Observer: Sarah Hutchinson

Teacher: Ms. Abby Hasebroock

Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Class: Freshmen World Literature- A Period- O Day

Dear Abby,

Thank you for welcoming me to your A period World Literature class today. I was impressed with
the organization and structure of your classroom: your expectations and directs are clearly
communicated, and your class featured a variety of activities that flowed naturally from one to
the next.

The activities required students to engage in critical thinking and personal reflection; they also
communicated and worked directly with another student. Overall, the class was very balanced
students did the heavy lifting of thinking and creating, while you moved throughout the class
offering assistance, modeled the sorts of questions that demonstrate depth of thinking and
reflection, and generally functioned as an expert guide.

Ive included my notes below, and please let me know if you would like to discuss any of this in
more detail.

Sincerely,
Sarah

11:32 I arrive. Abby is reviewing poetic devices with students. There are 15 pieces of paper
taped around the room with a literary term written on the top of each one. She reads each
device and reviews the definitions.

On the Board: Do Now

- Brainstorm 15 different techniques or devices that are used in any given poem.
- Also has directions for Early Finishers to work on Membean
Your class is well-planned and youve established the expectation that theres always more to
do, even for those who may finish a task quicker than the rest!

11:34 Abby asks students to pause, leads them in prayer.

11:35 Eyes up please. Abby leads students through the agenda.

Objectives:
Students will share first piece of poetry and reflect on composition
 Students will be introduced to different poetic devices and create examples

Agenda:
Poetry Partner Share and Reflection (15 mins)
Poetic devices handout (15)
Stations sharing created poetic devices (5 mins)

Activity 1 (directions projected on board)

- Read poem that you created to your partner
- Work with each other to 1. Pinpoint 5 boring words and replace them with better words.
Never settle for less than the best word!
Projects WOLFPACK Cycle partners, students find each other quickly and begin working.

Your students are clearly used to this routine; directions, announcing partners, and moving into
group work were all efficiently done.

11:39 Abby works with a pair near me help her out here, focus on the word smaller what
word would be better? She asks the writer for some context and asks follow-up questions, then
asks the partner what he thinks. You model critical thinking, as well as conversation techniques,
for your students.

Abby engages and interacts with student groups, asks them questions and provides feedback.
Asks a student about her formatting, so tells the pair to think about how to focus on structure
together. This was a good adjustment in directions for this pair there was clearly some work to
be done before diction could be considered.

11:42 We have three minutes remaining. Reminds students to work on diction together. Abby
moves to the other side of the room to work with students.

- As time passes, Abby adjusts her questioning. Asks students to talk about the words
theyve changed together and why

11:46 Final 30 seconds to put the finishing touches on word choice

11:47 Calls the group together. Give me a quick thumbs up if you are more satisfied with your
diction. Pause and reflect on how you put this together were now going to think about the
organization. Right below this poem, reflect on how you put this together. Please take 3 minutes
about how you composed the poem discuss your strategy for organization.

- Students immediately start typing, Abby walks around and reads over their shoulders.
11:49 1 more minute
Would students benefit from hearing that they should use the entire time? I often find that my
Junior and Senior students need to be trained and explicitly reminded that a three minute
writing task means that they should be writing and thinking for the entire three minutes. I would
encourage students to dig deeper, revise, clarify, etc. if I saw a significant number finishing early
in a quick task like this.

11:51 Share with your partner your process

- Lots of talk for the first minute, then conversation peters out. Theres only so much ground
you can cover in one class (and you cover a lot!), but I wonder if this is an opportunity to help
students develop conversation techniques. Ive seen teachers project a slide that says
something like If you run out of things to say before time is up followed by a list of questions
they could ask each other.

Abby affirms their work. Tells them to remember the process that theyve used and to be aware
of the conscious decisions they made. You acknowledge your students efforts in a positive and
supportive way.

11:53 Transitions to next activity, I leave.