Erin Hartill Teacher Observation Edward Little High School March 4, 2014

On Tuesday, March 4, 2014, a formal review of Erin Hartill was conducted at Edward Little High School in Auburn, Maine. At the beginning of the class, Ms. Hartill discussed with the student the plan to measure acceleration with an outdoor activity. Once that was finished, she proceeded to prepare the students for the in-class activities dealing with reaction time and acceleration down an incline plane. Students worked in groups doing both activities. They experimented, recorded their data, and answered questions. During the entire length of the classroom period (approximately 90 minutes), Ms. Hartill was actively engaging the students in monitoring their work, their behavior, and their answers. There was a high level of interest on the part of the students in doing the tasks and a positive learning environment was evident. In terms of preparation, Ms. Hartill knew her content at a high level which helped in offering probing questions during the activity. She also knew what to expect from the lesson and was able to guide the students. She fostered the learning in the classroom without giving out answers allowing the students to examine their data and make their own conjectures from the results and analyses. The students worked on their questions for the remainder of the class time. This was an impressive lesson for a student teacher. The amount of work in preparing the content, the material, and the evaluation and assessment of learning helped make the lesson engaging, exciting, and interesting for the students and this observer. Ms. Hartill is relaxed and has a good rapport with the students. They are themselves relaxed in class and respect her presence. She is aware of the students and has a good sense of the environment in the classroom. Her pedagogical choices are very good for these types of lessons.

51 Westminster Street, Lewiston, ME 04240 (207) 753-6500, TTY (207) 753-6511, FAX (207) 753-6555 www.usm.maine.edu/lac A member of the University of Maine System

I look forward to seeing her continue her progress in creating and implementing lessons that foster science learning in a kinesthetic way. We need more practitioners who see science as something you do rather than something you listen to. Items for consideration as Erin continues to work on developing her teaching skills: It is clear that students have done these types of activities before this class. The students were ready for this class, knew what the expectations were and focused their energy on the required task. This lesson was immediately before lunch period. At no time were there students milling about or hanging at the door. They were working or quietly reading for the time remaining after the lesson. Final Thoughts was brought up but without this idea previously implemented, it is difficult to try it without establishment. You may want to consider this at the beginning of the school year to develop the habit. You should keep a record of the students work for your portfolio. Keep a reflection of this lesson, as with all lessons and show how you altered the lesson for future classes.

Dr. Paul G. Caron, Director Teacher Education Program

51 Westminster Street, Lewiston, ME 04240 (207) 753-6500, TTY (207) 753-6511, FAX (207) 753-6555 www.usm.maine.edu/lac A member of the University of Maine System