FOCUSED

PROFICIENCY OBSERVATION #1 CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

APPRENTICE TEACHER: MELLY DIAZ
OBSERVER: GNEVANS
FOCUS OF OBSERVATION: HOW THE TEACHER ESTABLISHES AN ENVIRONMENT OF LEARNING.
DATE OF THE OBSERVATION: MON JAN 30, 2017
SUBJECT/GRADE LEVEL/CLASS PERIOD: 8TH GRADE SCIENCE GRADE / PERIOD:5

RECORD OF THE OBSERVATION BELOW

How does the Apprentice Teacher manage student behavior and create rapport with and among students in a
respectful learning environment?
Consistent use of students names when asking questions, calling on students
Use of class quiet word Wasabi to let students know when they are getting too loud / unfocused.

How does the Apprentice Teacher effectively and safely use physical space and proximity to enhance learning
for all students (For Science Apprentice Teachers specifically address lab safety)?
Good circulation around room, you are not just sticking to the front of the room- which is a tendency
esp when working with something on front screen.

How does the Apprentice Teacher manage classroom procedures to maximize time for instruction?
The use of plicker voting to register student responses helps keep a faster paced lesson because it is
easy to know when to move on because everyone has had a chance to share answers.


How does the Apprentice Teacher establish classroom standards that foster a culture of learning for all
students?
Use of plickers allows for individual student responses to be recorded for each answer & students /
teachers to have immediate feedback regarding the level of mastery of the questions included in the
review. Showing students who register a vote also holds each accountable (difficult to hide with your
name up on the beard).

COMMENTS FOR DEBRIEFING / CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TIPS (TRY THIS!):
Nice that you are spending some time debriefing each question- try to get students more involved in
providing their rationale for why the answer is correct or why an alternate choice is not correct. You
are still doing most of the talking.
Work on figuring out what it is going to take to get Janae interested in your lessons. She is clearly a
person who likes to be involved and I could see her as an enthusiastic participant in class if she is
interested. Just ignoring her lack of engagement will most likely result in an intensification of off task
behaviour until she forces a confrontation. I have always found that addressing small off task behaviors
with kindness is the best way to keep small problems from escalating.
For review, you need to think of ways you can vary what students are doing. Asking several questions
on plickers followed by 33 more on Kahoot may be too much to keep everyones attention. Even
something engaging like Kahoot only keeps student attention for so long Think for your next review,
How could you get students up & moving around? More engaged? Using different modes of activity?-
drawing diagrams, answering questions, posing questions, debating, etc