Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Elementary Education Program

Formal Observation Reflection

Directions: Complete the reflection questions and submit your response to your observer prior to having a post-
conference to discuss the observation. If a conference is held immediately after the observation you will submit
your responses to the observer the following day via email.

Name: Taylor West Date: 11/09/17

1. To what extent were learning outcomes appropriate and achievable to your students?
The learning outcomes were appropriate for the students because it helped them
understand that everyone has similarities but our differences are what make us diverse
and interesting.
2. How effective were your instructional strategies? What changes would you make in
your instructional approaches if you taught this lesson again? Why?
I decided to read the book at the end of my lesson because I noticed the students
had a lot of energy after coming back from lunch. I dont think this was an effective
strategy because the students seemed to have even more energy after participating in
the activities. If I taught it again, I would stick to my original plan and spend more time
focusing on my expectations.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of your oral and written communication with students.
(Consider how well you communicated learning objectives, clarity of directions, use of standard English, quality of
questions and effectiveness of discussion techniques.)
I think that I did a good job communicating with the students, but I think that I could
have spent more time setting my expectations when it came to classroom
management.
4. Evaluate the level of student engagement in your lesson . (Consider how you presented the
content/skills, the activities and assignments for students, grouping of students, and structure and pacing of the
lesson.)
The students said that they like the activities multiple times throughout the lesson,
but they were not engaged when it came to the read aloud due to distracting
behavioral issues.
5. How effectively did you use instructional materials, resources, and/or technology?
I used my read aloud to wrap up the lesson, which made the conclusion a lot more
meaningful and gave me an opportunity to lie out an extension activity.
6. To what extent were your assessment strategies effective? What changes would you
make in your assessment approach if you taught this lesson again? Why?
I think my assessment strategies were effective because I could see if the students
understood what similarities and difference are just by watching them use hand signs.
Next time, I would spend more time reviewing similarities and differences and going
over the examples we used during the activities in order to ensure that they made the
connection.
7. To what extent was your feedback to students accurate, substantive, constructive,
specific, and/or timely?
I asked for questions and listened to each students answer and then retold the
answer more clearly to the rest of the students, while also adding in some constructive
details.
8. To what extent did the classroom management and environment contribute to student
learning? (Consider your classroom procedures, your use of physical space, and the students conduct.)
I felt like I stated my expectations very clearly in the beginning of the lesson and I
used the call and response techniques that they are familiar with, but students
conduct was still inappropriate. Because of this, I feel like the overall students learning
could have been diminished due to the distractions from other students.
9. Did you make modifications to your lesson plan during the lesson? If so, what were
they and what motivated these changes?
I moved my read aloud from the beginning of the lesson to the end of the lesson
because I felt that the students were not calm enough to listen to a story right from the
start.
10. Was your Teaching Behavior Focus goal met?
My Teaching Behavior Focus goal was to inspire a stronger classroom community. I
think that I met this goal because the students were able to engage in activities that
they thoroughly enjoyed and get to know their peers at the same time, which will
hopefully motivate them to have deeper conversations in the future.