Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I. Observation 5:
Instruction
III. Setting:
Rural private school, in the elementary building. 1 head teacher, 8 students.
IV. Pre-Observation:
When a teacher introduces a lesson, they need to consider their students as
individuals and instruct in a way that will fit their learners needs. The manner
in which a teacher instructs a lesson plays into effective learning for the
students. The teacher needs to provide knowledgeable information, as well as
keeping their students interested in the lesson (Barberos, Gozalo, &
Padayogdog, n.d.). Students become more involved in the lesson when it
includes hands on activities. From working in a preschool room, I have seen
first-hand that when students get to be involved in the lesson, they stay more
interested and involved throughout the lesson. The teacher should get the
students excited about learning. Students may look to the teacher to inspire
them. Lessons should be stimulating and exciting, but also appropriately
challenging (Barberos, Gozalo, & Padayogdog, n.d.). My cooperating teacher
at the private school has previously told me about his lesson planning
methods. He has told me that he makes sure his lessons involve manipulatives
and more hands-on learning experiences for his students.
V. Data:
My cooperating teacher plans out lessons based on major themes. His lessons
expand for weeks, sometimes months. Right now, the class is learning about
maps. On school days that I was not present, the class read books and learned
that there are different types of maps. You can make a map of your bedroom, a
treasure map, etc. Then they learned about bird’s eye view. They had to find
items around the classroom, then draw them first from ground view, then
bird’s eye view. My cooperating teacher showed me their drawings for
reference of what they have been learning. One of their homework
assignments from a few days prior was to find items at home and draw them
from a ground level view, and then a bird’s eye view. A few days ago, the class
had to draw their own type of map. The students’ maps are on display on an
easel in the classroom. They all drew a map of different rooms in their houses.
The day before my visit, each student had to make a bird’s eye view map of
the classroom using small colored tiles. My cooperating teacher was kind
enough to share this with me that way I was caught up on what the class has
been learning.
INSTRUCTION
Hess 3
Getting students excited for a lesson is a challenge for many teachers. It is the
teacher’s job to get students eager, and keep them involved throughout the
lesson (Frondeville, 2009). My cooperating teacher builds on to lessons for
weeks. This keeps the information relevant, but he has to keep them
interested. My cooperating teacher added in a hands-on activity to add to their
map lesson. It was fun for the students, and it also had them work to get more
information to incorporate it to their own maps.
VII. Recommendations:
My cooperating teacher really knows his students and incorporates activities
that will help the students understand the lesson better, while still being fun
for them. The only recommendation I have would be to pace the lesson
accordingly. The teacher created the schedule, excluding their specials. He
should plan accordingly to the lesson. If it is a longer lesson or has an activity,
the block of time for that certain subject should be able to be extended. The
activity felt rushed once the students came back from wellness. After they
finished measuring and went to the back carpet to look at their maps again, I
felt that the teacher was rushing to get the rest of the information out before
the students had to go to lunch. Even though they were going to finish the
lesson in the afternoon, it is easier to be able to complete a lesson at the time
you have been working on it. This helps the overall lesson flow. Ways to cut
down lesson time would be to have all the materials ready beforehand (Alber,
2012). The teacher had to look for yard sticks for his students which wasted a
few minutes. Another way to save some time would be to check for
understanding right after the teacher has given the instructions. This saves
time during the lesson when students are confused and asking a bunch of
questions (Alber, 2012). Some of the students were confused as to where one
section of the room ended and another began, since they broke the room up
into five different areas. Other than the timing of the lesson, I have no other
recommendations.
VIII. Post-observation:
Overall, this lesson went very well. My cooperating teacher started off on the
back carpet, going over their maps that they made. This got the students
recalling what they have been going over. When the teacher introduced the
measuring activity, the kids were so excited to use the meter sticks. Whenever
they have activities within the lesson where they get to move around the room,
they focus and put their mind to the activity. All the students worked so well
together moving around the room and using tools such as the meter sticks and
different items that they thought of to use as markers where the meter sticks
ended. I really enjoyed seeing this lesson in action. My cooperating teacher
was able to bring the map lesson to life. He has been getting the students to
see things in their daily lives as a map such as their houses, their school, etc.
This was another fun way to break down another map, and to make an
accurate presentation of their classroom.
INSTRUCTION
Hess 5
IX. Citations:
Alber, R. (2012, December 17). Instructional Pacing: How Do Your Lessons
Flow? Retrieved April 3, 2019, from
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/instructional-pacing-tips-rebecca-alber
Barberos, M. T., Gozalo, A., & Padayogdog, E. (n.d.). The Effect of the
Teacher's Teaching Style on Students' Motivation Action Research -
Research. Retrieved April 3, 2019, from
https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/teachlearn/research/action/motivation
X. Appendix: