Case Study: Lesson Observation Day 2 Session 4

Transcription

1 Case Study Evaluating Teaching and Learning (Day 2 Session 4) Below please find a typical elementary lesson plan: pre-observation conference, post observation conference, and two walk through observations for a second year teacher. Lesson Plan Objective Formal observation #1 (December) XYZ Elementary School Grade 2 Reading Lesson The students will use various passages from the book Owl At Home by Arnold Lobel to establish Owl's character traits, based on what Owl says and does. The lesson will teach the students to look at what a character says and does in order to establish that character's traits. Anticipatory Set (Motivation) I will tell the class that last night I was rereading Owl At Home so I can prepare for today's lesson. My husband walked in and saw what I was reading and asked about the book. So I told him it was about an owl in his house. He then asked about the owl. Was he nice? funny? silly? I will tell the class that those questions really made me think. I thought about how it never does tell us exactly in the story if the owl is funny, or silly, or nice. We need to think about what owl said and did it tell about what type of owl he is. I will then tell the class that this is true for all characters. By looking at what a character says and does in a story it will tell you what type of person (or animal etc.) they are. Input (Direction and Instruction) We will briefly review and discuss the book Owl At Home by Arnold Lobel. On the easel will be an enlarged page from the story. I will read the passage and discuss what the owl did and said in the passage. I will tell the class what the owl's actions tell me about the owl. I will then chart the answers on a separate enlarged sheet on the easel. The chart will be broken down into three columns: Character, What the character says and does, and What this tells about my character. I will have another brief passage on the easel. I will ask a student to read this passage. We will discuss what the owl says and does in the passage. I will ask the class what we can tell about the owl from the passage. I will chart their answers. Guided Practice (Student Practice) The students will be broken into groups and given different passages from Owl At Home. They will also be given a copy of the same chart I had on the easel. The students will have to read their passage and discuss what they can learn about the owl based on what he said and did in their passage. They will then fill out the chart. I will walk around the room offering assistance 1

2 and looking to make sure everyone is grasping the concept. Closure (Summary) Independent Practice (Homework) Pre-Observation Conference Post Observation Conference I will call the class to rug to share their charts. Before I end the lesson I will ask the class to review what we learned today. We will review that you can learn about a character from looking at what they say and do in the story. The class will be given the same chart to be filled out on a character from a reading workshop book. What do you think is the objective of your lesson? The lesson will teach the students to look at what a character says and does in order to establish that character's traits. What has led up to this lesson? The prior lesson focused on understanding a character has traits that the reader can observe in the language of the text read. What will follow this lesson? A follow-up lesson will include looking for internal and external character traits in another text we read during reading workshop. What teaching strategies will you use? Modeling, questioning, checking for understanding, cooperative learning, differentiation (by group activities) positive reinforcement. What student behaviors do you hope to see? I'd like to see how students worked together cooperatively and helped one another completing the chart on character traits. Do you have any concerns regarding the above, or any additional information that you would like to share? I'd like you to focus on the amount and kind of student praise I give during the lesson. What kind of data would you like me to collect during the observation? I'd like to know the frequency of reinforcement I used during the lesson and the quality of my checking for understanding. How did the lesson go? I was pleased with the delivery of the lesson although I felt a bit rushed to complete everything I planned to accomplish. Do you think you attained the lesson s objective? Yes, I definitely attained the lesson s objective, teaching the students to look at what a character says and does in order to establish that character's traits. What were the strengths of the lesson? My anticipatory set was a personal story to which the student could easily relate. It focused the children on the objective of the lesson. During input, I provided direct instruction using real text from the story and modeled using a variety of graphic organizers, i.e. charts to clarify and make activities easy to understand. The children worked at their tables in cooperative groups reading passages from the story. The children were given opportunities to share what they learned in 2

3 their groups with the rest of the class. I praised the children. I reviewed directions with the children before guided practice began. I set up groups, differentiated by reading ability. The areas you need to focus on to improve your instruction are: During guided practice, each child should read their passage independently. I think this would make reading aloud less confusing because of the background noise of having many groups read aloud at the same time. If a child is unsure of a particular word, he/she should consult another child in the group. Although I taught the children about inside and outside words, they were not clear about using these terms. Perhaps I should have checked for understanding to make sure that all children were clear about the terminology. Although displaying a large chart of inside and outside words was helpful, I should have focused the children's attention on the importance of using these words to help understanding internal and external character traits. I should have elicited more responses from a wider group of children to have more frequent checking for understanding. I know there is a direct correlation between frequently checking for understanding and achieving the lesson's objective. At the same time, I should have given the children more frequent praise. I know that regular reinforcement encourages children to be engaged in their learning. How would you rate yourself in this lesson? (HEDI) I think that because the way I developed the lesson and provided feedback to the children, that this lesson was effective. Since you have progressed somewhat from the beginning of the school year s initial observation, I would rate you developing. Walk through observation #1: Reading (October) Communicating with students direction and procedures developing explanation of content developing use of oral & written language effective expectations for learning developing Using questioning and discussion techniques quality of questions developing discussion techniques developing student participation developing Engaging students in learning activities and assignments effective grouping of students effective using instructional materials, resources and technology effective structure and pacing developing 3

