EDUC 450

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

OBSERVATION FIELD NOTES FORM DAY ONE Candidate: Marquetta Strait Mentor Teacher: Mrs. Dyrease Jackson Date: January 21, 2014 Content Area: English Language Arts Lesson Topic: Character Traits DOMAIN 2: INSTRUCTION
APS 4: ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING HIGH EXPECTATION FOR LEARNERS An effective teacher establishes, clearly communicates and maintains appropriate expectations for student learning, participation and responsibility.

A. What did the teacher expect the students to learn from the lesson? How did the teacher convey the purpose and relevance of the lesson to the students? In what ways did the students demonstrate that they understood what the teacher expected for them to learn? The students have been discussing content development, and todays lesson was on character. Mrs. Jackson wanted students to be able to define character, identify character traits and examples, and find character traits through reading. The teacher explained that knowing character traits allows readers to build a better connection with their reading. The students were to demonstrate their comprehension by underlining key words that would help them learn more about the characters in the story.

B. What did the teacher expect the students to do during and after the lesson? How did the teacher convey expectations for student participation and for accomplishing related assignments and tasks? In what ways did the students demonstrate that they understood what the teacher expected them to do? During the lesson, the students were expected to participate by reading the text on the StarBoard. She also provided a few examples for guided practice. The students showed their comprehension by completing a worksheet that focused on character traits. After the lesson, the students discussed their answers. During the students writing lesson, the teacher gave them three pages of sentences that needed to be arranged. The teacher was teaching the students about organizing their writing. For today, the students used scissors to cut their sentences. The teacher plans to have the students organize the sentences into paragraphs by using the main ideas given. C. How did the teacher help the students take ownership of the learning (e.g., by making the learning relevant to the students, using scaffolding, providing opportunities for students to engage in selfassessment and reflection, teaching compensatory strategies when necessary)? The teacher wanted the students to underline key words that would aid them find the correct answer. She also tells students that they should write their reasoning by the question. This is a great way for students to think through their answers and omit answers that are not appropriate.

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EDUC 450

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

OBSERVATION FIELD NOTES FORM DAY TWO Candidate: Marquetta Strait Mentor Teacher: Mrs. Dyrease Jackson Date: January 22, 2014 Content Area: English Language Arts/Social Studies Lesson Topic: Defining Setting/American Revolutionary War

APS 5: USING INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES TO FACILITATE LEARNING An effective teacher promotes student learning through the effective use of appropriate instructional strategies.

A. What instructional strategies did the teacher use during the lesson? Currently, the students are learning about content development. On todays reading lesson, Mrs. Jackson did a PowerPoint presentation on settings in stories. Throughout the presentation, she showed how setting is important and allows for the readers to visualize what is being told. During the writing lesson, Mrs. Jackson taught her students expository writing. During her lesson, she incorporated a PowerPoint presentation that explained the characteristics of expositions. After which, she had the students practice writing an exposition to discuss their favorite activity. To ensure that her students were off to a good start in their writing, Mrs. Jackson created a model as a guide. She started with pondering on her hook and acknowledging how the hook plays a large role in their writing. As the students wrote, we observed and assisted students. In social studies, the teacher has been teaching on the American Revolutionary War. The teacher reviewed with the students about the war and how Great Britains actions affected the colonists. The teacher focused on the thirteen colonies, the French and Indian War, Intolerable Acts, Paul Revere, and the Continental Congress. B. In what ways did the teacher vary the instructional strategies during the lesson, and why? During the lesson on setting, the teacher had the students close their eyes and imagine a place they would rather be than school. She then had the students to raise their hands and use descriptive words to describe their location. The remaining students had to guess the mystery location. This is how she introduced her lesson on setting. She then played a video on setting that she retrieved from StudyIsland. She placed the StudyIsland on game mode to allow students to interact with their lesson. The video allowed her to provide visuals and restate information that would increase students comprehension. She also gave the students a quiz on setting that would allow her to assess the students understanding. During the lesson on the American Revolutionary War, she used a PowerPoint presentation to review with students. She then showed two video clips on Discovery Education to allow students to get a more in depth view of what occurred. At the end of class, the students were given homework to extend their learning on the war. C. What evidence suggests that the instructional strategies were or were not- effective in terms of promoting student learning and success? I believe the teacher was effective during the writing lesson. By having students look at their teacher model her expository writing, it gave students a guide to how their work should be. It was evident that the teacher held high expectations for her students. The videos were a great add-on to the lesson, but many of the students had stepped out for resource. The likelihood of the class being fully knowledgeable of the content is slim. In this regard, I believe this is why Mrs. Jackson tries to extend learning.

