EDUC 450

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

OBSERVATION FIELD NOTES FORM DAY ONE

Candidate: Jasmine N. Jackson_____________
Mentor Teacher: Dr. Maxine
Rice_______________
Date: January 20, 2015___ Content Area: English____________ Lesson Topic: Making
Words_________
DOMAIN 2: INSTRUCTION
APS 4: ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING HIGH EXPECTATION FOR LEARNERS
An effective teacher establishes, clearly communicates and maintains appropriate expectations for
student learning, participation and responsibility.
A. What did the teacher expect the students to learn from the lesson? How did the teacher
convey the purpose and relevance of the lesson to the students? In what ways did the
students demonstrate that they understood what the teacher expected for them to learn?

Today, I observed an ELA lesson. The lesson was entitled Making Words. The purpose of the lesson was
for students to learn high frequency words and how to use them in both reading and writing. Dr. Rice
conveys the purpose and relevance of the lesson to the students by reading the standards and objectives as
to what the students would be learning for that particular day. While teaching the lesson, Dr. Rice
pronounces the word and the students repeats after her. After pronouncing the word, Dr. Rice spells the
word and the students begin spelling the word with her as well. She then gives the students the
opportunity to come up to the front of the class where she calls on one student and they say the word and
spell it by themselves.

B.

What did the teacher expect the students to do during and after the lesson? How did the
teacher convey expectations for student participation and for accomplishing related
assignments and tasks? In what ways did the students demonstrate that they understood
what the teacher expected them to do?

During the lesson of Making Words the students were to sit on the mat and observe the words both
spelling words and high frequency words that were given for the week. While the teacher pronounced the
words the students were to repeat after her both pronouncing and spelling. After both the student and
teacher pronounces and spells the word together , Dr. Rice called on a student and gave she/he the
opportunity to come forth and pronounce and spell the word on their own. Once they were finish, both the
teacher and the students chanted the words all together. The next activity consisted of the student
determining what letters were big in the word and what letters were consider small. After the students

identify the types of letters they had to spell the word demonstrating the short letter and the long letters.
They demonstrated this by stretching their arms high when they got to a letter that was tall and when they
approached a letter that was short they placed their hands in front of their chest. After the lesson, students
were to cut out strips of letters and make a word then write the word they made. The students were to
make at least three words of their own. Dr. Rice conveyed expectations for student participation by simply
demonstrating both creating words and the activity of chanting the words by modeling what she wanted
them to do. By modeling each activity the students were able to know this is what the teacher expected of
them. The students demonstrated that they understood what the teacher expected of them by simply
following directions and by simply creating words of their own without the teacher assistance.

C.

How did the teacher help the students take ownership of the learning (e.g., by making the
learning relevant to the students, using scaffolding, providing opportunities for students to
engage in self-assessment and reflection, teaching compensatory strategies when necessary)?

Dr. Rice allowed the students to take ownership of the learning by allowing them to create at least three
words using the letter strips of their own without assistance of the teacher. By Dr. Rice allowing the
students to make their own words showed what the students know and help build upon their vocabulary.
The final activity was for students to use at least five of the words and write sentences for each word. Not
only were they practicing vocabulary skills but they also worked on their writing skills as well. As a take
home assignment, students were to write words on note cards to practice at home. For a final review, Dr.
Rice called the students back to the rug to share their sentences with the rest of the class.

EDUC 450

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

OBSERVATION FIELD NOTES FORM DAY TWO

Candidate: Jasmine N. Jackson_____________
Mentor Teacher: Dr. Maxine
Rice________________
Date: January 20, 2015___________ Content Area: Math______________ Lesson Topic:
Adding_________
APS 5: USING INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES TO FACILITATE LEARNING
An effective teacher promotes student learning through the effective use of appropriate instructional
strategies.
A.

What was the content of the lesson?

The content of the todays lesson was students being able to add tens and ones, students being able to add to
100, and students being able to add one and two digit numbers without using counters.

B. What instructional strategies did the teacher use during the lesson?
Some of the instructional strategies that Dr. Rice used during the lesson were:
Showing a video on the software Pearson entitled Tens at the Hat Store
Dr. Rice wrote varies problems and gave students a chance to come up and work the problems out with
the class participation
Dr. Rice rotated between small groups so that the ones who didnt understand would be able to ask
questions if they needed to do so
Teacher goes over a practice worksheet similar to the worksheet they have to complete and have
students to come up one by one completing the problem with assistance from their classmates

C.

