SA Observation: February 15, 2008

ST observations

Last period: Feb. 15, 2008

Good proximity to students. Getting close to them helps with management. Don’t distance yourself.

Good having students reading at random. Keeps them on their toes.
When pointing out a student don’t be afraid to ask for his name. What about having them write their names on pieces of paper and leaving them visible on their desk.

You were jumping in a bit too quickly after students had finished reading their paragraph; this broadcasted a bit of discomfort.

Matt was still getting settled when you had another student start reading. Don’t be afraid to stop the class and wait until Matt has taken his seat and is ready to get to work.

Having students reading randomly really kept them on task. Students were definitely paying closer attention to what was going on.

Good that you got Justin reading for a second time. He observed that he was not entirely following in the class.

You were moving around the class much more effectively, but always came back to the centre of the classroom.

Good that you corrected mispronunciations in reading.

“I’m sorry! One at a time please!” Good. It got the students quiet and focused.

Don’t be afraid if students question your answer. I got the impression that you were feeling a little uncomfortable at times.

Keep smiling.

“We’re moving on guys!” The observation about sarcasm was not entirely out of line, but your response suggested that it was not really worth discussing.

You did manage to regain your composure and were laughing the next moment; this was good and the students obviously responded to your good-natured laugh.

Wait until people are quiet before you begin talking – moving to the next question.

Good asking for volunteer to read the poem. Matt stepped up and did a good job.

Good asking student at random to read each stanza from the poem. Again, students were more engaged in the reading of the poem.

Good getting Faizal to act as a recorder for the class. Good getting (encouraging) students to keep notes on terms they are not familiar with.

“Who can come up with an example of alliteration?” Good challenging students.

Faizal was a little too slow and the definitions were not entirely complete. However, students were helping Faizal with the definitions and this was also good.

“Ok guys!” Managed to get students back on task.

This was far more effective than your first lesson in terms of timing and pacing.

You became much more confident and relaxed as the class continued.

“You’re so helpful! Thank you very much!” Good management tool. Wins the kids over.

Good that you let the boys argue over the answer for the last question. There was lots of energy in the “discussion”! You got them back on task after giving them a little bit of time to discuss the answers.

Giving students back their papers before the end of the session tends to create a bit of distraction; wait until the end of the session before you give them back their work.

Make sure that all students have the written response in front of them before you beginning reading the piece. Some students were not ready for the reading when you began.

You were still talking more about the style of the essay rather than the content. You needed to focus more on what was said rather than how it was said.

The discussion of the “superior” and “adequate” terminology didn’t really serve a purpose. Provide them with more concrete suggestions about what they could do to answer the question more effectively.

You were writing on the board when Faizal was reading. Try to validate what he is doing by listening to every word he reads.

Good that you got students to stop talking and listen to what Idris was saying.

Good getting Matt to the front of the class to read his essay. That was really productive. You demonstrated a lot of flexibility. You had a plan, but you were able to deviate from the plan when it was called for.

SA Observation: February 19, 2008

Student teacher observation Feb. 19

“You guys are so brilliant you’ll breeze through it.” This is a great way to get the quiz underway.

You greeted Remy who was late. This was a great way to establish a positive tone to the class. Your friendly approach will always win over the boys.

You again greeted a late student, Derrick, with a good morning. Try to make eye contact with them.

Class was quiet and well behaved at the outset of the quiz.

You took up a stationary position behind the podium. Try to wander around the room quietly, just to reinforce in their minds that you are present and aware of what is going on in the class. You’ll also be able to respond to questions a little more quickly if you are among the boys rather than standing away from them at the front of the class.

During the quiz there were a few instances where your attention was focused on papers in front of you rather than on students taking the quiz. If you are going to be looking over material, it’s better to be at the back of the room where the boys can not see you. I actually prefer the back of the room for test taking as it enables me to watch the boys much more effectively. They’re attempts to look at other papers or talk requires that they turn around and first ensure that you aren’t watching them.

About tens minutes into the quiz you’ve wandered quietly around the room several times, but you keep taking a position behind the podium at the front of the room. Try to avoid routines or repetitive behavior, especially during test-taking situations. Keep the boys guessing! That way they can’t take advantage of predictable behavior. This sounds a bit paranoid!!!!!!

“Ok guys, you have about 15 minutes.” Good to give them as much advanced notice as possible.

Fifteen minutes into the class and boys are still working quietly. You are wandering quietly around the classroom keeping an eye on the boys.

“Ten minutes left!” Again good that you’re giving them lots of advanced notice; that way they can pace themselves.

