Classroom Observation

Teacher: Joel Swanson

Classroom Level/age: 11th & 12th Graders

Topic/ Content being taught: Southwest Technical College Algebra

Date: Thursday, March 10, 2016

Observation # 1 2 3 4 5 (Circle one)

Brief discussion of whats happening in the classroom:Juniors and seniors enter into classroom.
Teacher has learning targets posted up in front on white board. Students sit in their own choice seat
around room. Classroom has tables arranged around the room. Teacher begins with a think aloud and the
class responds with a call and response. Teacher allows for students to ask questions at the beginning of
the class period.

Describe the racial make-up of this class: 8 female, 6 male-1 Hispanic male

Describe the teacher: Middle aged white male

Evidence of: (Describe the strategy and be specific as to how it fits the category)

Hattie Hattie High Return Strategies:

Emphasis of process to find answer versus just having correct answer, numerous times Mr. Swanson
commented, Dane was right, Maddie was right...everyone was right

Answers are provided to students during the practice so students know it is okay to check the book for
answers, but recognize that the form may differ or the process may differ.

Voice and Choice are present-students directed the direction of the lesson based on their questions and
teacher feedback for what topics needed more coverage-this was based on students needs.

Students teaching students! This is the epitome of mastery-multiple times during the lesson, students were
volunteering to share how they found the answer and then shared that information with the class.

Danielsons Instructional Strategies:

Teacher used a variety of instructional strategies so students could show mastery-differentiated in

homework-there were some more challenging questions that were posed to students and then discussed.
These were challenge questions a choice to keep stretching themselves.

Mr. Swanson encouraged deeper level thinking or higher level thinking by emphasizing the process and
explaining his own confusion with the process-versus just getting the answer right
The classroom environment was very respectful, the tone was relaxed yet high expectations were
modeled. There was a level of trust built from student to student and student to teacher and teacher to
student. Students had the choice to work with partners, explain their thinking to the class and ask
questions of the teacher.

Culturally Relevant Teaching Strategies: Classroom seating arrangement is by tables, not rows,
students have choice of where they sit. Teacher utilized Call and Response method when reviewing at the
beginning of class. Relationships have clearly been established and built from teacher to student to
student to student.

Active teaching methods utilized-teacher used recycling bin to explain the finding volume and cubic to
3rd power.

Other Observations:

Entire class is engaged-the variety of direct instruction, turn and talk sharing among classmates and
discussion creates a great learner centered environment. Students are comfortable asking the teacher for
clarification. Students also are willing to volunteer to share their ideas in front of the entire class. The
class size was small-which allowed for more 1:1 teacher to student checking for understanding. The
classroom climate was very positive in nature. Great job setting this tone in your classroom!

Your evaluative remarks:

Do you collect formative assessments to know what data will drive your instruction the next day? How do
you provide instant feedback to students that may struggle with the concept during the class? Some
students tend to volunteer often with this class-how can you monitor student understanding of all students
in the class? Thanks for allowing me to observe in your classroom! It was a very engaging and interesting
lesson.