EDUC 5312/3315-Curriculum and Instructional Design

Classroom Observation Assignment

Observation Form 1

Observation Date: March31st Observation Time: 90 minutes class block

Teacher Observed: Ms Solano Subject/Grade Level: 11

School Observed: Harmony Innovation School Observer: Nivine Sharamand

1-What was/were the learning objectives/outcomes of the lesson? (Add state objectives)

The state objectives used are TEKS/ELPS (grade 11)

Modifications/Differentiated Instruction
Varied difficulty of text assigned
Peer review/editing

The learning objectives were stated on the white board and there was a weekly assignment which
clearly showed the HW the students should be doing for that week. The student was finishing
their previous assignment of videos which was supposed to be done the day before. It seems
these are the late projects left for the day.

The objectives for the week are:

Translating information presented in graphics such as maps, charts, tables, ect

Creating work related or procedural documents (IE, high school resume)
Conveying technical information in Audience appropriate language
Organizing work related documents in a coherent way.

2-How did the teacher begin and end the lesson?

The teacher started by showing the students videos of How to and then she ended the lesson
after the second activity by asking the students to give their feedback about the whole activity
experience. Some explained that time went so slow when they played the role of the interviewee
bout when they were the interviewer it went so fast. The teacher commented that this is how
interviewees feel in their real life.

3-What did the teacher use for teaching materials or instructional aids/equipment?

The teacher used text stack: variety of how tos procedures/graphic organizers/student
resume/overhead projector
4-Which instructional methods and strategies did the teacher use? (Lecture, inquiry,
discovery learning, discussions, games or simulations, demonstrations, cooperative learning,
integration of technology, socrative questioning, etc)

Lecturing was used with giving the instructions for the students. Then cooperative learning was
also implemented through the activity of the interview. Students were divided into groups of 2,
they have to use a certain rubric and questions list provided by the teacher herself. The timing
was 15 minutes for the 1st interview then they have to flip the turns for another 15 minutes.

5-How did the teacher assess learning? (informal, formal, formative, summative, oral, open-
ended, quiz, feedback etc)

It was kind of informal oral assessment. The teacher asked her students to give their personal
feedback about the whole activity. Whether they liked it or not etc...

6- What can you say about the teachers philosophy/beliefs and style?
(Traditional/progressive, behaviorist, student-centered vs. teacher centered, authoritative etc)

Part of the lesson is traditional, but the biggest part is student centered. The teacher tries to teach
her students important skills that are beneficial in their real life by using modeling and
performing

7-How does the teacher manage classroom? Can you identify classroom management
techniques used?

It was so obvious that the teacher used a well-planned, well implemented instructional approach.
There was mutual respect between the teacher and her students, I didnt hear any use of bad
language or criticism. The class had a warm atmosphere, everybody was engaged in the activity
and there were no problems at all. It was a small class of 17 students, which made the teachers
job easier in managing them. Everything seemed to be well planned and organized. The teacher
used verbal instructions for her activity and the students had no issues in following them.
8-Observe in the classroom setting and determine types of behavior students play when off-
task. What do they do when they are not paying attention? How does the teacher re-direct
them or get them back on task?

Some of the students seem to become a little bit talkative when they are off task, the teacher raise
her voice to alert them. But this behavior was noticed only between activities when moving from
one activity to the other.

9-How does the teacher communicate with students (verbal, vocal, meta-verbal or non-verbal
communication such as facial, body language, use of space, motion and time?)

The teacher communicated verbally most of the time, she also used some pace and motion to
direct some students to go outside the class to discuss some important instructions that the others
should not know of. The class was left unmonitored but there was no big commotion. The rest of
the class waited in a disciplined manner for the other groups to come back.

10-Who were the students in the class? What did you notice about them? (Background,
diversity, attitude, motivation, interaction, participation, etc)

There was a clear diversity, students came from different backgrounds and origins, but from what
I observed, they have good interaction, they accepted each other and treated each other with
respect. Most were enthusiastic about the whole activity throughout the 90 minutes block. I only
noticed one girl who was not really interested in whatever is going around, she didnt watch the
videos like her friends and seemed hesitant to be engaged in the other activity. But I didnt see
any encouragement or attention given to her.

11-What did you see that is effective in engaging students? What do you see that is
ineffective in keeping students engaged?

All the students were grade 11 teenagers who are freshly introduced to the work and business
outside the school therefore they were really interested in the interview activity because it relates
them to a real-life experience and it gives them a chance to practice something they will need in
their everyday life. All students looked well engaged with the activities throughout the period
except one student. I think the teacher should have put more effort in letting this student be more
enegaged by giving her a certain task or discussing with her what is going on in the classroom.
12-What are the two instructional strategies you observed and would like to apply in your
classroom?

The cooperative learning strategy is something I would really like to use in my class, a strategy
that allows all students to be engaged in the teaching-learning process. The second strategy is the
technology use where can increase students self-confidence and give them new ways to
experiment search and observe.

13-What are two important classroom management strategies that you observed and would
like to apply in your classroom?

The only classroom management that I observed was the smooth transfer from one activity to the
other. The teacher didnt have to shout or take much time to make the students focus on another
activity. They were all self-disciplined and didnt have difficulty in understanding the
instructions which made things easy and manageable to them.