In what ways did the teacher vary the instructional strategies during the lesson, and why?

Dr. Rice varies instructional strategies during the lesson in many ways. She was aware that all her student learns
differently so she incorporated different methods and activities so that each child could learn in their way of
learning. She started off by showing a video entitled Tens at the Hat Store. This video was to introduce the
students to different addition math problems through a story. Next, she modeled the addition problems so that
the students could see how it actually was to be worked out. Dr. Rice then gave the students an opportunity to
demonstrate the problem themselves with assistance from their classmates. This showed what students may
have needed additional help and those students who already grasp the concept. Dr. Rice then sees who
understands the lesson and has the students who understand complete their worksheet and those students who
seem to be struggling work with them in a small group. The small group activity consisted of her constantly
adding more problems modeling the problem and having students to come demonstrate for themselves without
assistance from their peers. Finally, when she thinks the student understands she allows them to complete the
worksheet.

D.

What evidence suggests that the instructional strategies were or were not- effective in terms of
promoting student learning and success?

The evidence that the instructional strategies were effective in terms of student learning because not only did
she give one activity but she found many ways for students to understand addition. She showed a video that
they could possibly relate to where it showed the animals going to the store buying things and having to add up

their purchase. The other methods were by Dr. Rice allowing the students to come up and show her what
students knew what in terms of understanding of addition. By Dr. Rice keep adding problems for the students to
complete it gave them more practice and by the time it was time to do it on their own worksheet they were able
to do it on their own.

EDUC 450

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

OBSERVATION FIELD NOTES FORM DAY THREE

Candidate: Jasmine N. Jackson__________________ Mentor Teacher: Dr. Maxine
Rice_______________
Date: January 21, 2015___________ Content Area: Math________ Lesson Topic:
Addition______________

APS 6: PROVIDING CONTENT FOR LEARNERS

An effective teacher possesses a thorough knowledge and understanding of the discipline so that he or
she is able to provide the appropriate content for the learner.
A.

What evidence suggests that the teacher did-or did not- have a thorough knowledge and
understanding of the content? If content errors were made, did the teacher recognize and correct
them?

Evidence showed that the teacher did have thorough knowledge and understanding of the content because she
had many work sheets to demonstrate addition for the students. There were videos on this software that she uses
to teach math to help the students understand the addition concept. Also Dr. Rice made up problems of her own
to model for the students and they could demonstrate based upon what theyve seen she modeled.

B.

What was the content of the lesson, and how did the content relate to the learners and their
learning?

The content of the lesson consisted of her teaching the concept of addition using two digit numbers. The content
related to the learners and their learning because addition is something the students have to use in their daily
lives. The models that were used in the video showed the students how to also use the ten blocks to add as well.

C.

How did the teacher organize and present the content in order to make it clear and meaningful to
the students and to promote higher levels of knowledge, skills and/or cognitive processing?

Dr. Rice organized and presented the content in order to make it cleared because she was prepared. The students
have been reviewing addition for the last past couple of weeks therefore she already had worksheets prepared
on what some of the students needed to work on. In order for her to promote higher learning she constantly
called those who are week to come up and complete different problems to ensure they understood the concept of
addition. Those who mastered the concept were able to move on and complete number sentences and other
worksheets with more problems with two digit numbers.

EDUC 450

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

OBSERVATION FIELD NOTES FORM DAY FOUR

Candidate: Jasmine N. Jackson_______________
Mentor Teacher: Dr. Maxine
Rice__________________
Date: January 22, 2015____________ Content Area: Writing____ Lesson Topic: Writing Simple
Sentences
APS 7: MONITORING, ASSESSING AND ENHANCING LEARNING
An effective teacher maintains a constant awareness of student performance throughout the lesson in
order to guide instruction and provide appropriate feedback.
A.

What was the content of the lesson?

The content of todays lesson is students being able to write simple sentences using nouns, adjectives, and
verbs.

B.

How did the teacher monitor student engagement, understanding and performance during the
lesson?

