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Classroom Observation - Introduction There is so much potential for growth of teachers by using observation, reflection and feedback. Feedback is one of the actions that teachers lack very much. Feedback and the actions that make it possible, observation and reflection, are the few actions that can truly improve teaching standards and systems. In my case, as an observer and future educational administrator, observing the classroom benefits myself and the teachers. As the observer, I can provide feedback to the teacher about his/her style and methodology; and the teacher can provide feedback on my interpretation of the instructors teaching decisions. My observations took place at Orchard Street Elementary School. I was observing an 8th grade Math teacher. - Pre-conference Before the observation was scheduled to take place, a meeting with the teacher was important to make sure we both understand each other’s goals and expectations. Generally, as an observer, I will be looking at the teacher’s style, what effective teaching methods are being employed, and what authentic teaching methods are being used. Additionally, I will be looking at the classroom atmosphere and the socio-economic culture of the class. On the other hand, the teacher hopes to gain some feedback from this exercise; she wants to know whether or not she is an effective teacher, and how she can improve. After speaking to the teacher to establish some rapport, I noticed that she was very passionate about teaching and about student learning. She explained to me that it is her goal to instill a passion for learning and curiosity within the students. Showing the students how knowledge is important and how critical and logical thinking can help tremendously. Lastly, we discussed how the observation will include qualitative and a few quantitative observations. Detached open-ended narrative would be the best way to describe the type of observation that would be used along with focused questionnaire observation. As for quantitative observations, I planned on using class participation as performance indicators and categorical frequencies. Both teacher and I came out of the pre-conference meeting with good expectations for the observation and excitement about practicing. - Classroom Observation As I explained above, it was agreed that qualitative observations would be the main type of observation used. The best types of qualitative observations to use in this assessment are: (1) detached open-ended narrative and (2) focused questionnaire. The agreed quantitative observations were going to be based on class participation. Categorical frequency to show if and how frequently students participated in class; and performance indicators such as meaningful discussion to show if authentic learning was happening in the classroom. The detached open-ended narrative observation type was agreed on because it would provide the most amount of data to use in case a new observational topic was discovered during the actual observation. According to Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, a detached open-ended narrative observation is when the supervisor is detached from classroom instruction and attempts to write down every person, event, or thing that attracts attention. A video tape of the class would be very helpful in this case; however, we did not use one for this particular observation. This detached narrative can provide the most possible data to interpret and use. In addition to using the detached open-ended narrative observation, it was agreed that we would also have a focused questionnaire to help guide our observation and interpretation. After understanding what each other is looking to gain from this experience, I developed a couple of questions to focus my observations, and ultimately my interpretation: What effective teaching methods are being used in this class? What methods can be implemented that are not already being used? What evidence is there, if any, showing authentic learning? What is the level of the teacher’s Social Emotional Competence? What suggestions can I make to help this person be a more effective teacher? Lastly, the quantitative observations were agreed to because class participation would be an easily observable indicator to show the frequency of class participation, and the type of class participation. We agreed to use some of performance indicators of authentic learning to gather quantitative data regarding the teacher’s effectiveness. Below is a typed version of my notes from my observation: 8:00 am – students started to come into the classroom and take their seats. Some students did school work, and others talked with each other. 8:12 am – Teacher started to address the students with asking about the weekend and news regarding assignments for the class. One student raised his hand and asked the teacher to repeat the due date. 8:15 am – Teacher collected the homework assigned last class and told the class she would give it back next time with corrections. 8:20 am – Teacher started to review the formulas and theories covered last class (Geometry) and provided a short quiz to refresh the students memories. The grade of the quiz was not recorded; however, the students exchanged answers after 15 minutes, and the group of tables with the highest number of correct answers won. The prize was exemption from the small quiz at the beginning of the following class. (praise and support) 8:35 am – Grading of mini quiz started. Teacher did the problems with the students and answered questions about the problem solving steps and about the specific formula. Some students did not participate and did not pay attention to the review of the mini quiz (maybe because it is ungraded?) 8:50 am – Teacher started to cover a new topic, related to the previous topic. Teacher provided an example to show how the old topic relates to the new topic. (different students started to not pay attention, only 2 students did not participate in this portion of the class and did not listen- teacher did not address this with student). 9:00 am – Students asked questions about the new topic and how it relates to the previous topic. Prompted students to discuss the two topics and develop conclusions (higher-order of thinking and meaningful discussion) 9:05 am – teacher provided and worked another example to show how the two topics are related. (connected-ness: teacher used everyday example of billiards to show relation of angles) 9:15 am – Teacher assigned sample problems to different tables and asked the tables to work in groups to find the answers. 