DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

Supervision Assignment Part 1 Mini Observations

 

 

Teacher’s Name

Subject

Grade

Number of Students

Ms. Cay

Math

4th

28

Ms. Cay taught a small group of students how to use a ruler to measure ¼ of an inch. Feedback: I would recommend doing a quick spot assessment, and ask a student to locate one fourth on the ruler.

   

Ms. Bano

Math

5th

29

Ms. Bano was doing a problem of the day to begin her math lesson. Feedback: I would praise her hard work and being prepared to teach, and suggest trying a more student led approach. Perhaps having students work in teams and take more ownership over the problem.

 

Mr. Jay

Language Arts

5th

30

Mr. Jay was doing a lesson on figurative language with a focus on similes. Feedback: I would commend the creativity of the lesson, but recommend more time for student extension.

 

Mr. Lano

Science

3rd

16

Mr. Lano was in the middle of defining different conductors of electricity before he led an experiment for students to assist him with. Feedback: Perhaps allowing students to try the experiment in stations would have led them through their own learning.

 

Ms. Conner

Math

3rd

28

Ms. Conner was modeling the math input/output box. Feedback: She was eliciting the answers from students that understood what she was teaching. Circulate and spot check to get an accurate assessment.

 

Ms. Fin

Guided Reading

4th

26

Ms. Fin was re-teaching the strategy summarizing, in a guided reading group. Feedback: She used several different sites on the internet, which felt rushed. Perhaps engage students in a discussion to assess their comprehension.

 

Mr. C

Writing

5th

30

Mr. C was showing students how to revise their narrative procedures (how-to). Feedback: Instead of having students retell what his revisions were, ask them how they would revise his paper and why.

 

 

Ms. Bell

English Language Arts

5th

30

Ms. Bell’s students were illustrating the poems they created from a prior lesson. Feedback: She was sitting at her desk, while the students were working. I would suggest circulating to support students.

 

Clinical Supervision

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Reflections and Recommendations 

 

It wasn’t easy focusing on the SOTEL elements because there are so many things going on in a classroom at once. I like the idea of a focused visit because otherwise what will you come away with? However, in practice, I had to intentionally remind myself that I was there to observe one aspect, while being highly sensitized to everything else going on around me.

 

For example, I went to observe Ms. Fin during her guided reading instruction, and I couldn’t help but notice that the rest of her class (although in small group settings), were either independently reading, or playing games. I couldn’t help but wonder about how meaningful the experience was for those students. Then I would have to remind myself that I was following the SOTEL rubric, and my focus was on student learning in a small group. I was there to observe the learning taking place with the six students that Ms. Fin was working with. So I began to look and listen carefully to the specific six students that I was there to observe, but they weren’t saying anything. They were simply watching their teacher as she read aloud what was on the smart board about summarizing. One of the passages was unclear and did a poor job illustrating the strategy of summarizing. Ms. Fin asked her students if they understood, and they simply said yes, but I wasn’t convinced. I began to think about what kind of evidence I should be looking at, to know for sure that the students had actually learned something from this re-teach. Then, I saw that I was over my time limit, and so I left with questions unanswered.

 

I decided that I would try again to focus on the learning of students, but this time in Ms. Cay’s room. Of course, I couldn’t help myself from looking around her room at the visible student work and at the charts on her wall.  My inner dialogue about the relevance of the student work and the organization of the centers began. Students were in the middle of a long transition into their centers. She eventually started her small group instruction with six students at the kidney table. Time was running out. She began her lesson by writing the fraction ¼ on the board. She then drew four circles and called them each a quarter. She circled the first circle and said “this is one quarter, this is ¼.”She then proceeded to circle the next circle and says this is two quarters, this is 2/4.”  I then realized that I was focusing on her teaching instead of the students’ learning.  I begin to wonder if it’s possible for me to focus on learning without being distracted by the teaching.

 

By the time I entered Ms. Conner’s room, I decided to commit my focus entirely on the learning aspect. I promised myself that I wouldn’t look around the room, or watch the teacher, but instead I would carefully observe the students. This time, it actually happened! I walked into her room unannounced and asked her if she was comfortable with me watching her teach the math lesson she had already started with her class. She seemed fine with me joining in for a quick mini observation. I sat down next to some students, and began observing them.  I asked them what they were doing in their notebooks. If they were able to explain, then I moved on. I kept circulating the room to observe the process the students were taking in their notebooks. I saw that there were a number of students that were stuck, sitting quietly at their desks. Meanwhile, the teacher was calling on students that had their hands raised, and thought all the students understood the lesson.

           

Giving feedback was a little awkward to be honest, because no matter who I observed, I had something that I found could be improved on. For example, giving feedback to my friend Ms. Bano was a little weird because I find her to be a great teacher and we sometimes even plan together. So for her to get feedback from me would require her to view me differently than as her peer. Even though I anticipated that it would be awkward, it wasn’t so bad. The truth is that no matter who it is, there is always something that can be improved or executed differently, and it is a lot easier to give advice than to actually practice what you preach. Ms. Bano was open to my feedback and this was helpful to the process.

           

Other teachers, are not so receptive to getting feedback. Mr. Lano is a more experienced teacher. He has been teaching for over 30 years in the same school. His instruction is solid in respect to his content knowledge, but everything thing he does is teacher led. He doesn’t allow students to take ownership over their learning. His questioning lies predominenetly in the ability for a student to retell or repeat what they heard him say. He has an amazing work ethic and gives being detailed orientated a new meaning. Knowing all this about him, made me approach him differently with feedback.

           

Time is a major issue with these mini observations. How much can you really learn from just 5 minutes? And if the SOTEL method is used, in which I have to focus on one thing, while a million other things are glaring at me, its going to be a real challenge. The other part of this is the level of comfort felt by the teachers. I would say most teachers prefer administration visiting for a few minutes than doing a long formal observation. However, some teachers want to know when the mini walks occur. I think if the mini observations are done randomly, then it is a more honest snapshot of the kind of things going on in the classroom on a daily basis. Otherwise, there will always be things teachers can do to make sure that you like what you see when you walk in. I prefer minis to long observations because it doesn’t feel staged. However, I hate leaving so soon.    

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.