Teacher: Taylor Rae Sugimoto

Observer: Jessica Kim

Date: April 23, 2014

Time: 12:00-1:00
Preconference Form
(typed copy)

Teachers Purposes
To share teachers purpose for the lesson and
what standards (i.e., CCSS, HCPS, ACEI,
InTASC) will be addressed and how.
To discuss the lesson plan with the coach
(lesson plan may need revising after
preconference).
To seek assistance and clarification to help
strengthen the lesson prior to teaching.

Coachs Purposes
To understand what the teachers purpose for
the lesson and what standards (i.e., CCSS,
HCPS, ACEI, InTASC) will be the foci.
To provide support and guidance with helping
the teacher strengthen the lesson prior to
teaching.

Questions
1. What ACEI/inTASC standards will be your foci? Why were they selected?
ACEI Standard IV: Assessment for instruction Candidates know,
understand, and use formal and informal assessment strategies to plan,
evaluate, and strengthen instruction that will promote continuous
intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development of each
elementary student.
Jessica chose to focus on ACEI Standard IV, assessment for instruction, because
she will focus on implementing both formative and summative assessments
throughout her lesson. Students will be given the opportunity to participate and
show their understanding during the lesson. Jessica also said that students will be
formally assessed on what they know and what theyve learned using a summative
assessment. She believes that, when she has her own classroom, both formative
and summative assessments are effective ways to assess her students skills and
progress. Therefore, it is important for her to create opportunities to practice
understanding what and how to use assessments to improve her teaching skills.
This will also give her the opportunity to strengthen her students understanding of
a math concept.
inTASC Standard 3: Learning Environment The teacher manages the
learning environment to actively and equitably engage learners by
organizing, allocating, and coordinating the resources of time, space, and
learners attention.
Jessica chose inTASC Standard 3 as her second foci because she believes that it
is important to engage all learners in a learning environment. Students are
accountable for their own learning, but it is the responsibility of the teacher to
effectively grasp students attention when learning. It is also important to assure
that the learning environment is a fun and safe place for all students. Jessica
believes that in order to create a fun, safe, and engaging learning environment,
teachers must manage their time and organize necessary resources and materials
that are needed to engage all students. Teachers must also be creative and
organize ways to involve students in student-to-teacher and student-to-student
interactions. These methods of communication and interactions offer ways to

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promote both teacher-centered and student-centered activities. Jessica believes that

various learning techniques are effective for diverse learners and engage a larger
amount of students.

2. What HCPS/CCCS standards will be implemented in your lesson? Why were they
selected?
The CCSS standards that are going to be implemented in Jessicas lesson are:
CCSS.2.MD.8: Solve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes,
nickels, and pennies, using $ and cent symbols appropriately
CCSS.2NBT.2: Count within 1000; skip count by 5s, 10s, and 100s.
Jessica chose to implement these standards in her lesson because they reflect on
her students prior knowledge. The students in her field experience classroom have
been exposed to these standards and continue to learn the measurement of money.
These standards will help to build on her students prior knowledge and provide
opportunities of growth and experience using different mathematical strategies. She
also selected the standards above because measurement with money connects to
real-world situations. Students will need to know and understand how to measure
money in different ways and apply these skills in the real world.
3. What instructional activities are planned to help your students learn the
standards/benchmarks and for you to demonstrate your understanding of the
ACEI/InTASC?
The instructional activities that Jess planned to help her students learn the
standards/benchmarks and help her demonstrate her understanding of the
ACEI/inTASC standard are solving money word problems. To demonstrate her
understanding of the ACEI/inTASC standards, students will be participating during
the lesson to solve the modeled money problems. Students will be involved in
partner and whole group sharing. They will also be given opportunities to show their
understanding to their peers and Jessica.
The summative assessment will show students understanding of the standards
that are going to be taught in the lesson. First, students will read the word problem.
Then they will be given money manipulatives to use as a visual representation to
find the total amount, or the answer, for the word problem. They will draw their
representation on their math forms and write the total amount of money with the
correct money symbol. They will then show two other strategies to make the same
total amount using different coins. Lastly, they will explore the coins and show their
knowledge of measurement with money in their assessments.
4. Is there any specific feedback you would like about yourself and/or the lesson? If
so, describe.
The specific feedback that Jessica would like about herself is on her classroom
management. She would like to know if her students are focused throughout the
lesson, and if she can positively regroup when necessary. The feedback that she

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would like about her lesson includes student engagement and effectiveness of her
content delivery. She knows that its important to be clear, so she would like
feedback on the clarification of her lesson as she teaches her before, during, and
after sections. She believes that it would be effective for her, as a teacher, to know
her successes and areas for improvement.

