Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Elementary Education Program

Formal Observation Reflection

Name: Caleigh Daigle Date: 4/11/17

1. To what extent were learning outcomes appropriate and achievable to your students?
- The learning outcomes were appropriate and achievable because they were based off of the
Common Core Standards for 3rd grade. I discussed the learning outcomes with my mentor
teacher ahead of time and she thought it fit well with what they were currently working on
as well.
2. How effective were your instructional strategies? What changes would you make in your
instructional approaches if you taught this lesson again? Why?
- I think my instructional strategies were very effective from my own reflections and
observations, as well as those from my mentor teacher. I made sure to emphasize the
purpose of the activity at the beginning, throughout, and at the end of the lesson. I provided
scaffolding and modeling for the students so they understood what I wanted them to do. The
only change I would make is that I would write the learning outcome on the board for the
students to refer to throughout the lesson. This way they understand why they are doing this
task. This is something my mentor teacher suggested to me and I agreed with because Ive
seen it be effective in her lessons.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of your oral and written communication with students. (Consider
how well you communicated learning objectives, clarity of directions, use of Standard English,
quality of questions and effectiveness of discussion techniques.)
- I feel that my oral communication was very effective, and I didnt include much written
communication which is something I would make sure to do next time. I communicated the
learning objectives and discussions clearly. This lead to great questions being asked and
answered and an effective discussion. Students understood what they were supposed to do
and were able to complete the various tasks.
4. Evaluate the level of student engagement in your lesson. (Consider how you presented the
content/skills, the activities and assignments for students, grouping of students, and structure
and pacing of the lesson.)
- Students were engaged throughout the whole lesson, including the whole group and
individual parts. The whole group lesson allowed a lot of students to share their ideas and
opinions, and then the individual work allowed me to see how successful my lesson was for
each student.
5. How effectively did you use instructional materials, resources, and/or technology?
- I did not use any technology, but did use books, articles, graphic organizers and an anchor
chart to assist my instruction. These resources and instructional materials were very helpful
and added to my lesson to make it more effective.
6. To what extent were your assessment strategies effective? What changes would you make in
your assessment approach if you taught this lesson again? Why?
- The assessment strategies included discussion, writing down questions, and individual
work. I think these were effective because I modeled what I expected of students and then
 gradually released the responsibility until they were completing the work on their own. The
only change I would make regarding the individual assessment work if I were to teach this
again, would be to connect their independent reading more closely to the whole group text
we chose. That way I could really determine if they were understanding the purpose of the
lesson.
7. To what extent was your feedback to students accurate, substantive, constructive, specific,
and/or timely?
- I provided feedback to students immediately throughout our whole group lesson. We would
have a discussion and when the students would share their question or answer, I would
acknowledge their responses through a connection or a comment. I tried to ask them deeper
questions in order to guide them to more complex thoughts. It would be important in the
future to discuss the individual work more in depth, but we did a group discussion of that
too.
8. To what extent did the classroom management and environment contribute to student learning?
(Consider your classroom procedures, your use of physical space, and the students conduct.)
- The classroom management I used was what my mentor teacher uses. I did not have any
issues with students not focusing or getting off task. We used the rug area for the group
lesson and then their desks for the individual assignment. This is a part of their daily routine
so its the way they are used to learning. Overall the students behaved very well and while
needing some reminders to keep working, were successful in their learning.
9. Did you make modifications to your lesson plan during the lesson? If so, what were they and
what motivated these changes?
- After writing my plan, I modified it a bit to make it more successful for me to teach. I had
pre-written some questions that I had planned to talk about, but during the lesson I gave
more responsibility to the students to ask and answer questions rather than taking control.
This change was motivated by the fact that I wanted students to understand how the
questions they asked helped them understand the text and let them be creative. It served as a
formative assessment to see if they were accomplishing my learning goals.
10. Was your Teaching Behavior Focus goal met?
- My teaching behavior focus goals were to build classroom climate by providing response
opportunities, lesson planning and implementation by questions to use cues and feedback,
and meeting the needs of learners by encouraging and fostering student engagement
through discussions. My whole lesson included discussions and I tried to make it a safe
space where students felt comfortable sharing their questions and thoughts. This, along with
the text I chose, encouraged the students to be engaged. I implemented a lot of questioning
because that was the focus of my lesson, and it lead students to the answers rather than
telling them the answers.