Required

Name: Lindsey Polizotti Date: 3/31/2017

Observation #: 1 Type (Announced/Unannounced): Unannounced

Observed By: Catherine Porter (Mentor Teacher)

1.A.4: Well Structured Lessons 2.B.1 Safe Learning Environment

X X
(#1 Announced, #1 Unannounced) ( #1 Unannounced)

1.B.2: Adjustments to Practice 2.D.2 High Expectations

(#2 Announced, #2 Unannounced) (#1 Announced)

2.A.3: Meeting Diverse Needs

4.A.1 Reflective Practice
(#2 Announced)

Date of Lesson: 3/21/2017 Time (start/end): 8:57-9:9:49

Content Topic/Lesson Objective:

Topic :Student Presentations of Biomes
Objectives: Teach the class what was learned about a biome
Respectfully listen and take notes during classmates presentations

X Whole Group Small Group One-on-One Other

Active Evidence Collection occurred during the observation and is synthesized and categorized below.

Element Evidence
Well Structured Lesson: The presentations showed an obvious adherence to the rubric provided by Dr.
Polizzotti. The students knew the expectations for the project and strove to meet them. The student
groups worked well together during the presentations, each student took a turn presenting to the
class and navigating through the slides on the computer. It was impressive to see every student taking
1.A.4
a turn presenting, including those who were obviously nervous. It is clear that Dr. Polizzotti also spent
time with the class in advance of the presentations to review the notes sheet as students easily
maneuvered through the document to organize the information presented. Observations of the notes
sheets showed that all students were able to organize information from the presentations.

1.B.2

2.A.3
 Required

Safe Learning Environment: Dr. Polizzottis classroom walls are plastered with student created posters
encouraging a growth mindset and highlighting various study techniques. Upon entering the
classroom Dr. Polizzottis students looked at the board to see the following: where they were sitting
(with their presentation groups), what they needed to take out (their notes sheet), what they should
do as the rest of the class was entering (check over their presentation notes from the previous day),
the agenda for the day and the essential question. Dr. Polizzotti did not need to remind the students
to take out their notes sheet before the presentations started as every student had already done this
2.B.1
task. It was impressive. Dr. Polizzotti noticed that one student was struggling to maintain focus during
these beginning activities. She quietly approached the student, gave him a stress ball and asked him if
he would like to move to the front to sit close to her. He agreed and a situation which could have
become a distraction was avoided without any of the other students noticing. He returned to his group
at the end of class to review the notes with them. During the presentations, the students were
attentive and respectful even when the students presenting made a pronunciation mistake or needed
encouragement to speak louder.

2.D.2

4.A.1

CAP Observation Form

Focused Feedback
Students made impressive use of technology, all slides were visually appealing with a
striking use of images and other graphics. Each group included bibliography pages for
source citations as well as all of the required content. During the presentations the
students were attentive while taking notes. The notes sheet provided by the teacher was
Reinforcement Area/Action:
well organized and provided the students with an efficient graphic organizer. The
(strengths)
students demonstrated proficiency with the notes pages and were able to organize their
information effectively. Dr. Polizzotti obviously has specific classroom rules in place that
encourage students to be actively engaged in class with expectations that every student
participates.
The presentations contained some minor errors which could have been corrected before
they were presented to the class if the presentations has been pre-graded. It would be
nice to see the common core speaking and listening standards included on the rubric to
Refinement Area/Action:
evaluate the presenting part of the presentation. The end of the class activity in which
(areas for improvement)
the students ranked the biomes in order of diversity, moisture and temperature could
have been more formalized and a constructive criticism component added for the class
to evaluate the presentations.