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Reflection Questions
Read each question and write your response below in your roles as teacher and
coach. Reflections should be 3-4 pages, double spaced, 1-inch margins and follow
other style requirements as stated in the syllabus.
Teacher Role
1. Briefly describe your lesson in 5-7 sentences.
My lesson was an attempt at my first place-based activity and science lesson.
First, I introduced students to the kalo plant and plant parts. Then I took students
outside and showed them the loi patch. Students watched as I pulled a kalo out of
the ground, and then we went inside to observe the different parts of the plant.
Students had the opportunity to observe and draw what the roots, stems, and
leaves of the plant looked like under a microscope. Then, we had a class discussion
about the different functions of the roots, stems, and leaf veins. Lastly, students
were summatively assessed by completing an exit slip that required them to fill in
the names for parts of a plant.

2. What was successful and challenging about your lesson?

I feel that the most successful part of my lesson was very personal. This lesson
has taught me to not be afraid to try a lesson that seems difficult or out of the
ordinary. At first, I thought it was going to be a horrible lesson because the students
were not used to going outside and they would not understand the concept of
looking at something through a microscope. However, I found that students learned
a lot during this lesson, and I think they will have an easier time recalling the
information that they learned. It made me feel so accomplished to see students
engaged throughout the lesson. It really looked like they wanted to learn, and their
exit slips proved that they did learn the information taught throughout the lesson. I

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believe that the main success of this lesson was teaching myself to not be afraid to
try new things and new ideas, even if the students are very young. Youll never see
students full potential of learning and adapting if you never try.
One of the main challenges about this lesson is trying to compact everything all
of the activities and content into one lesson. I had about an hour to take students
outside to observe and pull a kalo, come inside and put the different parts of the
kalo under the microscope, have students draw the parts of the kalo that was under
the microscope, have a class discussion about the parts of the plant, and complete
an exit slip. In the future, I would probably split the lesson into two days, or at least
introduce students to some of the content a day or two before this lesson. One of
the main things I would do is create a lesson to implement before this lesson that
introduces the microscope to the students. Students might feel more connected and
interested in the microscope if they actually know what it is, how it works, and how
its used in the real world.

3. Did you feel that you met the ACEI/InTASC standards? Why or why not?
I feel, based on Jessicas comments and my own observations, that I met the
ACEI and InTASC standards during my lesson. The ACEI standard that I chose was
ACEI Standard 3.2: Adaptation to diverse students Candidates understand how
elementary students differ in their development and approaches to learning, and
create instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse students. In this
lesson, I focused on three different ways to teach students the different parts of a
kalo plant: going outside to pull and observe a kalo plant, drawing parts of a plant
under the microscope, and having a class discussion about plant parts. The placebased outdoor activity benefits both visual and kinesthetic learners because they

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had the opportunity to observe and touch kalo. The microscope activity benefits the
students who learn through drawing and experimenting. Lastly, the class discussion
benefits the audio and linguistic learners. At the end of the lesson, students showed
their understanding of the concept by completing an exit slip, and only two students
did not receive an MP. Based on Jessicas observations and comments, pulling the
kalo out of the ground and working with the microscope are both engaging ways for
students to learn. She told me that instead of having a class discussion, I should
think about finding another engaging way to teach students about plant parts
because students were becoming restless towards the end of the lesson.
The InTASC standard that I chose was InTASC Standard 4.1: Content Knowledge
The teacher effectively uses multiple representations and explanations that capture
key ideas in the discipline, guide learners through learning progressions, and
promote each learners achievement of content standards. Based on Jessicas
observation notes, the representations that I used throughout my lesson to promote
learners achievement of content standards were effective and engaging. Students
rarely have the opportunity to go outside and learn through exploring the
environment around them. Jessica said my lesson was a great opportunity for
students to explore the environment and to also learn through different
technological tools, such as a microscope. After looking at the exit slips and
formative assessments, I noticed that a majority of students were able to label parts
of a plant, which was the learning goal for this lesson. This shows that students did
achieve the content goals that were set for this lesson.

