work a little differently from the Processes you build yourself:
Publish and Edit are turned off. You cannot publish a Pre-Defined Process as-is or change it in place.
Duplicate is available, both as a button on the row and in the ⋯ menu. Duplicating is how you put a Pre-Defined Process to work.
The ⋯ menu offers View Steps, Duplicate, and Archive.
Note: The Pre-Defined Processes stay on the Unpublished tab for as long as you keep them. If you do not want to see them, you can Archive a Pre-Defined Process to move it to the Archived tab — your duplicated copies are not affected.
What's in Each Pre-Defined Process
Both Pre-Defined Processes follow the same yearly rhythm: a goal-setting meeting, one or more observation cycles with walkthroughs in between, and a final evaluation. The difference is how much observation each one includes. The First Year Teacher Cycle is the more intensive of the two; the Experienced Teacher Cycle is a lighter version for teachers who need less frequent observation.
Each Process is made up of Main-Steps, some of which group a set of Sub-Steps beneath them. To read through a Process without changing anything, use View Steps (covered in the next section).
First Year Teacher Cycle
A full year built around two observation cycles, with a mid-year check-in between them:
Annual Goal-Setting — the fall goal-setting meeting between Observer and Observee.
Observation 1 — the first observation cycle, with three Sub-Steps:
Preconference
Observation/Evidence Collection
Post Conference with Form
September Walkthrough, October Walkthrough, November Walkthrough, December Walkthrough — notes from unscheduled walkthroughs.
Mid-Year Evaluation — a meeting to discuss progress toward goals.
Observation 2 — the second observation cycle, with the same three Sub-Steps:
Preconference
Observation/Evidence Collection
Post Conference with Form
January Walkthrough, February Walkthrough, March Walkthrough, April Walkthrough — notes from unscheduled walkthroughs.
Year-End Goal Conference — a meeting to discuss progress toward goals.
Final Evaluation — the closing cycle, with two Sub-Steps:
Final Evaluation Form
Acknowledgement — a Signature Step that records that the post-conference is complete and the form has been received.
Experienced Teacher Cycle
The same shape, with one observation cycle and no mid-year evaluation:
Annual Goal-Setting — the fall goal-setting meeting between Observer and Observee.
Observation 1 — the single observation cycle, with three Sub-Steps:
Preconference
Observation/Evidence Collection
Post Conference with Form
September Walkthrough through April Walkthrough — eight monthly walkthroughs, run one after another.
Year-End Goal Conference — a meeting to discuss progress toward goals.
Final Evaluation — the closing cycle, with two Sub-Steps:
Final Evaluation Form
Acknowledgement — a Signature Step that records that the post-conference is complete and the form has been received.
Previewing a Process Before You Use It
To see exactly what a Pre-Defined Process contains before you commit to it, open its ⋯ menu and choose View Steps. This opens the Process in a read-only view that lists every Main-Step and Sub-Step with its description, so you can decide whether it fits your needs. Viewing the Steps does not change the Process, and it does not create a copy — it is just a look.
When you are ready to use the Process, close the view and duplicate it.
Duplicating a Pre-Defined Process to Use It
To put a Pre-Defined Process to work, click the Duplicate button on its row — or open the ⋯ menu and choose Duplicate. Either way, Sibme creates a copy named Copy - [Original Process Name] and opens it on the Process edit page so you can start tailoring it right away.
Two things are worth knowing about the copy:
The original is left alone. Your changes apply only to the copy, so the Pre-Defined Process stays intact and ready to duplicate again next time.
The copy is a normal, editable Process. It lands on the Unpublished tab with full Edit and Publish access, just like a Process you build from scratch.
Adapting Your Copy
The copy opens on the Process details page, where you can make it your own:
Rename it in the Title field — the Copy - prefix is just a starting label, so replace it with the name you want Observers and Observees to see.
Update the Description, Category, and Reporting Framework to match how your Account works.
Click Next to edit the Steps — add, remove, reorder, or rework any Main-Step or Sub-Step. For the full walkthrough of the Steps page, see How to Build Process Steps.
You can also use a copy largely as-is — change only the details that matter to you and leave the rest. When the Process is ready, publish it so it can be assigned. Publishing and the other ways to manage a Process are covered in Publishing and Managing Processes.
What's Next
Publishing and Managing Processes | Sibme Help Center