Peer Observation

Teacher Observed: Christina Bichrest Teacher Observing: Holly Toothaker

Date: 4/4/2019 Time: 2:30-2:50

Standards being Observed: Understanding of Students, Subject Knowledge, Managing

Classroom Routines and Expectations
Summary:

Two students were at a kidney table with Christina in the middle. Students were involved in determining
missing words from a sentence using a word bank and writing the word correctly.

One student (Daniel) displayed some behaviors about having to work. Christina took away snack he was
eating after he spit on paper. He got up from the table and laid on the floor with his head under the rug.
He was reminded that he only needed to finish this page before earning his next reward. Christina turned
her attention to Donovan giving Daniel wait time. In less than a minute, Daniel was able to return to the
table, sit down and begin following through. An ed tech came in and sat beside Daniel to help him focus on
the assignment.

A second student (Donovan) was able to read the words and determine the one that went in the provided
sentences. However, he had some difficulty writing the sentence. Each time he wrote the word Christina
read it back and asked if it made sense. Donovan typically said it did, needing direct attention to identify
the word and write it. Donovan displayed some difficulty writing the letter ‘M.’ Christina got two white
boards and worked with Donovan on practicing the letter before returning to the page and asking him to
write the word. He continued to have difficulty and appeared to get a bit frustrated.

Once Daniel finished the assignment, he pulled out Uno cards for his reward. He was asked to wait until
Donovan was finished. He was provided the option of drawing on the white board. Christina continued to
work with Donovan until he got up saying he needed to brush his teeth. Donovan appeared to be finished
with the task at hand, possibly frustrated about the difficulty he was having. Christina appeared to notice
his frustration and need for a break. She asked Daniel to put the white boards and markers away and
prompted Donovan to get his toothpaste.

Review: Christina successfully managed the needs of both students, including presented behaviors. She
displayed understanding when a student needed wait time, a break, or was done learning. She
demonstrated understanding of the Edmark® program and framework including the routines it provides.

Suggestions: I wonder if Donovan might benefit from using magnetic letters to build a word as a step
before writing. Sometimes working with the individual letters of a word help to provide a connection
between the words in print and writing the words.

Although his behavior may be a factor, I wonder if Daniel’s work could be extended a bit. Maybe using
cards to build his own sentence before writing it. This would provide another level to his learning since he
appears able to successfully read the words and put them in a sentence.