4. How did you feel working with a peer who served as a coach?

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I enjoyed working with a peer who served as a coach. Jessica came in and was
able to not only observe my strengths and weaknesses, but she also helped me with
classroom management, and students were excited to see another teacher in the
classroom. I think the pre-conferencing before the peer observation was important
because helped each of us understand what we want to be observed on, and how
each coach can help throughout the lesson. It was very helpful for me to have a
preconference because it gave me the opportunity to reflect on what parts of my
teaching that I want to focus and improve on, which is something that teachers
need to do throughout their careers.
It was also nice to know that a peer is making sure to watch for your successes
and areas of improvement. It allowed me to focus on just teaching because I knew
that Jessica was there watching and taking notes on the parts of my lesson that
were effective and ineffective. The post-conference was valuable because I was able
to get a third partys view of the parts of my lesson that were successes, and which
areas needed improvement. I am very appreciative of the notes that Jessica wrote
for me, and in the future I will polish the parts of my teaching style that needs
improvement.
As the teacher, this peer lesson observation has helped me calm my nerves
about being observed. At first, I was nervous to have another peer come in and
observe me because I was worried that they would see my weaknesses. However,
this experience has taught me to look at observations as more of a positive as a
negative. Being observed and having post-conferences can help to shine some light
on positive parts of my lesson that I did not notice. It is also a way to get the
critiques that I need in order to improve. My mentor teachers have told me that its

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important to get used to being observed now because it will continue to happen
when I get a job at an elementary school.

Coachs Role
5. What was successful and challenging about playing the role of a coach?
Something successful about playing the role of a coach is that I had the
opportunity to observe and experience a grade level that I have not had the
opportunity to work with. Just sitting in another teachers classroom and noticing
Jessicas mentor teachers teaching style was an eye-opening experience. It made
me realize the huge difference between teaching Kindergarten versus higher
grades. I also learned a lot from watching a peer implement her lesson. Watching
Jessica gave me ideas on how I can improve my teaching style, such as using
effective attention getters and using her voice to show authority in the classroom.
One of the challenges about playing the role of the coach was about a specific
event that occurred in the classroom. Jessica wanted me to observe the
effectiveness of formative and summative assessments during her lesson, but I was
not able to fully assess students working on her summative assessment. About five
minutes into Jessicas guided practice, I was asked to sit on the side of the room by
her mentor teacher because she believed having another person in the room would
add extra stress to the students in the classroom. Therefore, for the rest of Jessicas
lesson I remained sitting on the side of the classroom. I could observe Jessicas
teaching style and lesson, but I wish I could have seen students work, evidence,
and participation throughout the lesson.

6. What skills did you learn about being a coach and observer?

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Being a coach and observer, I had to learn how to be an effective listener, notetaker, and reflector all at the same time. At first, it was very difficult to write down
every detail that Jessica was implementing during her lesson. The first thing I had to
do was be an effective listener. I had to listen to what Jessica was saying and
student responses. I had to learn to write quickly, abbreviate, and write down only
the main points rather than the tiny details. At the same time that I was writing
down Jessicas actions, I also had to write down what I thought about her actions. I
guess it is similar to using your metacognition to think about what you are
observing.
I also had to learn how to be an objective observer and coach. During the
beginning of the lesson, I did not want to write down many negative notes on my
paper because I did not want to hurt Jessicas feelings. However, I thought about it,
and I realized that if I were Jessica I would want to hear objective notes, even if it
was harsh. Therefore, I decided to write objective notes for Jessica. It was great to
see that even after I decided to write objective coaching notes, I still didnt have
much criticism or areas of improvement for Jessica. This has taught me that there is
a difference between being objective and being harsh. To me, being objective is
saying the truth in a fair and non-malicious way. Objective notes are meant to help
someone understand their weaknesses so they can improve as professionals in the
education field.

7. What did you learn from the teacher?

What I learned from the teacher is that every teacher has a different way of
teaching, yet each method of teaching can be just as effective. From observing
Jessica, I learned that Jessica and I both have completely different learning styles.

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Jessica speaks in an authoritative and firm voice, whereas I speak in a softer tone;
Jessica used pair-share as her main form of communication, whereas I had a variety
of linguistic activities. Even though the way we teach is very different, we still
accomplished our goal, which is to teach students the content in a safe and positive
learning environment. I learned that teachers do not have to follow a set learning
style or classroom management, but as long as we have the same goal and use
what we know to achieve those goals, we can all be effective teachers.

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