Jennifer Armenia

 

EDUL 6019

 

Techniques for Teacher Observation

 

Clinical Cycles Written Report

 

February 4, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selection:

Teacher 1 is a veteran teacher with 30 years of teaching experience.  Even though she has been teaching for 30 years, this is her first year in third grade.  She has taught first and second grade as well as EIP and special education prior to teaching third grade.  Teacher 2 is new to the school this year.  She has had 2 years of experience  teaching EIP prior to this school year.  Last year she received her gifted certification and this is her first year in the gifted classroom.

            I chose to observe Teacher 1 because from my experiences talking to her I can tell that she knows a great deal of information about teaching and she loves her job.  Since she has been teaching for so long and still loves her job and has a great deal of enthusiasm, I thought it would be a good experience for me to see her in action.  I chose to observe Teacher 2 because she has had little teaching experience and she is teaching in a new area this year. 

            I also chose to observe these two teachers because they teach two areas I have not had experience in and I felt like from observing these teachers I could learn more about teaching styles.  I also felt like I know these teachers well enough so they would be comfortable with me being in their classroom.

                                                                                                            

Pre conference:

            Prior to observing these two teachers, I met with them individually to discuss what in particular I would be observing.  First I met with Teacher 1 and I asked her what day and time would be good for me to come and she said any day.  Due to our daily schedules we decided that 8:50 – 9:30 would be the best time.  She told me she does writing during that time.  After showing her the different types of observations, I asked her if there was one in particular that she would prefer.  She told me she would be introducing a new skill (persuasive writing) the day I observe her and we both decided the Global Scan would work the best.  At this time we also set up a time for a post conference and decided after school on the same day of the observation would work the best so that the lesson will be fresh in both of our minds.

            Prior to observing Teacher 2, I met with her to discuss the observation.  I again asked her what day and time would be best for me to observe and she suggested 8:50 – 9:30.  She felt like this would be a better time to observe because he has a few of my students and thought it would be good for me to observe them in a different setting. After showing her the different types of observations, I asked her if there was a particular method of observation she would prefer.  She told me that she thinks “time on task” would be best for this particular class since the day I observe the students will mostly be working independently and some are very good at staying on task and others are not.  We also set up a time for the post conference and again decided after school the same day of the observation would work the best.

 

Observation Records:

            I walked into Teacher 1’s classroom at 8:50.  She was just beginning her writing lesson on persuasive essays.  She started the lesson with the essential question: “What is a persuasive essay?”  After she asked this question she asked the students if they knew what a persuasive essay is.  None of the students raised their hands.  She told the students the definition of a persuasive essay and then told them they are going to learn how to write one today.  She then placed a displayed a graphic organizer showing the elements of a persuasive essay.  She went through and explained all the elements of the graphic organizer to the students.  As she was explaining the elements of a graphic organizer, several students would raise their hands and ask a question that was off topic.  The teacher would answer the question and tell them it is off topic and redirect the students’ attention back to the lesson.  She then handed out a topic list and told the students they are going to write a persuasive essay.  She said they could write about something they want or something on the list.  Next she read over the topic list and gave examples of how a persuasive essay on that particular topic may start.  After she went over the topic list she then handed out a paper with a graphic organizer to help the students organize their thoughts before writing the persuasive essay.  She asked the class “What step of the writing process is this” and walked over to the writing process chart hanging up.  The class responded pre-writing.  Then she explained how to complete the graphic organizer.  Before allowing the students to begin their work she reviewed what the assignment will look like and sound like.  The students began to complete their graphic organizer and the teacher walked around providing assistance to students who needed help or clarification on the assignment.  As students began to finish their assignment, they turned in their paper and quietly went to the reading corner to read.  At the end of the lesson, the teacher referred back to the essential question and had the students answer it.

 

            I walked into Teacher 2’s classroom at 8:52.  Students were still arriving from their homeroom classes.  Since this is a PACE class students are pulled from several classrooms to attend class for 45 minutes a day.  As the students were arriving many of them quickly found a seat and sat to listen for directions.  Once all the students arrived the teacher saw there were too many people sitting at 1 table.  Since there were 4 girls and 1 boy she asked the boy to move and he said he didn’t want to.  She then asked the last person at the table to move to a different seat.  Once all the seating was taken care of, the teacher reminded the students that they had been working on making a class book from the research they did on their animals.  Next the teacher held up students’ pictures and gave suggestions on how to draw the pictures and use shading to make the pictures have a real life effect.  She told the students to use sharpies to outline their animal so they will pop out at the reader.  The teacher passed out the papers and the students got to work.  Most of the students were already in the process of drawing their picture.  Many of them were ready to color.  The students that were ready to color got up and got colored pencils.  There was one student that had one little part of his drawing completed while everyone else was either almost finished drawing or coloring their pictures.  As the students were working I was observing which ones were on task and which ones were off task.  Most of the students started off on task and worked quietly.  1 student (student A) sat at his desk playing with his eraser for 4 minutes before starting his project.  This is the same student that only had a little section of his paper completed.  As the students worked, they started to talk to each other more but most of them stayed on task.  At 9:06 student B began talking to another student and acting out his story.  The teacher redirected him by asking him if his paper was done, he quickly sat down and went back to work.  While this was happening student A was walking around the room looking for a sharpened pencil.  The other students in the class were getting up and sharpening pencils and colored pencils as they needed.  Student A finally found a sharpen pencil and sat down.  He then started to talk to one of the girls at his table about their picture.  At this point we were 20 minutes into the class and Student A had been on task for about 3 minutes.  As the students needed supplies they got what they needed and went back to work.  As the class time passed, students were completing their projects and showing the teacher.  She would give them suggestions on what to do to improve their drawing or hand them their next assignment. 

Throughout the whole time I was in the class (8:50 – 9:30), Student A was constantly off task.  He was sharpening pencils, looking for supplies, talking to other students, playing with items or just sitting at his table doing nothing.  The other students were on task, talking and working or getting supplies they needed, during the period and working on their projects. 

 

Strategy, Agenda and Rationale for Post Conferences:

            My plan for post conferences with Teacher 1 would start out asking her how she thought her lesson went, what she thought her strengths and weaknesses were and what she should do different the next time.  I would then review the notes I made while observing lessons and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson and offer a suggestion on what to do better next time.  

            I want to start by asking Teacher 1 what she thought of her lesson so she would not simply agree with what I am saying but it would also give me insight as to what she is thinking.  Asking the teacher her strengths and weaknesses helps me to see if she sees the same things in her teaching that I see.  I would then review the notes I made during the lesson. Reviewing the notes I made during the lesson would allow the teacher to know what I was seeing while observing her.  This would allow me to state the facts I saw and clear up any misconceptions of the lesson.  I want the teacher to feel that I am there to support her and not criticize her, therefore I would start by discussing her strengths and parts of the lesson I liked.  I may have noticed different strengths than the teacher and therefore it would be important to point out to the teacher and give her a pat on the back.  I would then ask the teacher what she would do differently next time.  The answer to this question may address the weaknesses I saw and therefore I could agree with the improvement ideas.  If they are not addressed I could offer her a suggestion that would improve the weakness through support rather than criticism.

Since this lesson was to observe time on task, my plan for the post conference with Teacher 2 would start out by asking her if she felt all her students were on task.  I would ask her what she was looking for as far as “on task” behavior and which students she was concerned about.  I would then show Teacher 2 my notes from the observation and explain to her that most of the students I saw were on task during the work time.  I would then bring the attention to Student A.  I would ask her to tell me about him and see if she notices his off task behavior.  If so I would ask her to tell me strategies she has tried to keep him on task and how successful those strategies are.  If she hasn’t tried any strategies I would help her come up with some strategies to try and keep Student A on task.

I would start this post conference allowing Teacher 2 to tell me what she was looking for as far as “on task” behavior because what she is expecting and what I am expecting could be two different things and I want to make sure we are looking for the same behavior.  I would then ask her how she felt her students did as far as being on task to see if she notices the same things I notice.  I would then show her my notes from the observation to provide her with facts about my observation and help her to see what I saw while observing.  This will allow her to see that I am not judging her but helping her to see what students are on task during independent work time.  After showing her my notes I feel that it is important to discuss Student A’s behavior and help her to plan strategies to use with him to keep him on task because the purpose of the observation was to watch for time on task and Student A was mostly off task during the observation period.  I also feel it is important to discuss Student A’s behavior because it could be a problem that only happened while I was in there observing or it could happen during specific types of activities, this discussion will help us to create strategies to help Student A stay on task and be more successful.

 

Summary of Post Conferences:

            Post conference for Teacher 1 began with me asking her what she thought of her lesson.  She stated that it was the first time she taught a lesson on persuasive essays so she wasn’t sure how it would go.  She felt that overall the lesson went well.   She stated that she thinks the graphic organizer helped the students to see the parts of a persuasive and that the essential question helped the students know what they were supposed to get from this lesson.  One strength she discussed was the topic list to help students who didn’t know what to write about.  She liked it because it didn’t limit students to those topics, but allowed students without ideas to receive support.  She also felt the graphic organizer explaining the parts of a persuasive essay and the graphic organizer the students had to help them put their thoughts together helped support the students as well.  She expressed concern that her students are always asking questions off topic in class.  She said that this constantly happens throughout the day and she has to redirect them.  She stated that it concerns her because if they are asking questions off topic then they aren’t paying attention to what she is saying. 

            After allowing Teacher 1 to tell me her thoughts, I reviewed my notes and asked her if I missed anything and she said it sounded good.  I then told the teacher that I agree with the strengths she mentioned.  I liked her use of graphic organizers to help the students understand the parts of a persuasive essay as well as use a graphic organizer to help them get their thoughts on paper.  I then asked her what she thinks she would do differently next time and she said she would like to generate a list of possible topics as a class rather than provide one to students.  She said that it would still support students who don’t know what to write about, but it wouldn’t feed them everything.  She told me she didn’t do this due to time constraints.  She said another thing she would like to do next time is call on students to read the parts of the persuasive essay rather than read them herself.  She felt that if she did this then students may pay attention more.  I told her that I agreed with her.  I told her that the students were more passive in their learning in this lesson and allowing them to read the parts of the persuasive essay would allow them to be more active in the lesson and possibly reduce or eliminate the number of off topic questions. 