4 Walk through observation #2: Reading (January) Using assessment in instruction assessment criteria developing monitoring of student learning developing feedback to students developing student self-assessment and monitoring of progress developing Communicating with students direction and procedures effective explanation of content effective use of oral & written language effective expectations for learning developing Using questioning and discussion techniques quality of questions developing discussion techniques effective student participation developing Engaging students in learning activities and assignments effective grouping of students developing using instructional materials, resources and technology effective structure and pacing developing Using assessment in instruction assessment criteria effective monitoring of student learning developing feedback to students developing student self-assessment and monitoring of progress developing Task Knowing what you do about performance management, review the above case study and identify the evidence which you could use to evaluate how well the principal is implementing an effective teacher evaluation process in the school. Facilitator Notes Using the evaluation rubrics for supervisors to evaluate the performance of this supervisor, the evaluator should look at the performance indicator for supervision instruction, namely: Multidimensional Principal Performance Rubric p. 3 A Data-Driven Focus on Student Achievement p VAL-ED Framework p. 7 9 (not numbered) Reeves Leadership Performance Matrix p Principal Evaluation Rubrics section D Some observations about the strengths and weaknesses of the supervisory 4

5 process as indicated in this case include: The supervisor conducted a pre and post observation conference with the teacher. The supervisor conducted one formal and two informal observations. The supervisor did not address some of the teacher s concerns from the pre-observation conference during the post-observation conference. The supervisor observed a continuum of teaching experiences in reading looking for improvement in the teaching/learning process. The supervisor did not provide the teacher with a path for improvement, to move his/her teaching from developing to effective. The supervisor did not outline professional development necessary for the teacher s delivery of instruction. There was neither an explanation for the developing rating at the end of the formal observation, (although areas for improvement were indicated during post observation conference) nor next steps that might be accomplished by the next observation. 5

6 Teacher Ms. Smith Class Grade School XYZ Elementary School Observation Observer Principal time and date December 9:30 AM Students present Student Number 22 Grade Grade 2 Y Grouping on roll Planned # Support # Other Subject Reading 0 0 Links assistants adults Context: This was a whole class reading lesson where the students were expected to identify character traits of lead characters in the story from what the students read in the book. Evidence about how well students are learning and how teaching supports this Learning The students listened attentively. The students volunteered responses to the teacher s question about characters actions. The students responded to questions about traits of characters in the story. The children read the passage from their seats. The children responded to questions about the owl s character traits. The students worked cooperatively in groups reading their assigned passage and charting the character traits they were able to identify. The children responded to the teachers questions about character traits. Teaching The teacher related a personal story to focus the children on the lesson s objective. The teacher read aloud and discussed a section of the book with the children and elicited what the characters actions were. The teacher created a three column chart on chart paper, displayed on an easel that indicated character traits from the passage discussed. The teacher displayed another passage on the easel. The teacher asked the children about the owl s character traits from the passage and charted their responses. The teacher broke the children into differentiated groups for an independent activity. The teacher gave each group a three column chart to identify character traits. The teacher walked around the room working with each group. The teacher gathered the children in the rug area to review that you can learn about a character from looking at what they say and do in the story. 22 Student learning was best when:...the teacher used a personal story to which the student could easily relate to initiate discussion. the teacher provided direct instruction using real text from the story and modeled using a variety of graphic organizers, i.e. charts to clarify and make activities easy for the children to understand. the children worked at their tables in cooperative groups reading passages from the story. the children were given opportunities to share what they learned in their groups with the rest of the class. the teacher praised the children. the teacher reviewed directions before guided practice began. the teacher set up groups, differentiated by reading ability. Student learning could be better if: during guided practice, each child read their passage independently to his/herself or the teacher. the children were taught about inside and outside words during a prior lesson. the teacher checked for understanding more frequently to make sure that all children were clear about the terminology. the teacher elicited more responses from a wider group of children. the teacher could have given the children more frequent praise. 6