9:25 am – Groups of tables presented their answers to the class, one-by-one, to teach the other students how the problem was solved. Teacher guided the presenters and provided correct answers to groups that did not do the problems correctly. Observer Analysis and Interpretation After having completed the observation of the class, focus moved to preparing for the PostConference portion of the exercise. In order to prepare for the Post-Conference, I needed to review the data I collected, and I needed to interpret the data with regard to the expectations reviewed by the teacher and myself, pre-observation. According to Glickman, Gordon and Ross-Gordon, the framework for supervisory models are: (1) the directive approach, the outcome is a supervisor-assigned plan; (2) the directive informational approach, the outcome is a supervisor-suggested plan; (3) the collaborative approach, the outcome is a mutual plan, and (4) the nondirective approach the outcome is a teacher self-plan. Having considered all four models, it was decided that the best plan of action would be the collaborative approach for the following reasons. First, I only observed one class for this teacher; it is very possible that my presence during the class affected the behavior of the students. Any off-task behavior noted would be addressed with the teacher during our final meeting. I do not want to overstep any boundaries with the teacher by dictating what she needs to do with her class; as she has already demonstrated her effective teaching skills. Second, the teacher knows her classes better than I do. She might know that certain classes generally act or behave a certain way, and she might have knowledge of how to better teach different math subjects due to her experience in teaching. Although the teacher does have first-hand experience, my objectivity in this matter provides me with a view of her classroom that she does not have. I might be able to see things that she does not (maybe she has her back faced to the class), or maybe the teacher has grown accustomed to certain student behavior that can cause disruptions in the future. Finally, by employing the collaborative method, I will be able to provide the teacher with a sense of autonomy. As research has shown, teachers who have autonomy are more effective with their students because they have a sense of freedom and control. In addition to determining what supervisory method to use for this teacher, I had to develop my own conclusions regarding the data I collected. It is clear that the teacher demonstrated some effective teaching skills, as well as demonstrating authentic instruction. A couple of the effective teaching skills this teacher demonstrated are: (1) providing a daily review of the last class, (2) engaging the whole classroom with guided practice, (3) using models and examples, (4) confident about her teaching and her style of teaching, and (5) providing scaffolds for challenging problems. During the class period, the teacher provided a daily review the help of her daily quizzes. Keeping the quiz out of the graded part of the student records allowed for students to participate freely without the fear of losing points or missing something. In addition to providing a daily review, the teacher also engaged the whole classroom with her daily review, and then also used models and examples during the class period to help students understand the old and new material. It is no mystery as to whether or not this teacher knows what she is doing; however, feedback from an objective eye can only help. The teacher went further to also demonstrate that authentic learning was happening in her classroom. By providing students with real-life examples, providing background information to lead students into a new topic, and by having the whole class participate in conversation, and rewarding the group of students who does best on the daily quiz, this teacher has demonstrated four ways authentic learning is happening in her classroom. A higher-order of thinking was demonstrated by providing background information leading to students drawing their own conclusions into the next topic of instruction. Support for students’ achievements was shown with the teacher’s daily quiz. The praise came in the form of an exemption from the quiz on the following class day. Praise will help students feel confident and comfortable with their environment. Connected-ness to the outside world was shown in the teacher’s examples used in her class. By connecting the outside world to the subject matter being taught, students can create more and new connections to help retain information. Lastly, substantive conversation was also seen in the teacher’s class. By allowing students to discuss openly about their ideas and conclusions, she allows for more participation and a level of comfort that is much higher than if she were to call on students individually for answers to questions. Allowing substantive conversation of the subject allows students to draw their own conclusions and help spark a higher-level of thinking. - Post-Conference After having interpreted of data and after reviewing it once more, a post-conference meeting was set-up. After explaining my interpretations to the teacher, it was quickly made clear that the teacher understood her class very well. The teacher agreed with many of my observations regarding her effective teaching strategies and authentic learning. She wished she could do more to help the students with this regard. It was very interesting to discuss the off-topic gestures or actions going on in the classroom during instruction. The teacher explained how her courses generally behave. The classes that are more difficult usually have students who understand more quickly when presented with information in one way. The teacher expressed to me that she doesn’t have to use as many examples in her higher level classes because the students generally find ways to understand more quickly than others. Due to the fact that there are more off-topic behaviors in her class, she decided to use homework as a heavily counted grade. This would offset the time wasted in class trying to get all of the students on the same page. I agreed that this would be a possible solution, but I also presented the teacher with a solution that could help the whole class together; not just reward those who did homework and penalize those who did not. Instead of the homework being such a weighted grade, maybe she can use more examples to connect what the students are learning to the real world. By using models and examples from the real world, she will invite more students to participate in the discussion, and potentially this could lead to substantive conversation. Perhaps this will allow students to feel more comfortable and take more interest in the subject matter that they are trying to learn. Furthermore, asking more questions during class was suggested to help more people participate. By guiding the questions and answers, the teacher can create an atmosphere in the classroom that is conducive to authentic learning. The teacher commented that she usually does ask many questions, but was having difficulty connecting with her students on this particular day. Apart from asking more questions, and providing a higher sense of connected-ness to the outside world, I could only really recommend this teacher be a little more flexible with her teaching style and to try new styles and approaches that will help engage the whole classroom in a more efficient way. It was clear that this teacher knew the skills of an effective teacher, and also knew authentic learning standards and characteristics for students. After discussing the feedback for the teacher, the teacher also had some feedback for me as the observer. The teacher expressed gratitude in my objective eye and helping her develop her teaching style. The teacher enjoyed my feedback and wants to use it to develop a new approach for some of her classes. She was happy to receive this constructive criticism to realize that she does need to be a little more flexible with her teaching style. She commented on the fact that I was very quiet and tried not to interrupt her class as much as possible. The teacher was impressed with the level of professionalism used throughout the whole experience and was hopeful to do it again.
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Attached.

