Zachary Wyatt

EDSU 643
Assessment #2
8/11/16

Observing someone teaching and teaching a lesson that you wrote are two
completely different things. While observing I noticed that I would find myself saying, I
dont like how this activity is set-up or why didnt they try this instead? While I may
have preferred it another way, did it make the activity less effective? Would another setup work better for this class? As the observer I had to focus on looking at the activity, the
information that the students needed to learn, what the teacher did as a whole, and watch
how the students reacted to it. However, just because it was not my way does not mean it
was the wrong way. It is hard to be objective and to look carefully at different types of
domains in order to evaluate someone. By choosing the Teacher Experience Rubric used
by the Health and P.E. department at Frostburg state University it gave a basis for how to
observe the teacher that was something I was familiar with because it was used to
evaluate me and I had previously used it to evaluate others. This was an interesting
experience because I have not yet had a full time teaching position and I was placed in a
position to evaluate and discuss teaching techniques with a student teacher.
Throughout this course the focus has been on teacher evaluations that have been
evolving since the 1940s and 1950s. During this time the form of the evaluation
involved voice, appearance, emotional stability, trustworthiness, warmth, and enthusiasm.
It was believed that teachers who possessed these traits would be effective teachers.
Unfortunately, the data did not always link these traits to good teaching or student
achievement (Danielson, McGreal, 2000). It would seem that these traits would still
today be what administrators or school systems would be looking for in teachers, as well
as their effectiveness at planning and implementing the College and Career Ready
Standards that are required. It is clear that as you look at education today the evaluation

process needs to keep up with evolving world of education. For example, Madeline
Hunter at UCLA believed that teaching should be looked at from a behavioristic view of
basic learning. With the Hunter Model the focus moved more towards instruction and less
on the traits of the teacher (Danielson, McGreal, 2000). Looking closely during the
observations it was apparent how important it was for the student intern to have a wellwritten lesson plan in order to implement a lesson that enhances student growth and
achievement. However, from the observers point of view the lesson plan is not as critical
(but still indispensable) as how the teacher performs and delivers the content. This held
true for both experiences with the student intern that was observed.
Reflecting on the observation experience it brought to mind what was said about
educators in Madeline Hunters Mastery Teaching, teaching can be defined as a constant
stream of professional decisions made before, during, and after interaction with the
students: decisions that, when implemented, increased the probability of learning.
(Hunter, 2004, p. 3) This being said a teacher will need to efficiently plan, implement,
assess, and evaluate many times every day. As the pendulum of education continues to
swing educators are now expected to look at each student in their class independently and
to focus on each students needs. This takes the planning and implementing to a whole
new level. Fortunately, this seems to be much simpler to do in the physical education
domain than in the regular classroom setting because many of the activities easily lend
themselves to providing multi-level skills to meet the needs of the diverse students that
come into the gym.
That being said, a new teacher will need guidance and models to follow. The
student interns at Frostburg State University are given a lesson plan format that allows

them to see the components of a well-planned lesson. Throughout the book Madeline
Hunters Mastery Teaching by Robin Hunter each chapter begins with what Ms. Hunter
believes are components of a good lesson. She talks about the objectives and the physical
education plan always includes the objective (s) for the lesson, the state standards and the
National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) standards. She includes
an Anticipatory Set as a way for teachers to focus the students on what they will be
learning and also help them bring forward their background knowledge and experiences
(Hunter, Robin 2004). This is done throughout the warm-up and introduction. The interns
and teachers try making sure that the warm-up and introductions set the tone for the
lesson and help the students to begin thinking about what is to come. Then she discusses
input and modeling. Modeling is important in physical education. For students to learn
how to do most skills it needs to be broken down into parts and then modeled for the
students to do it correctly. Students learn from the concrete to the abstract and that is how
it needs to be modeled. In a physical education class this is when the direct instruction
occurs. In the chapter, Modeling What You Mean, it discusses the importance of
modeling your thinking too. At times, the task set for the students is new or difficult the
teacher can talk through or demonstrate how he/she would complete the task letting the
students in on the thought or skills process behind it (Hunter, Robin 2004). This lends
itself very well as the lesson transitions into the Progression of Learning.
After the direct instruction has been given the time comes for the students to
practice what they have learned. Practice does not make perfect---it makes permanent
(Hunter, 2000, p.94) is such a strong quote. Students in physical education need to
practice new skills and new learning (not all learning is physical skills) in order to be able