The title of the lesson was Oreo Opinion. The title of the lesson itself got the students engaged. The teacher
monitors the students by first explaining the concept of what was being taught. The teacher provided a graphic
organizer and explained to the students what each acronym stood for so that students understand each piece. As
she taught, she looked around the class to see who was focused and who was off task, Those students who seem
to not be paying attention they were to place their names on the behavior list. She began making a Venn
Diagram on the types of ice cream students like to eat so that they could make up a variety of sentences.
Therefore, she wrote down students opinions on why they like chocolate ice cream better than vanilla or vice
versa. As students went back to their seats to write down the sentences they came up with from the Venn
Diagram, Dr. Rice walked around to ensure that all the students were writing the sentences down correctly and
checked for spelling errors as well.

C.

What adjustments, if any, did the teacher make during the lesson, and why?

The only adjustment that she made while teaching the lesson was placing the Oreos out at the end. The students
were more focused on the Oreo then learning how to complete the Oreo diagram. Therefore, she placed the
Oreos out at the end so that their main focus was on the lesson not the snack.

D.

What types of instructional feedback did the teacher provide to the students, and how effective
was the feedback in terms of enhancing student learning?

Some instructional feedback the teacher provided for the students was telling them to pay close attention on
how they write their paragraphs. Dr. Rice main focus was to show that sentences have a complete thought and
certain components must be in place to make a sentence. Once she provided an example on the luminous of
how each sentence should be written out they were able to see an example and write it how it should look on
their papers.

EDUC 450

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

OBSERVATION FIELD NOTES FORM DAY FIVE

Candidate: Jasmine N. Jackson_______________ Mentor Teacher: Dr. Maxine
Rice__________________
Date: January 23, 2015____________ Content Area: English _____ Lesson Topic: Reading
Test_________

DOMAIN 3: ENVIRONMENT
APS 8: MAINTAINING AN ENVIRONMENT THAT PROMOTES LEARNING
An effective teacher creates and maintains a classroom environment that encourages and supports
student learning.
A.

What was the content of the lesson?

Todays lesson was a test to see what the students learned from the story all week The Big Circle.

B.

Describe the physical environment of the classroom.

During testing time, students are to be quiet the entire time. Those students who work in a group have to spread
out just a little because there are some students who eyes tend to look around on others papers. Otherwise, each
student is to answer their questions independently.

C.

What type of affective climate did the teacher create for the students?

Dr. Rice ensures that students have all their supplies before testing. The classroom should be quiet while
students are concentrating on their test to ensure they have passing grades. All pencils should be sharpened
before the test starts because there is no getting up until they are finish testing.

D.

In what ways did the teacher establish a culture of learning in the classroom (e.g., by facilitating
inquisitiveness, motivating to learn, cooperation, teamwork)?

She encourages the students that she knows they could get good grades because there were times to read the
story themselves as well as with her. Therefore, she knew that everyone should pass that quiz that she had given
them. Also the students were to take their reading books home to practice reading and getting more aware with
the text. Therefore, they had plenty of time to get familiar with the book.

APS 9: MANAGING THE CLASSROOM

An effective teacher maximizes instructional time by efficiently managing student behavior, instructional
routines and materials and essential non-instructional tasks.
A. What were the teachers expectations for student behavior? In what ways did the students
demonstrate that they understood the ways in which they were expected to behave? How did the
teacher address inappropriate student behaviors, if any, during the lesson?

While the students took their test she and I walked around the classroom to ensure there were no roaming eyes.
Those students who seem to try to cheat had to move their peg on the misbehavior color in the classroom. Once
one student was seem to set the example other students took adhere to what was taken place and tried to
straighten up. Another consequence could have been no recess or silent lunch and drinking white milk.

B.

In what ways did the teacher maximize-or fail to maximize- instructional time?

Dr. Rice monitors her time by giving the students a certain time period they had to complete the test. Those
students that were not finish and fell into her instructional time had to stay back when related arts were taken
place and complete their test during that time. Those students who were earlier finishers had to complete work
that was unfinished or practice their addition facts on the IPad.

C.

How did the teacher manage non-instructional routines and transitions between activities and/or
classes?

Dr. Rice manages transitions between activities by simply having a routine that she follows. When students that
completed their test were to get a book and read and complete their questions that they didnt complete for
homework. For those students who had completed those questions she allows them to work on the IPad and
complete math problems. There is never a down time for the students. Dr. Rice ensures that there is always an
activity that is taken place so that the students can stay busy.