Teacher Candidate Observation Instrument (TCOI)

Candidate: Aaminah Durham Date:03-14-18 Observer:Dr. Kaye Hlavaty Subject/Time: ELA 11:15-12:20

PLANNING

I-1a & 1b Possesses and applies content knowledge across the curriculum

Score: 3 Evidence: Uses multiple resources in addition to the textbook. Gives constructive and
supportive feedback to incorrect student responses.
Comments: The main idea of a passage was correlated to potential titles. You did well
accepting student ideas for titles without judging their answers. Then, you gave solid
evidence for selecting one title over others. To strengthen the lesson to match your
learning target, there needed to be more overt actions of how the supporting details led
to the title choice. Students could have underlined the details on their papers or you
could have projected each story and marked them while gathering student input.
II-3a Understands and uses best practices, various learning theories, subject matter, curriculum
development, and learner development to make curricular and instruction decisions.

Score: 3 Evidence: Teacher is responsive to students’ questions; teacher provides the necessary
support for students as they learn new material; uses questioning and discussion
techniques.
Comments: For the group reading and discussion, there were not enough copies for
everyone to see. Instead, you could have displayed the story on the board and then read
it aloud; this would have also helped with the pronunciation and understanding of difficult
words. The discussion of potential titles was well led with good questioning techniques
used. Accepting all suggestions and then eliminating the ones that didn’t work as well
was an effective strategy. Unfortunately, there were no provisions made for
differentiation.
II-3b Develops lesson plans using a variety of instructional methods, resources, and technology that
support knowledge of learner development.

Score: 3 Evidence: Teacher uses various resources to meet the students’ developmental needs;
activates and assesses prior knowledge; uses variety of group configurations.
Comments: The articles used in the lesson were very current and applicable to the
students’ interest. While various strategies were used to keep students engaged, there
was a lot of off topic talk and movement within the small groups. As you plan lessons
think through potential behavior issues and eliminate the opportunities.

INSTRUCTION

I-1b Practices and encourages critical thinking, problem-solving and innovation to meet students’
needs.

Score: 4 Evidence: Uses “wait-time” effectively; explicitly teaches various critical thinking
strategies; fosters independent thinking by allowing students to give their opinions based
on evidence; uses appropriate instructional strategies to facilitate critical thinking.
 Comments: The format of this lesson was designed to encourage critical thinking. The
teaching strategies utilized provided several opportunities for students to consider
options.
I-2a Understand constructivism as it pertains to student learning and students creating their own
meaning.

Score: 3 Evidence: Teacher uses strategies and activities that require students to synthesize
information presented; teachers guide students as they use information to draw
conclusions.
Comments: To “introduce” the initial article it would have been good to have utilized the
students’ background knowledge by showing some illustrations of emojis and asked
students what they each represent…..do they know the term for these illustrations? The
initial grouping and then the regrouping allowed students several opportunities to
interact with others to discuss and create titles.
III-7a, 7b Understand and uses various formal and informal assessments.

Score: Evidence: No concrete assessments were built into this lesson. The lesson could have
NATR concluded with the students listening to you read a simple passage and then writing a
possible title on a slip of paper as their “ticket out the door.”
Comments: I chose not to rate this indicator since I am not sure what prior assessments
were used to determine this lesson’s focus and outcome.
III-8a, 8b Knows and uses a variety of self-assessment (reflective) strategies to change professional
and/or pedagogical behaviors.

Score: 3 Evidence: Candidate identifies areas needing improvement and suggests possible
modifications of future lesson.
Comments: Your reflection shows some good thought about ways to improve your lesson
as well as what worked well. You mentioned that changes needed to be made but did not
cite specific examples. You are correct that behavior management can, and in this case
did to a certain extent, overshadow the lesson.

CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT/MANAGEMENT

I-2b Creates a learning community that bolsters the tenets of constructivism by encouraging student
interaction and participation in purposeful activities.

Score: 3 Evidence: Students work in small cooperative groups; teacher guides class discussions;
physical arrangement of classroom allows student to work in small groups.
Comments: During partner work many students were not actively participating in
purposeful learning. Some of the student interactions appeared disrespectful. You
worked hard to take the time to confer with individual students but often had to tend to
behavior issues instead.
II-4a, 4b Demonstrates an understanding of diversity by structuring the classroom to provide for the
learning and needs of a broad range of diverse learners.

Score: 4 Evidence: Physical arrangement of classroom facilitates interaction among students and
 teacher and ensures safety; materials are prepared ahead of time and are readily
available to teacher and students; physical resources are used effectively with students.
Comments: It was a good use of the space to separate the partner/pairs from each other.
All students could easily see the board as you discussed the titles. It was a good choice to
bring the choir members to the carpet so that they didn’t interrupt the already formed
groups.
II-5a, 5b Creates and uses a viable classroom management plan to enhance the classroom climate.

Score: 3 Evidence: Does not use sarcasm.

Comments: During the Flocabulary video, you did a wonderful job describing the expected
behavior and the students complied. Before breaking into groups you did a good job in
making sure that the directions were clearly understood. However, once the students
went into their groups the classroom climate changed. Rather than working with the
“odd” student when the class was split into pairs, he could have been placed in a group of
3 to work with a less able students. This would have allowed you a better opportunity to
move among the students to monitor behavior and to check for understanding. While
attempts were made to use a classroom management plan, the attempts were not
successful enough to enhance the classroom climate.
II-6a, 6b Understands and demonstrates methods of fostering effective interpersonal relationship in
the classroom.

Score:3 Evidence: Uses cooperative learning groups; assigns group work; uses various grouping
configurations during instruction.
Comments: Behavior issues created opportunities for students to treat others
disrespectfully. As you led the groups, many students chose not to listen. In spite of this
you are to be commended for working hard to keep the atmosphere as calm as possible.

Additional Comments: The lesson began very well as you set the behavior expectations and then
played the video as a review before moving into the body of the lesson. A suggestion would be to
provide time for individuals to quietly focus, read and work on the story that was distributed to them.
Then, after the students had written down their title, then you could have moved into the pair/share
activity.

Positives: There is no doubt that you spent time developing a lesson to meet your learning target. You
incorporated many techniques to involve students in a meaningful lesson. I liked that you used two
different group configurations-the first with a different story and the second with the same story.

Areas for Improvement: With a class that tends to have behavior issues when placed in groups, a
suggestion would be to alternate an instructional period with large group-brief small group-large group-
brief small group interactions. This allows the teacher the opportunity to regain control if needed and
to emphasize expected behavior norms. Another technique that is effective is to consistently recognize
students who following the behavior plan and to provide positive reinforcement.

Candidate Signature: ___________________________________________ Date:________________

Observer Signature: ____________________________________________ Date:________________