PRE-OBSERVATION FORM

Teacher: Nicholas Gayan

Administrator: Robert Usitalo

Date of Pre-Observation: 2/25/2015

Time/Date of Observation: 11:00-11:50

Grade Level/Curriculum Area Covered: Freshman / Microcomputers

1. Briefly describe the students in class, including those with special needs.
This microcomputers class consists of 29 students with a makeup of 25 freshmen, two
sophomores, one junior, and one senior. My senior student, Jay Sweeten, is assigned to
Maureen Menard in the LRC center. Jay is very lackadaisical and is gone often, but he does
tend to get his work done in class. He does struggle with reading and understanding and has
some difficulty when trying to follow along in class when we do examples together. But
overall, he is more than capable when he applies himself.
Of my freshmen students, Oscar Sanchez (Brad Reddinger), Tyler Baumler (Maureen
Menard), and Carmela Adams (Margi Sanderson) are all a part of the LRC program. Oscar is
very bright, Tyler does a nice job but sometimes can get off-track, and Carmela struggles
greatly. She has a hard time following along and reading and understanding directions at
times.
2. What do you want the students to know or be able to do as a result of the lesson and
what are the goals for the lesson?
The students just finished Chapter 5 which covers the basics of Microsoft Excel. In the
chapter, they learned how to write formulas for Excel to calculate numeric answers.
They are beginning Chapter 6 which covers formulas in a more in-depth nature which
includes what are called function formulas. The students will be
(1) Revisiting the writing of basic math formulas focusing on the reading of words
and converting them into the correct math statement for Excel to calculate.
(2) Writing example equations using basic Function formulas which they will learn
makes some of the calculations easier and more efficient. Some of the functions
will include: SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX, MODE, and ROUND
3. How do these goals support the district curriculum, state frameworks and the content
standards?
A big part of this lesson will not only test the students basic math skills, but a big focus
is on their reading abilities for understanding and comprehension. This chapter
traditionally tests the students on their abilities to understand problem solving. This
chapter is actually a great MTSS and STEM activity which is what we are trying to push
across our district.
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4. What teaching/learning activities will take place and what instructional material or other
resources if any will you use?
The students will utilize an Excel document that I have setup previously and enter in
formulas thus allowing them to practice their formula review and the new function
formulas that Chapter 6 will teach them. I will be using my laptop and overhead
projector to also demonstrate and have them check their formulas and solutions.
5. How will you check to see if students are learning and how do you plan to engage
students in the content?
As I go through the samples, I will be able to walk around and watch the students enter
in the formulas to see who may be having difficulties in completing the tasks. This
activity may be very difficult for Carmela Adams as she tends to struggle with following
along when we do in-class examples.
6. How do you plan to assess student achievement of the goals? What procedures will you
use?
When the students go through the lesson, they will have many smaller exercises in which
they will have to create a spreadsheet and enter in the proper formulas for calculating the
data. The students will also take a few quizzes in which they will have to write Function
formulas to show that they understand how a formula must be written for Excel to
calculate it properly. They will also be given an end of chapter assessment.