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EDUC 450

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

OBSERVATION FIELD NOTES FORM DAY THREE Candidate: Marquetta Strait Mentor Teacher: Mrs. Dyrease Jackson Date: January 23, 2014 Content Area: English Language Arts Lesson Topic: Expository Writing
APS 6: PROVIDING CONTENT FOR LEARNERS An effective teacher possesses a thorough knowledge and understanding of the discipline so that he or she is able to provide the appropriate content for the learner.

A. What evidence suggests that the teacher did-or did not- have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the content? If content errors were made, did the teacher recognize and correct them? Today, the students had to do their bell ringer on a story that was selected from their PASS Practice Test booklet. Their question assessed their comprehension of transitional words. The students have had a lesson on transitional phrases or words in the past. This was Mrs. Jacksons way of prepping the students for their PASS test. After they had completed their question, Mrs. Jackson questioned which choice was the best. She made sure that the students compared each answer and omitted words that were not appropriate for the sentence. One strategy that she had students to use was substitute the answer choice in front of the sentence. They read each sentence aloud, and as a class, they decided which sentences to omit. When the students have omitted an answer choice, they have been taught to strike out the response. The teachers instruction shows that she comprehends the content that she teaches. She uses PASS Blitz Questions as a way to review with students, but also she is able to spiral concepts that students may have not mastered.

B. What was the content of the lesson, and how did the content relate to the learners and their learning? The students have been learning about expository writing and how to develop great paragraphs. Todays writing prompt focused on students writing procedures (i.e. how to cook, how to play a piano, or another activity). The students had to chart out their thoughts in a quadrant format. The students chose what they wanted to discuss, according to their interests. Some of the students wrote about making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, getting your vocal pitch to be perfect, and playing a sport. Since the information was in relation to the students interests, this helped students to write in more detail. C. How did the teacher organize and present the content in order to make it clear and meaningful to the students and to promote higher levels of knowledge, skills and/or cognitive processing? The teacher provided an example of how to write a well-developed writing. Her writing focused on making Sweet Hawaiian Rolls. The students were also provided a handout that allowed students to organize their ideas. Below, I have included the content of the handout. Subject/Main Idea Reason #1

Reason #2

Reason # 3

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EDUC 450

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

OBSERVATION FIELD NOTES FORM DAY FOUR Candidate: Marquetta Strait Mentor Teacher: Mrs. Dyrease Jackson/Ms. Tammy Jeffords Date: January 24, 2014 Content Area: Mathematics Lesson Topic: Adding Fractions with Like Denominators

APS 7: MONITORING, ASSESSING AND ENHANCING LEARNING An effective teacher maintains a constant awareness of student performance throughout the lesson in order to guide instruction and provide appropriate feedback.

A. How did the teacher monitor student engagement, understanding and performance during the lesson? Today, I observed the math and science teacher, Mrs. Jeffords. Mrs. Jeffords ensured that students were involved in the lesson by having students explain their answer to the bell ringer. Sometimes, the same students would raise their hands. To avoid allowing the same students to respond, she called on some students that were not raising their hands. While she reviewed the bell ringer, she questioned students responses and called on other students to help with answering the question.

B. What adjustments, if any, did the teacher make during the lesson, and why? Mrs. Jeffords was about to teach students how to subtract fractions, but realized that the students had not been taught how to add the fractions. This was because she had to attend some conferences and was out of class for a few days that week. To adjust to this, she taught her students how to add the fractions. This was just a minor setback in her lesson plan. The students still comprehended the lesson well. C. What types of instructional feedback did the teacher provide to the students, and how effective was the feedback in terms of enhancing student learning? Some of the strategies Mrs. Jeffords used were having students develop reasoning for their answers, and she tells students she forgot how to add fractions as a way to get the students to explain the mathematical procedure. To give students positive feedback, she would say Good job! or Give me some skin. These were great motivators to students. She also gave students stickers for correct answers. If some students had an incorrect answer, she would ask that they look back at their math and explain to her what they did. This often resulted in the students discovering their errors.

