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: Olivia Reedy Date: November 3rd, 2017
1. To what extent were learning outcomes appropriate and achievable to your
students?
My learning outcomes were appropriate and achievable for my students. We reviewed
the standards and students were able to identify the key vocabulary, i.e contribute,
participate, tableau. As we learned more about Sir Walter Raleighs life events, they
pointed out what was significant in his life; however, I think that they had a difficult time
with the vocabulary of the passage. Aside from shyness, the students understood the
theater standard and were able to perform their tableau with a little guided help from
myself. I think the outcomes would have benefited my students more if I separated this
lesson into two different days.
2. How effective were your instructional strategies? What changes would you make
in your instructional approaches if you taught this lesson again? Why?
I think my instructional strategies were mostly effective. For the most part, students
were very responsive to my questions and lessons. I made sure that my reactions to
student questions and responses were helpful to that particular students and other
students around them. I made sure to restate what some students said and involved the
students as much as I could. I would change the way that I introduced the passage to
my students. I think it would have been more helpful to review important vocabulary with
them before reading the passage, rather than when we came across the word.
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.)
My oral and written communication with my students was very effective. I reviewed the
standards and learning objectives before we began the activity; I modeled the activity
they students would be doing later in the lesson; and I made sure that students
understood what I asked or stated by using thumbs up or thumbs down. In the future, I
have to remember to go over the learning targets after the lesson is over to evaluate
student understanding.
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.)
For the most part, my students were engaged in my lesson. The only part where I had
trouble keeping the students engaged was during the reading of the passage about Sir
Walter Raleigh. I noticed that the students were looking around or quiety talking or
making noises. I realize that the reason for this was due to the difficulty of the passage
we were using. There were a few students who were a little too shy to participate in the
tableau, but I was able to convince them to try it out; although, I did have to probe their
actions a little bit.
5. How effectively did you use instructional materials, resources, and/or
technology?
I used a few different resources and instructional materials to assist with my lesson.
First, I used the whiteboard to display the standards and the key details from the
passage about Sir Walter Raleigh; I also used the doc cam to display the directions/
steps for the tableau. If I could change something, I would have used a video using the
smartboard as the material about Sir Walter Raleigh.
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?
I do not think my assessment strategies were very effective. I had made a checklist to
use while each group performed their tableau, but the students needed so much
guidance, that I couldnt write notes as I they performed. Throughout the lesson, I used
thumbs up and thumbs down to quickly evaluate student understanding. I do think that
this was effective because I was able to see who needed more explanation on the topic
or instruction.
7. To what extent was your feedback to students accurate, substantive,
constructive, specific, and/or timely?
My feedback was accurate, specific, and timely. There were several opportunities
throughout my lesson where a student would point something out or make a comment
that was very relevant or showed that they made a connection; I was sure to praise
them about it and explain why what they said was helpful to the class. I think I could
have done a better job with giving feedback to each group after they performed their
tableau; however, we only had a couple of minutes before lunch and I wanted to make
sure that every group would present.
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.)
For the most part, my students were attentive and there were not a lot of behaviors that
affected my teaching. I think that my classroom management and the classroom
environment allowed students to develop somewhat of an understanding of our
standards. At the beginning of the lesson, I modeled the tableau with Mrs. Murray,
which gave students a visual and an idea of what they would be doing later in the
lesson. When it was time for students to practice their tableaus, I spread them out
throughout the room so they would not be bothered by other groups.
9. Did you make modifications to your lesson plan during the lesson? If so, what
were they and what motivated these changes?
The only modification I made was pertaining my informal assessment. I had planned on
taking notes of each groups tableau performance; however, the students needed
guidance, so I wasnt able to do so. I did take a few mental notes and write them down
after the performances.
10. Was your Teaching Behavior Focus goal met?
For the most part, yes, I think my teaching behavior focus was met. This was the first
social students and arts integrated lesson I have done and I think it was pretty
successful. There are definitely a few things that I would change for next time; for
example, I think this lesson would have been more effective in meeting the standards
had I split it up into two separate days.