Sam Leshgold arrived in class at 8:50. You spoke with him and then gave him the quiz. Are you just giving him 10 mins. write the quiz? Will he be given extra time to write the quiz? You just need to be sure you have a plan for situations like this one. You might inadvertently be encouraging kids to arrive late for class on test-taking days if they know they can take advantage of the situation.

“Five minutes!” You’re giving them lots of advanced warning at regular intervals. There has been no complaining about not having sufficient time.

While you were talking with Mark at the back of the room, Sam was communicating something to another student across the room. Be vigilant! These guys will take advantage of a situation if it presents itself. Even as you’re talking to Mark, you need to be aware of the other students in the class.

There was some harmless banter going on after you had taken collected some tests and you quickly approached the boys and asked them politely and quietly to remain quiet. They were quite compliant.

Eli took out a calculator and began playing a game. You saw no harm in this. You smiled and allowed them to play their game quietly. As a result, nobody was being disruptive and the class continued to write the quiz quietly.

“Who needs more time for the quiz?” There was a show of hands and you gave them an additional five minutes. This was good. You again gave them a two-minute warning and there was no complaining.

There were a few kids lying quietly with their heads on their desks and you respected this. As a result the classroom remained quiet and students continued with their quiz.

It was good that you collected Sam’s quiz, even though he had not finished it. You will have to have a plan for dealing with Sam at another time.

SA Observation: February 29, 2008

Student teacher observation Feb. 29, 2008

Great activity setting up for “The Lottery”!

Had students take lottery tickets and the one with an “O” on it gets zero for the activity. “How do you feel about this?” Student with the “O” was quite animated. Got other students to discuss their feelings about the fairness of this situation. Got some good responses. Discussion was fairly short. You could have taken your time with this discussion.

Went into the video. Interesting adaptation of the story.

Counts off students immediately after the video. Instructs students to form two circles. Wasn’t exactly clear about how the two circles were to be constructed. Eventually you managed to get them into their two circles.

“Discuss who the protagonist of the video was.” Students eventually got into the discussion.

“Was the character round, flat, static or dynamic?” Good question. Students again seemed reasonably interested in the question. Having the boys standing was quite effective. Got the students active.

You began discussing some of the answers while students were still in their circles. This might have been more effective once students were back in their desks.

Jimmy, Derrick, Armin and Michael were sitting on desks. You should have insisted that they stand and get involved in the discussion.

Did you ever give students lyrics to the song? Were those lyrics significant?

You were asking Armin questions about the video with students still standing in their circles. Those on the other side of the circle seemed left out of the discussion. You could have managed them a little more effectively had they been in their desks.

I liked allowing students to discuss with one another while standing in the two circles, but thought the class discussion should have been in their desks.

Why not get the two circles moving so that students have a different discussion partner for each question?

Good that you are wandering around the circle and discussing with individual groups. You did seem to focus more energy on one side of the room (north side).

Your questions were good; I just wonder if all the questions are designed to help prepare students for the story and their interpretation of the story. Were questions about the techniques used to “film” the video really relevant to the reading of the story? Otherwise they are good thought-provoking questions.

Second video quite interesting. Another great adaptation.

You asked if students simply wanted to do a class discussion for the second video. Students indicated they didn’t want to do the circle discussion and you respected that.

You really kept the discussion moving on really well. You never got bogged down. Good timing.

Eli came up with some interesting questions and you acknowledged that they were interesting questions, but you never really attempted to discuss the questions and provide some answer to them.

“Why might she accept her fate?” Great question; it may have arisen out of Eli’s question a minute or two earlier.

Good discussion of setting. Great discussion of symbolism. Students were really involved.

Good that you were prepared to show the video a second time. Students were clearly interested in getting more out of the video.

I liked the fact that you told the students about you first encounter with the story. Brings the activity a very personal touch.

Wasn’t entirely sure what you meant by “marking the story up”! You could have provided a clearer explanation of those instructions.

Your interaction with Sam was non-threatening and achieved the desired effect. He moved his desk into a row.

You needed to be a little firmer about their need to begin reading the story at the end of the class. Students were quite interested after having watched the two videos.

Once students had begun reading, you should have stopped asking questions and encouraged them to read.

