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: Amber Black Date:11-9-17

1. To what extent were learning outcomes appropriate and achievable to your students?
I feel like the learning outcomes were achievable, I just didnt present them in the most
appropriate manner. I think that the book might have been a little too complex,
detailed, and long for such a young group of students. The difficulty of the book made
an already complex and heavy topic even harder to discuss. If I had to do this all over
again, I think I would do a little more research on the book I was going to choose to
read and I would broaden my definition of what it means to be an agent of change. I
think, in an attempt to create a strict connection between the students study guided
trip and the lesson I was teaching, I pigeon holed myself into a book that didnt do the
best job at accomplishing my learning goals. In reflection, I have researched a few
books that I feel would be more grade level appropriate and do a better job at teaching
children about what it looks like when someone is an agent of change. They are as
follows:
The Mitten Tree by Candice Christiansen
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham
2. How effective were your instructional strategies? What changes would you make in
your instructional approaches if you taught this lesson again? Why?

Like I stated in the answer to the question above, I would really change the book to
really focus the lesson on what it means to be an agent of change. I feel like the book
showed a great, real life example of an agent of change, but didnt give explicit
characteristics of a person that fits that title. The characteristics of a change agent
were embedded in the text and in the events of Kojos life and it didnt allow for a
simple connection to be made; students were so focused trying to comprehend what
transpired in the book rather than on what makes a person an agent of change. With
that being said, I think you could also rearrange the lesson to get a better focus on the
learning outcome. Instead of reading this particular book at the beginning of the
lesson, I could have had students talk about what characteristics can describe a
person that is passionate about changing the world, had them draw those things on
their paper, and then moved into using Kojo as an example. I feel like the conversation
might have been taken in a more focused direction with this reversed structure
because students knew what they were looking for in the story.
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 feel like I missed the mark quite a bit with my attempts to be clear and direct in my
oral communication with students. Again, I think I was so hyper focused on making
connections to the students study guided trip, that I didnt allow for it to naturally come
up when we were discussing what it mean to be an agent of change. I think because I
was so hyper focused, I would ironically stumble on my words in an attempt to be
clearer about the strict outcome I had for the students learning.
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.)

Students werent nearly as engaged as I would have liked and, in the moment, I really
struggled to figure out why this was. After reading Mrs. Sheriffs observation paper, it
makes complete sense that having them move after I had gotten started was the
reason they were struggling so hard to stay focused. I really didnt make this
connection, but it just reminded me that small little details about classroom
management can make a world of a difference. I also think engagement was so
strayed during the paper activity after the book because students were having a hard
time making connections between the book and the activity they were asked to
complete. I feel like overall, the lesson needs to be restructured in order to optimize
students learning outcomes and ensure student engagement.
5. How effectively did you use instructional materials, resources, and/or technology?

I think I used technology fairly well when I brought up an image of Ghana to help
students make the connection that the character in the story was from far away. As far
as the resources, as Ive stated before, I didnt use those effectively. In the future, I
plan to use a different book to reinforce the learning goal.
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 feel like the drawing of the agent of change could have been effective if executed
correctly. Again, students were so focused on comprehending the story that they were
missing that Kojo was supposed to be a model for the concept. I think that
misunderstanding of the lesson was entirely on me and my poorly structured lesson.
Like I said before, if I were to do this lesson plan again I would restructure it to be as
follows:
ENGAGE- Agent of change drawing
o What are some things that people could be passionate about changing in
the world around them?
o Can you think of any examples of people you know that do community
service or volunteer work?
o Can you think of anything that you want to see get better in your school
or community?
o What do you would have to do to make those changes happen?
 What are some citizenship words you would have to be to make a
difference in your world? (i.e. have courage, have integrity, be
kind, etc.)
How does being a good citizen mean you can make a difference
in the world?
EXPLORE- One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference read aloud
o How did Kojo model (or how did he show) some of the character traits
we drew on our agent of change?
o How can we be like Kojo and change something in our communities to
make it better?
ASSESS- Discussion of the agent of change drawings
o Are students making connections between what it means to be an agent
of change to what Kojo did for his village?
o Do they see parallels between what they did for their study guided
project and what Kojo did for his village?
o How can they be like Kojo and make a BIG difference about something
they are passionate about?
o How can education help them reach their goals in life like Kojo?
7. To what extent was your feedback to students accurate, substantive, constructive,
specific, and/or timely?

In her observation, Mrs. Sheriff pointed out that my feedback with students was lacking
and, in reflection, I completely agree. I am always scared to shoot down a students
answer and turn them away from answering again in the future, but that often times
can do more harm than good. I need to be more direct and accurate with my feedback.
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 have a lot of room for improvement in the classroom management department. I

need to strategize a way to allow for students to feel welcome to share while also
maintaining a calm environment where shouting out is deemed inappropriate. I also
need to figure out how to deal with students who need extra support in staying on task.
There was one instance in particular where a student was sitting up at the front and
distracting everyone around her and I got overwhelmed. In reflection, I feel like I could
have handled it a little better in deescalating the situation without directing too much
attention to her.
9. Did you make modifications to your lesson plan during the lesson? If so, what were
they and what motivated these changes?

I made quite a few modifications to my lesson plan right before and during the lesson.
The night before I decided to replace the activity of having students draw the problems
they saw within their community. Instead, I had students draw characteristics of a
change agent on an outline of a person to assess whether they understood the
learning outcomes. I replaced the community activity with the agents of change activity
because I thought it might be a little more specific and focused. I also didnt bring up
 Amanda the Agent of Change to introduce the agents of change worksheet because I
ran out of time reading the book.
10. Was your Teaching Behavior Focus goal met?
I feel like it was met to a certain extent. I feel like my instructions and expectations
were clearer than they have been in lessons in the past, but I cant say that they were
as clear as I would have liked for them to be. I honestly think that this teaching
behavior focus centered on clarity is one that is going to take time and experience to
master. I think the more lessons I teach as an individual, the more experience I get in
the field, and the more I reflect on the lessons I have done the more I will be able to
meet this teaching behavior focus.