Artifact 4A- Powerpoint Presentation
Artifact 4B - Notes from 10/18 Observation
Classroom observation of Emily Burdick
Date: October 18, 2013
Objectives: (copied from your lesson plan)
Students will be able to...identify things that come in equal
groups.
Students will know...multiplication is combing equal groups.
I can...write word problems that show multiplication is
repeated addition of equal groups.
Following are the strengths which I saw you demonstrate:
- You created a meaningful learning experience to develop students’ understanding of multiplication as repeated addition of equal groups.
- Your lesson plan aligned with state standards, and included clear objectives and relevant measurable outcomes.
- The implementation of your lesson demonstrated high standards of communication using questions to stimulate all students to respond, (see activation question) appropriate technology (document camera) and a combination of reading and writing strategies to complete their personal posters.
- You activated, assessed and connected to students’ prior knowledge: “Who can tell me what we brainstormed yesterday?” “That was an example. What was the overall focus?”
- Expectations were communicated and reinforced. “Put your hands up if you remember.” One student asked “What if we don’t finish?” Your response: “I will check in to see if you were working at your best and then we will figure it out.” You successfully used “the teacher look” to help a student refocus. To another student you looked him in the eye and said: “Not helpful”.
- You maintained appropriate standards of behavior, mutual respect, and safety. When you rang the chime for all to listen, you did not begin to speak until all students had their hands on their heads and were quiet. When students were working independently you reinforced that a teacher would come to them if they were raising a quiet hand.
- Students were motivated and actively engaged in the lesson. You had helpful hints on an index card on the document camera so that students could find tools for success. You had the students choose the number for their group and the number of groups by random selection from a bag of numbers. They demonstrated joy/surprise and enthusiasm with their random selections.
- Students were given responsibility for their own learning: “’B’ what did ‘S’ just say?” You clearly outlined, in three steps, the expectations for the individual posters. You had individual students repeat the three steps. You asked the students to do a rough draft first, have a teacher check it and then go on to a final copy.
- You made accommodations/adaptations for different student learning styles/cognitive abilities by having students repeat what was said by another student and by having visual and concrete models for the students to work from.
- You encouraged your students to problem solve/infer/ predict/draw conclusions by the questions you asked: “Why did I write 3x5 instead of 5x3?”
- You held students accountable for their own learning. You stressed the need for a rough draft and the checking-in with a teacher before continuing. You posted the options for extension work on the bulletin board should the students finish before the math period was over.
- You demonstrated understanding of each student’s range of cognitive and social abilities as you circulated around the classroom speaking one-on-one with students encouraging them to problem solve and be responsible for their own learning.
- You modeled effective communication strategies to convey information, ask and respond to questions using standard English and being clear in your articulations and voice projection.
- You demonstrated an understanding that assessment is an integral part of teaching by having several students come up to the document camera to share their posters and collecting the individual posters to assess with a rubric after class.
- You worked to promote achievement by all students as you consciously scanned the classroom for student work habits and conferenced with individual students.
Following are areas for continued learning that we agreed upon in our post-observation conference:
- To be more confident within yourself when teaching math
- Think about when to use visual cuing and when you want the students to practice remembering oral directions. You may find it becomes an accommodation for certain students.
- There are many teachers in the classroom. Explore strategies to help you not become overwhelmed by different teachers asking you questions mid-lesson (may be a good topic for your seminar class).
Conclusion:
Emily, you wrote a thoughtful reflection on this lesson. I appreciated your recognizing your interactions with the students. You have a fine teacher presence. You were definitely the teacher in charge and the students knew that. You were always scanning the entire class to see how the lesson was going and who needed you or another teacher. The pacing of the lesson implementation left nobody wondering what to do next and no one felt rushed. That is not easy to get right. You were invested and engaged with each student, circulating and kneeling down using a 6 inch voice as you conferenced with individual students. You held to behavioral expectations. Great work!