FA's First Observation: Feb 29th, 2008

Teacher Observation: March 3, 2008

FM Observation 1: March 4th, 2008

FM Observation 2: March 4th, 2008

Teacher Observation: March 4th, 2008

SA Observation: March 11, 2008

(Brenda Koch) Student Teacher evaluation – March 11, 2008

• Ran into a few difficulties when groups said they were not ready to present.
• You suggested that groups who were ready to go would get bonus points. This is a good strategy. Groups don’t feel punished.
• There was a delay in the start of the class. A few of the students seemed to be capitalizing on the delay, socializing and engaging in discussion that didn’t really improve their classroom experience. You needed to make an executive decision and select one group to start. You seemed to be a little “too democratic” in your approach.
• With group projects, students are going to take advantage of a group member’s absence. You need to have a backup plan as to how you were going to deal with absences. When you assign students group projects, let them know as well that they need to have a backup plan in the event that team members don’t appear; put the responsibility on them. Let them know that they will be presenting regardless of whether all their team members are present.
• We’re know about 10 minutes into the class and we’re still waiting for the first presentation. Was there work you could have had the rest of the class doing while they waited? Perhaps a short Q&A about what they learned from doing their projects? How has their perspective of BNW and dystopian societies changed?
• Technology can often pose problems. Sometimes it might be better to have students submit their work in advance and have the system ready to go so that time is not lost waiting for groups to get their presentations prepared.
• The video was effective. Students really were engaged. The video certainly did mimic the society the students were reading about in BNW. Was the video supposed to promote or denounce this “utopian society”? The presentation at the end video helped to clear up any of the questions created by the video.
• I liked the questions you were asking at the end of the video presentation. You could have encouraged a few questions from the students or simply asked the class for their interpretations.
• You are so much more relaxed in front of the class and this is obvious when you laugh and engage in casual banter with the students.
• I was glad to see you question one group about why they had not informed you about the foreseen absence of a group member.
• Your position at the back of the class enabled you to watch the presentation and oversee the entire class.
• I was glad to see a few students asking questions about the second presentation. You again asked a few questions yourself. I felt you could have encouraged a few more questions from the students.
• “Do you want to lead a discussion about your video?” I think you need to be a little less democratic.
• There were a few members of the class who were not paying attention during the initial questions of the discussion. However, within a few minutes, students were taking part in the question period. I felt you again could have encouraged more discussion. The question period was cut short fairly quickly.
• I loved the way you had students involved in the evaluation of the presentations and you were able to ensure relatively objective marking by offering bonus marks to students who were able to provide a mark that was identical to yours.
• Your timing was serendipitous. The last group finished their presentation with a few minutes left.
• I thought it was effective asking students what they felt about peer evaluation. It got them thinking about the process.

· The period seemed to lack a little closure. You could have asked a few questions about how people’s perspectives have changed or what they learned from the videos.

SA Observation: March 12, 2008

ST observation – Mar. 12, 2008

I think you needed to punctuate the start of the class a little more clearly. You did start to discuss the peer evaluation, but we’re about 5 minutes into the class already.

• You seemed to be a little sterner with Bonnie in the room. You were not quite as relaxed as you usually are.
• You took up a position at the back of the room – again this enabled you to watch the presentation and observe the entire class.
• The first presentation was quite effective. The students had clearly used their time effectively to produce a meaningful and perceptive presentation on Dystopian societies.
• “Will you please lead a discussion?” Perhaps you might encourage discussion by asking the group or the class a question that might elicit responses.
• I think you needed to provide a little more direction at the end of the presentation about peer evaluation. That will provide clearer punctuation between this presentation and the next one. Did you provide the class with enough “quiet time” to complete the evaluation?
• Energy in the class was positive.
• There was a little too much “down time” between the first presentation and the next one. You could have instructed the next group to get prepared while you were collecting the peer evaluations.
• While I don’t disagree with your decision to get the next group going, in spite of the fact that they did not have their material ready, the other option would have been to offer bonus marks for a group that was ready.
• The presentation from the previous group was still projected on the screen. This was distracting.
• The second group was presenting and there were people talking. You were up at the front of the room looking for a board marker; this was a little distracting. Too much movement!
• I think this was a good learning experience for the second group. I’m not sure it was as effective for the class as a whole.
• There were some who questioned the validity of “punishing” the two members of group two for not being prepared. I thought you could have used that as a real learning opportunity.
• You did manage to get the group focused again after the discussion on preparedness.
• You also provided clearer instructions on how students were to evaluate their peers.
• There is a little too much time where you’re up at the front of the class without providing guidance for the students.
• You needed to provide clearer closure for the end of the class. Even just to asking them to be quiet and then instructing them to move to the busses quickly.

FA Observation 1: March 12, 2008

FA Observation 2: March 12, 2008