DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Faculty of Arts and Sciences University of Puerto Rico Mayagez Campus PO Box 9265 Mayagez, Puerto Rico 00681-9265 (787) 265-3847 Ext. 3064

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
Facultad de Artes y Ciencias Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto Universitario de Mayagez Apartado Postal 9265 Mayagez, Puerto Rico 00681-9265 (787) 265-3847 Ext. 3064

October 15, 2013 Kevin Bathke UTD Observation Dear Kevin Bathke, This letter serves as documentation of my observation of your INGL 3201 section on Monday, October 14th at 10:30am in Chardn 223. As we discussed in our individual meeting, you did a very good job in your observed teaching and you should be proud of the work that you are doing here in the Department of English. As a third semester Graduate Teaching Assistant, I was impressed with your demeanor in the classroom and your willingness to think outside the box and teach a lesson that was challenging yet potentially beneficial for your students. Overall, this was a very good class and I commend you on your work as a GTA. Below are some strengths of your class and some suggestions for the future. The strengths of your class were: Your strong voice was heard loud and clear by all the students in the classroom You moved around the front of the classroom, making great eye contact with your students. Understanding and knowing your students names is important and it was obvious that you know your students The use of the TED Talk was innovative and interesting, and students seemed to get the main idea. You were always moving around the classroom. Your activity and energy was fantastic. You had great overall demeanor and confidence. Your understanding of the material and how to relate with your students is an excellent asset. Your knowledge of the content area is noticeable and you should be applauded for this. Some suggestions for the future: When you are giving a TED Talk, make sure that it is going to be comprehensible. If you think that it might be totally new or different for the students, it is important to preview the video so that the students have background knowledge to build on. You made the conscious decision to not do this, but I would argue that it should always be done in a second language classroom. Test students comprehension of the video. You assumed that they didnt understand it, as was evidenced by the power point presentation. The power point presentation however took up very valuable time. Check students comprehension and jump to slides in the power point that allow you to identify or reiterate questions that students have. If they understand it, move on to the next activity OR move into small groups where you can further assess their comprehension of the video (or reading homework for that matter).
PATRONO CON IGUALDAD DE OPORTUNIDADES EN EL EMPLEO M/F/V/I AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER M/F/V/H

Make sure that you are not doing all of the talking. In this class, you did a lot of the talking. You asked many questions, received short answers from the students, and then you elaborated on their answer. You had a space for Think-Pair-Share, but there wasnt enough time for this. These smaller environments will allow students to speak more, and for you to speak less. Try to get to them quicker. Everything that you do must be contextualized within the larger course objectives and the objectives for the unit. This was not obvious to the students and you didnt make mention of it throughout the class. If students dont see the relation, they will be less likely to be interested in the topic and or discussion.

This was a solid class and I think you did a great job in trying something new! Keep up the good work and please feel comfortable coming by and telling me how you think things have changed and please come with questions or concerns in the future. Keep up the good work. Sincerely,

Kevin S. Carroll, Ph.D. University Teacher Development, Professor Assistant Professor Department of English University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez 2014 Program Chair, AERA, Division G

I read this evaluation and believe it is a fair assessment of my performance during the above mentioned observation.

_____________________________ __________________ Kevin Bathke Date

PATRONO CON IGUALDAD DE OPORTUNIDADES EN EL EMPLEO M/F/V/I AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER M/F/V/H