            Post conference for Teacher 2 began with me asking her how she felt about her activity while I was observing.  She said she felt good about the activity and the students’ behaviors.  I then asked her what she expected for “on task” behavior during this activity and she said that she wanted the students working on their projects.  She stated that she didn’t mind a little talking at their table or students getting supplies as they needed them.  She said that she doesn’t want the students to feel like soldiers and she wants them to be independent as far as getting supplies and working on their own.  I told her that I agree with her idea of on task behavior.  I then showed her my observation notes.  I explained that most of the students were on task.  I did point out the one incident of Student B being off task but she quickly redirected him.  I then pointed out Student A’s behavior during the whole activity.  She told me that she knows he is always off task during class.  She stated that he never finishes his work and he is always the last one done.  She said that he walks around the room and finds reasons not to do his work.  I asked her why she thinks that is.  She said that he came to the school a month ago and it could be an adjustment period.  She also said that he was the only gifted child in his grade at his other school and now he is surrounded by peers who are on his level and he may feel intimidated.  She also said that he is not used to being challenged like he is at this school.  I then asked her what strategies she has tried with him and she said she hasn’t tried any yet.  She said that since he’s new she wanted to give him an adjustment period to get to know him better.  We discussed different strategies to try and decided that placing all the supplies he would need for an activity at his table will help to reduce the number of times he is out of his seat getting supplies.  We also discussed getting a single desk for him to work at so there won’t be anyone near him to talk to and distract him.  We both felt these two strategies would be the easiest to implement and if these strategies didn’t work we could try something different.

 

Comparison:

            The post conferences followed the agenda I had planned.  Both teachers saw their strengths and weaknesses.  Teacher 2 noticed that Student A was always off task and was willing to discuss strategies to help him.

 

Critique Value:

            Both teachers said they felt the observation was valuable.  Teacher 1 was glad to have my feedback on her lesson since it was the first time teaching a lesson on persuasive essays and she wasn’t sure how it was going to go and she was open to my input on her lesson.

            Teacher 2 was also glad to have my feedback on her students’ time on task.  She said she knew Student A was off task, but wasn’t sure if he really was off task as much as she thought.  She said the feedback confirmed her belief and allowed her to make the necessary changes.  She also said she was glad that I was there to help her find strategies to use with Student A.

            I feel the observations and post conferences went well.  I enjoyed being able to see two teachers in different areas than I am in.  I also enjoyed using two different observation techniques and learned how different the feedback from each technique is.  I felt the post conferences were positive to the teachers yet offered suggestions to improve their teaching without putting the teacher down.  I allowed both teachers to tell me their thoughts on their lessons and give any explanations as needed. 

 

My Thoughts:

            If the opportunity came up, I think I would enjoy working with these teachers in the future.  I feel that both teachers I observed have different strengths and are open to feedback (positive and negative) and just want to do what is best for their students.  I also feel that these teachers were not threatened with me being in the room and therefore I saw more of a typical lesson rather than a lesson they especially planned for me like most teachers do when they are going to be observed.

 

Reflection:

            From completing this assignment I learned a great deal about observation.  I think the most important thing I learned is that it is very important for the teacher not to feel threatened by the observer.  This allows the observer to see the true classroom rather than a “fake” classroom for 45 minutes.  I also learned that it is important for the teachers to be open to an observation and feedback from the observer.  Without being open to observation and feedback, what is the point?  Observing teachers is pointless unless the teacher being observed is open to improvement and suggestions for improvement.  Another thing I learned was that it is important for the teacher to get a chance to talk in the post observation conference.  I have been in situations where I was observed and then went to a post observation conference and just sat there.  I was never asked my opinion of the lesson or given the opportunity to explain situations the administrator may not be familiar with.  I feel that allowing the teachers to talk to me and for us to have a discussion during our post observation conference allowed the teacher to be more comfortable and open to my suggestions.  I always knew that teachers had to be open to improvement for improvement to work, but this really helped me to see how important it is for a teacher to want to improve.  Teacher 2 was willing to take any suggestion I had to help Student A.  It was obvious that Teacher 2 was struggling with what to do with Student A to get him to stay on task.  This desire to want to do better helped Teacher 2 to be open to my ideas even if they were something she has already heard.

 

Improvement:

            I am a firm believer that the best way to improve skills is to practice them.  I believe that is true for observations as well.  The only way for me to get better is to practice observing teachers in different grades with different experiences.  This will not only help me to be a better teacher but will help me know what to look for when I am observing.  It would also be necessary to practice different types of observation rather than just doing a Global Scan every time.  Another way to improve my skills on observation is to read more books and articles on ways to provide positive observation experiences for teachers.