Running head: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION

Classroom Observation
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date

1

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION

2

Introduction
Utilizing observation, reflection, as well as feedback, helps one to realize that there is so
much potential for growth of teachers. It is established that feedback happens to be one of the
actions that teachers lack very much. Feedback, observation, and reflection are the few actions
that play a tremendous role when it comes to enhancing teaching standards and systems. As an
observer, as well as a future educational administrator, getting involved in observing the
classroom highly benefit me and also the teachers. Playing the role of an observer allows me to
offer feedback to the teacher based on his or her style and methodology and in so doing the
teacher can also give feedback on my interpretation of the instructor’s teaching decisions. It is
worth noting that my observations occurred at Orchard Street Elementary School. In this case, I
was observing an 8th grade Math teacher.
Pre-Conference
Even before the observation was scheduled to happen, it was of great significance to have
a meeting with the teacher with the sole intention of ensuring that we both understand each
other’s goals as well as expectations. Generally, as an observer, I will highly focus on the
teacher’s style, effective teaching methods being embraced, and also what authentic teaching
methods are being utilized. Again, I will be looking at the classroom atmosphere as well as the
socio-economic culture of the class. This is not forgetting that the teacher also hopes to gain
some feedback from this exercise. She desires to know whether or not she is an effective teacher,
as well as how she can become better. After having a one on one discussion with the teacher
trying to establish some rapport, I realized that she was very passionate about the idea of
teaching including also student learning. She made it clear that it is her objective and goal to see

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION

3

that she instill a passion for learning and curiosity within the learners. Part of achieving this is by
showing the students how knowledge is important and how critical and logical thinking can play
an important part. The last thing we discussed revolved around how the observation will consist
of qualitative as well as a few quantitative observations. It was also established that detached
open-ended narrative would be the best approach when it comes to describing the type of
observation that would be utilized along with focused questionnaire observation. As far as the
quantitative observations are concerned, I planned on utilizing class participation as performance
indicators as well as categorical frequencies. Both teacher and also I came out of the preconference meeting with great or in other words, good expectations for the observation and also
excited about practicing.
Classroom Observation
As I mentioned above, it was agreed that qualitative observations would be considered as
the primary type of observation utilized. The best types of qualitative observations to use in this
assessment are: (i) detached open-ended narrative and (ii) focused questionnaire. The agreed
quant...


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