Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Formal Observation Reflection

Directions: Complete the reflection questions and submit your response to your observer prior to
having a post-conference to discuss the observation. If a conference is held immediately after the
observation, you will submit your responses to the observer the following day via email.

Name: Christy MacLaren Date: 4/16/2019

1. How effective were your instructional strategies? What changes would you make in your
instructional approaches if you taught this lesson again? Why?

I believe my instructional strategies were effective because all of the students at the end of the lesson
could name the three branches of government and the vast majority could explain each branches’
responsibility. The only change I would make to my instructional approach is classroom management.
The students were very excited about doing this lesson they became harder to manage than expected.

2. Compare how students actually responded to the lesson verses the way you anticipated they would
respond. Explain how you scaffolded or extended students’ thinking.

I anticipated students in the legislative branch would create bills that were different from one another.
What I should have realized is most students wanted to create bills extending recess or shortening
school. Unfortunately, I did not realize this in time and all the students created bills that were very
similar to one another. I then tried my best to extend students’ thinking by having them write down or
explain to their committee a reason why recess should be extended or why school should be shortened.

3. Describe how you assessed whether your students achieved the objective of the lesson. Was this
effective? If not, what would you change about your assessment?

I assessed whether or not my students achieved the objective of the lesson based on their quick right.
Overall I believe this lesson was effective because over 80% of the students listed the three branches of
government and their responsibilities correctly in their quick write. If I had to do this assessment again,
I would ask them to define the roles and responsibility of the legislative, executive, and judicial branch
instead of also asking them to also list the branches. This is because almost half of the class asked me
how to spell one of branches which was time consuming and not the point of the lesson. Since I took
that part out, I would also add another question in the quick write. I would ask them if they worked in
one of the branches of government listed above, which one would it be and why. I believe this would
have been an excellent follow up question looking back because it would have been more
individualized and pushed students to a high level of thinking.

4. How effectively did you motivate your students, set and enforce expectations, and handle
transitions? Would you change anything and if so, why?

I believe I motivated my students just by letting them do an interactive social studies lesson alone.
After we launched the lesson, I set expectations by telling them if I clapped, they would clap back and
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

look up at the front. When I had to get the students attention I clapped and they clapped back. One time
that did not work for all of the students and I told them I would wait. Within a few seconds that
refocused the students and they looked up at me. While this worked, I should have set another
expectation that just because this is a fun activity it does not mean they can use their outdoor voices. I
needed to let them know this is still a classroom activity and while it may be exciting, they need to
remain focused on the task if they want to continue. I believe this would have saved me from having to
regain their attention on three separate occasions (excluding transitions).

5. Did you make modifications to your lesson plan during the lesson? If so, what were they and what
motivated these changes?

I modified the original directions for the students in the legislation group. I had them not only write a
bill but have them explain it. This is because so many people chose the same bill and I wanted students
to think deeper about the bills they are writing.

6. How did you meet your Teaching Behavior Focus? If you did not meet it, what would help you to
meet it next time?

I definitely met the collaboration and communication behavior focuses because all students had to
voice their opinion on whether or not the bill should pass committee, the bill should become a law, or
if the bill was unconstitutional. This also helped students foster creative behavior because students had
to make an educated argument in order to voice their opinions to their peers.