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EDUC 450

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

OBSERVATION FIELD NOTES FORM DAY FIVE Candidate: Marquetta Strait Mentor Teacher: Mrs. Dyrease Jackson Date: January 27, 2014 Content Area: English Language Arts Lesson Topic: Graphic Features DOMAIN 3: ENVIRONMENT
APS 8: MAINTAINING AN ENVIRONMENT THAT PROMOTES LEARNING An effective teacher creates and maintains a classroom environment that encourages and supports student learning.

A. Describe the physical environment of the classroom. The classroom is in the shape of a rectangle. Since the teacher has placed the students desks in a U shape, there is ample space to walk around the classroom. Ample space is essential in a classroom so that the students do not feel cramped. Mrs. Jackson does a wonderful job of keeping the classroom organized by placing students materials in designated areas. Her efforts also lessen the chance of the classroom becoming disorganized or hazardous. The classrooms appearance looks fresh and inviting. In addition to the classroom arrangement, Mrs. Jackson also plays classical music to stimulate the learning experience. B. What type of affective climate did the teacher create for the students? Mrs. Jackson has developed a great learning community within her classroom. For example, one of the students was in the Oratorical Competition for Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5. The students watched her speech and congratulated her on being entered in the competition. Although she did not receive first place, her classmates showed that they were very supportive of her, especially since she was representing Bethune-Bowman. The students respect their classmates opinions and their personal space and items. C. In what ways did the teacher establish a culture of learning in the classroom (e.g., by facilitating inquisitiveness, motivating to learn, cooperation, teamwork)? Mrs. Jackson encourages her students to participate in all of the lessons. She also tries to call on students to get diverse responses. One reason that the students remain motivated is because their teacher relates the content to their interests. In addition to this, she also admits when she is unaware of something and finds the information for the student. For example, a student had come to an unfamiliar word in their reading. She found more information online and made that a learning opportunity.
APS 9: MANAGING THE CLASSROOM An effective teacher maximizes instructional time by efficiently managing student behavior, instructional routines and materials and essential non-instructional tasks.

A. What were the teachers expectations for student behavior? In what ways did the students demonstrate that they understood the ways in which they were expected to behave? How did the teacher address inappropriate student behaviors, if any, during the lesson? When students enter the classroom, the students are expected to unpack their bags, get their bell work journals, ask to sharpen their pencils, and complete their bell ringers. When they complete their bell ringer, they are then supposed to work on their journal entries. Throughout this time, the students are not supposed to talk. The students are usually quiet for a while and then they begin to talk. Mrs. Jackson implies that the students should know better. Some of the consequences are that the students may have to stand during recess, only get white milk during lunch, or no computer time at the end of the day.

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B. In what ways did the teacher maximize-or fail to maximize- instructional time? It usually gets hectic between the teachers instruction and meetings or resource with students. Resource is on a set schedule, from 9:00-10:00 a.m. Monday-Friday. In contrast, sometimes students are asked to be sent to another teacher for additional assistance. For example, the students had to take their Star Reading assessment, so Mrs. Jackson had to take her students down the hall. When we arrived at the computer lab, we could not find the librarian. Mrs. Jackson tried to maximize her instructional by taking the students back to the classroom and continuing her lesson. We were able to take the students to the librarian after lunch, which worked out perfectly. C. How did the teacher manage non-instructional routines and transitions between activities and/or classes? The students are expected to do unpack their bags, hang up their coats, give their pencils to the student teacher or Mrs. Jackson to be sharpened, and start on their bell ringer. The teacher chooses two students to collect and pass out students journals or folders. The students have to raise their hands to get out of their seats or leave the classroom. When it is time for the students to change classes, the students must clean out their desks, wait to be called to get their bags, and wait to be called to line up.