Joan Watts
Wheelock College Program Supervisor
Date: October 25, 2013
Artifact 4C - Math Packet
Artifact 4D - Notes from 10/1 Observation
Classroom observation of Emily Burdick
Date: November 6, 2013
ELA
Lesson objective: (copied from your lesson plan)
Students will know and be able to...identify
adjectives and create their own.
I can...write amazing describing words that make
my writing better
Following are the strengths which I saw you demonstrate:
- You created a meaningful learning experience to develop students’ understanding of adjectives and their use in adding detail to written works.
- Your lesson plan aligned with state standards, and included clear objectives and relevant measurable outcomes…their “me sheets”.
- At the onset of the lesson you clearly stated the objective of the lesson (to learn more about adjectives) and then you cycled back to the purpose near the end of the lesson when you had the students use adjectives on their activity sheet and finally share a few with the class.
- The implementation of your lesson demonstrated high standards of communication using questions to stimulate all students to respond, appropriate technology and a combination of reading and writing strategies.
- You assessed students’ prior knowledge by having them raise their hands when they heard you read an adjective in the text which you presented.
- You activated and connected to students’ prior knowledge by asking them what they had studied yesterday in their grammar books… (nouns and verbs). During the student input, one student connected to the morning meeting to contribute the word historic.
- Expectations were communicated and reinforced. “I’d like to hear from you when you raise your hand.” “Put your pencil in the air to show me you are ready.”
- Students were motivated and actively engaged in the lesson. You had them name the adjectives they heard and then write them on their amazing adjective page in the grammar books. You had the adjective page at the ready for them to glue into their grammar book. You gave very clear directions so that the page would allow enough room at the bottom for the students to add their own words.
- Students were given responsibility for their own learning: “Who can name some of the adjectives you heard in the book?” “What pictures came to mind when I was reading this page?” When it was time to enter adjectives in their notebooks, you asked students to name adjectives they just heard in the readings you did. As they contributed their words, you scribed them onto the smart board. When one student contributed a color, you reinforced the learning: “You are right, all colors are adjectives.”
- Collaborative and independent work opportunities were created when students shared the adjectives and then worked on the “me sheets” independently.
- You asked a question to clarify a student’s understanding: “Face. Is that a person, place or thing? So how would you describe your face?” (The student answered “beautiful”). Your scaffold for her hit the mark! Your prompt coincided with her learning style creating a successful experience for her!
- You made accommodations/adaptations for different student’s learning styles/cognitive abilities by giving 4 minutes of think time and having teachers walk around the room conferencing with individual students, giving every student one-on-one attention. This strategy helped to promote achievement by all students.
- You held students accountable for their own learning: “You keep thinking, I’ll check back in a few minutes.” “Remember don’t color over your words, we won’t be able to read them.” “I hear lots of chatting. Please stay focused writing your five amazing adjectives.”
- You modeled effective communication strategies to convey information, ask and respond to questions. You connected the “me sheet”: “We have been learning about ourselves. Now you are going to put five adjectives about yourself on the sheet (displayed on the document camera ...visual reinforcement). Once you have finished all five words you can add color” Student: “How would I write soccer ball?” Teacher: “How else could you say you play soccer?”
- You demonstrated an understanding that assessment is an integral part of teaching by creating a checklist for neatness, adjective understanding …
Following are areas for continued learning that we agreed upon in our post-observation conference.
- Work on being more accepting of situations out of my control i.e. students arriving late from lunch cutting 10 minutes off from math lesson.
- Practice different strategies to remain calm when students are disrespectful i.e. blurting out when the teacher is speaking and develop additional ways to help students control their impulsive voice.
- Continue to use wait-time, such as a thinking minute, to give students time to generate their individual ideas.
Conclusion:
Emily, this was a well ordered and organized lesson. The variety of activities, read aloud, grammar books, word contributions and “me sheet” kept the students totally motivated and engaged. The pacing of the lesson took full advantage of the time allotment even though the students arrived back to the classroom 10 minutes late from lunch (which you said is so frustrating and out of your control…good reflection!) Your presence and demeanor continue to be impressive for a student in a practicum placement. Great work!
Joan Watts
Wheelock College Program Supervisor
Date: November 10, 2013
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