gain mastery and build upon the skills. For instance, in the lessons that were observed the
intern had broken down the skill the students needed to learn in order to play basketball.
She started the unit with the basic cues of dribbling, then passing, and then finally
shooting. From there the lessons switched up to how the game was played and the tactics.
By putting it together like this the students could learn and practice dribbling, passing and
shooting while they are learning the game. Putting the two together gives the students a
solid understanding of basketball.
After looking closely at the plan the intern and I had a pre-conference. Although it
was informative and the intern did a nice job of explaining the what and the how of
her lesson I do not believe that it was as beneficial as it could have been. So after the first
observation and then rereading Danielson and McGreals Teacher Evaluation it was
apparent that having something structured for the pre-conference would in fact make a
huge difference. The conversation from the first pre-conference to the second preconference was totally different. For the second pre-conference I used figure 8.2 preobservation form and I gave it to my intern prior to our meeting. At the meeting we
focused on the ten questions on the form and the conversation about the students, goals,
expectations, and assessments were more meaningful. Both participants came away with
a deeper understanding of the how and what that was going to be taught. The
questions on the pre-observation form were closely tied to the Danielson framework and
set the expectations for observation (Danielson, McGreal, 2000).
As I observed the first lesson it took me several minutes to click into observer
mode. At first as, I said earlier in this paper, I tended to make this very personal by
comparing what the intern was doing to how I would do it. That is not my role. An

observation is a way for supervisors to collect evidence to use in professional discussions,

reflection on teaching and learning. This is can be powerful for teachers as a strategy to
improve their quality of teaching. Therefore, as the book states supervisors and others
that may be observing should be trained on how to observe (Danielson and McGreal,
2000). This popped out to me when I read it during the semester and again as I was
rereading for this paper. I wish that before I observed the student intern I had been given
some training on how to do it. During the first observation I do not believe I was as
effective as I could have been even using the Frostburg State University Rubric. My
comments tended to be more negative than positive and although I understand that there
will not often be a perfect lesson, the observation is not to be punitive but an experience
that gives the intern/teacher the opportunity to shine and to grow professionally. By
rereading, talking with a mentor, and equating the two I felt the second observation
brought about better conversation and feedback with the intern.
The evaluation process in the education system is a necessity. For schools systems
to make sure that their teachers are effectively teaching and also growing professionally
to keep up with the 21st Century learner. However, the training needed to be objective
and to be clear on what to look for is not keeping up. The rubric that I used gave me a
way to be focused on what to look for during the observation. To make the observation
process as equitable as they can, many school systems including the one that I will be
teaching in, are jumping on the Charlotte Danielson Framework. This framework uses
four domains in which to evaluate teachers. They are: Domain 1: Planning and
Preparation, Domain 2: The Classroom Environment, Domain 3: Instruction, and Domain
4: Professional Responsibilities. This gives the evaluator/observer a focus that will

hopefully be fair to all teachers. Just like the rubric from Frostburg did for me. Will the
evaluate process for educators ever be permanent so that the evaluators will become
effective at observing or will it always be an evolving process where every party is
learning to be effective?
This experience was an eye opener. The lack of experience that I brought to both
sides of the evaluation process made it more difficult. However, I feel that I am more
prepared to be observed and to understand the why and how of the evaluative
process. What stands out the most is that the dialogue in the pre and post conference is
vital to being able to grow professionally. It needs to be a positive experience for all
parties involved. Each educator in a school, be it the teachers or the administrators, need
to be willing to continually learn and grow, and be willing to learn from each other. As
education and the evaluation of teachers continues to evolve, hopefully the parties
involved will continue to keep the best interest of the students in mind.

Work Cited

Danielson, C., & McGreal, T. L. (2000). Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional

Practice. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development (ASCD).
Hunter, Robin (2004) Madeline Hunters Mastery teaching: Increasing instructional
Effectiveness in elementary and secondary schools, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Press.