Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Elementary Education Program

Formal Observation Reflection

Directions: Complete the reflection questions and submit your response to your observer prior to having a post-
conference to discuss the observation. If a conference is held immediately after the observation you will submit
your responses to the observer the following day via email.

Name: Alex Atchison Date: 4/19/2017

1. To what extent were learning outcomes appropriate and achievable to your students?
The learning outcomes for this particular lesson were directly tied to the Essential standards
for the grade level and were reinforced through a familiar topic. The target objectives were
constructed to be achieved through the use of students own ideas and teacher created learning
experiences. The Learning outcomes for this particular lesson we developed to hold relevance
to the students lived experiences as such making them more achievable for a greater number of
students.
2. How effective were your instructional strategies? What changes would you make in
your instructional approaches if you taught this lesson again? Why?
Overall the instruction of this lesson was successful and the students seemed to be enjoy
learning about the topic. If I could name one thing that I would change/ work on was creating
a better transition between teacher modeled and student independent work. Although I thought
I provided students with a clear directions and expectations however when they went to
independent work they needed additional clarification in order to be successful with the lesson
activity.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of your oral and written communication with students.
(Consider how well you communicated learning objectives, clarity of directions, use of standard English, quality of
questions and effectiveness of discussion techniques.)
I think that orally communication with the students was one of my strengths throughout this
lesson. If I were to improve communication during the lesson, I would make overall
expectations and target outcomes explicit at the beginning of the lesson and then reinforced
during the activities.
4. Evaluate the level of student engagement in your lesson . (Consider how you presented the
content/skills, the activities and assignments for students, grouping of students, and structure and pacing of the
lesson.) The students were engaged throughout this lesson as this was a relevant topic to their
lives. They were excited to share their own ideas and experiences and the section of the lesson
tied to the NC Essential standards was formatted in a way that the students were able to
construct their own understanding using their background knowledge, peers, and some teacher
support.

5. How effectively did you use instructional materials, resources, and/or technology?
The combination of engaging videos, interactive lesson activities, and teacher modeling was
used to provide a differentiated lesson for all the students in the class.
6. To what extent were your assessment strategies effective? What changes would you
make in your assessment approach if you taught this lesson again? Why? Due to the
content of the lesson the use of continual formative assessments was beneficial for the student
learning experience. If I were to teach this lesson again I would add an additional assessment
when dealing with the Declaration of Rights to ensure that all the learners had obtained a firm
 understanding of the topic.

7. To what extent was your feedback to students accurate, substantive, constructive,

specific, and/or timely? Throughout the lesson feedback was given to the students
immediately. Every time an idea was shared the instructor rephrased the concepts or
encouraged a peer to summarize, this keeping all the learners engaged in the conversation and
any misconceptions or confusion could be addressed in the moment.

8. To what extent did the classroom management and environment contribute to student
learning? (Consider your classroom procedures, your use of physical space, and the students conduct.)
Students were encouraged to share ideas and understanding as individuals for the majority of
the lesson however Ms. Bowen and I set up clear expectations and procedures to ensure a save
and discourse conductive environment. When students came into the lesson activity late both
preservice teachers took the time to explain the procedures and check for understanding.
9. Did you make modifications to your lesson plan during the lesson? If so, what were
they and what motivated these changes? We didnt make any changes to the lesson the day
of teaching. We allotted time to make student ideas a part of the lesson and as such extra time
was spent during particular activities when it was in the best interest of the student learners.

10. Was your Teaching Behavior Focus goal met?

I feel that our teaching behavior focus was met through the lesson. Ms. Bowen and I wanted to
ensure that all students ideas and emotions were respected and heard. Discourse was
facilitated and the sharing of ideas was encouraged. When a new idea was shared we took the
time to restate what was said showing that all ideas were valued and desired.