ITL 608 Observation

Week 2 Teacher Observation

Jessica Kuiper

Professor Comer

ITL 608

10 September 2018

OBSERVATION       

I observed Mrs. Seeba’s 6^thgrade language arts class. The agenda on the board was 1) 10 minutes of A.R. 2) Read chapters 3 and 4 of Maroo of the Winter Caves 3) Pear Deck questions. The 6^thgrade class lined up outside, and waited until the bell rang to come inside. Once inside, the students quietly went to their desks and pulled out their A.R. books. The classroom was set up in long tables, with the agenda posted on the board. Mrs. Seeba used the transition strategy, “ ready in 3, 2, 1” in order to gain the attention of the students. Absent work was organized and posted for students for each day, period, and subject. After the 10 minutes of reading was over, the students were asked to grab their Chromebooks, and waited quietly for instructions. Students were given the website to log into, and were given individual temporary passwords. Mrs. Seeba then explained, in detail, how to change their passwords. Each student was told to change his or her password to SnowlineMMDDYYYY. There were many questions and concerns from the students on how to successfully change their passwords; this took a majority of the class period. Students were told to give a “thumbs up” when they were ready to move on. Once everyone had changed their passwords, the students began reading Maroo of the Winter Caves. One student was called on to read, and the class began popcorn reading (students chose other students to read after them.) Mrs. Seeba would ask the students questions periodically to gauge the understanding and level of clarity of the students. The students were given 2 minutes to discuss the questions at their tables, and then came together as a whole class to go over the answers. The class was unable to do the Pear Deck questions, and finished the period with reading Maroo.
            In terms of the 6 elements of the learning plan, I could see several in Mrs. Seeba’s lesson plan. She takes time to learn about the students (student characteristics) and uses this information to form her lesson plans. Goals, objectives, and outcomes were present in the classroom; the students came in and read for 10 minutes, they created new passwords for their web page log in, and lastly, they read Maroo of the Winter Cavesfor the remainder of the class period. Mrs. Seeba’s instructional strategy was for students to help each other create passwords and log in to the system, and rotated around the classroom for students who needed more help. Mrs. Seeba’s assessment strategy was that she periodically would check for understanding every few pages, and confirmed that everyone was successfully logged into the website. Lastly, the activities included reading and working on the computer, in order to maintain the focus of her students, and ensure their best learning.

DEBRIEF

1.     May I see the learning plan for the lesson? Students were to come in the classroom and read for 10 minutes, create new log ins and passwords, and read Maroo of the Winter Caves.

2.     What plan model do you use? I don't use a specific plan, but most of my lessons are plans from a unit by design larger plan. In pieces, I don’t have a formal lesson plan for the day. 

3.     What was the class composition (specifically, how many exceptional, special need and English learners?) That class has 8 ELL, 2 gate students, and mostly average or below average students according their CAASP scores from 2018

4.     Did any students cause any concern for you? Why? Not for this lesson

5.     What were the lesson’s goal and objectives? Get set up on a new tech website, read chapters 3-4

6.     Why did you structure this plan as you did? It didn’t work out as planned, the website took a lot longer than I had planned

7.     What are your favorite instructional methods and strategies? I like to incorporate technology whenever I can. It keeps kids engaged, and if they can learn the material in a new way, I’m all about it.

8.     Were all students engaged sufficiently? Yes, we do a lot of 10/2 when discussing our book. We talk, and discuss our findings.

9.     Do you believe you achieved the lesson’s goal and objectives? For the most part in the reading, we were supposed to use pear deck (an interactive google slide presentation)

10.  How do you evaluate the resulting student outcomes? Through dialogue, and the next day we answered comprehension questions.

11.  Are you satisfied with students’ work in the lesson? If not, why? Yes

12.  What interfered with an effective lesson procedure? The hiccups of the technology piece. Some students were unable to log on to the website making it difficult to move on.

13.  Was your formative assessment effective? Yes it was more of an oral formal assessment, the following day, we put into writing.

14.  What techniques do you believe are most instrumental for classroom management? Building relationships with your kids, trying to point out the positive instead of the negative, and being flexible when things don't work out as planned

15.   Could you improve your learning plan based on the lesson reflection? How? Yes, now 

I am aware of the kinks in the web program we were using, so I’ll know for next time.