Manhattan College

School of Education
Student Teacher Observation
Student Teacher: Michael Mancuso School: PS 81 Lesson Topic: Character Change in
the Main Character

Supervisor: Alton B. Woodman Grade Level: 5 (Mr. Crawford) Subject: Literacy Observation: #1 (Placement #1)

Date of Observation: September 25, 2013 General:

Mr. Mancuso has made a very positive adjustment to his first student teaching placement with Mr. Crawford in this 5th grade class. Mr. Mancuso has proven himself to be organized, thoughtful, resourceful, sensitive and very aware of the academic and behavioral needs of the students in his charge. He maintains his poise when things go as planned, and is learning the importance of keeping his focus when unexpected situations arise. Mr. Mancuso has learned how to incorporate the routines and behavior management systems that help the students to function in this classroom. He is not afraid to explore/try a new idea when he recognizes that a different approach would be appropriate and would provide the students with a better learning experience. Mr. Mancuso is always interested in learning new strategies for meeting the needs of the students in the class. He has demonstrated his ability to be quite comfortable working with the whole class, small groups, and in one-to-one settings. Mr. Mancuso has demonstrated a positive and professional working relationship with his cooperating teacher, Mr. Crawford, as well as the class. Mr. Mancuso has demonstrated his ability at using the Smartboard during instruction. Mr. Mancuso welcomes and implements constructive suggestions from his cooperating teacher and supervisor.

Lesson:
At about 10:15, Mr. Mancuso called the groups (Mountains, Rivers, Deserts and Islands) to the meeting area where the Smartboard and the easel were in place. A Good Morning greeting was given and the change in the class morning schedule was acknowledged. The Smartboard had the following information: Chapter 7----Shiloh Objective: Students will be able to identify character change via character action.

Learning Outcomes: 1. Discuss the motivation for character change 2. Analyze the decisions made by the characters point of view. CCLS:RL. 5.6 & 5.9 iCan: I can describe the change the character is undergoing.

*Mr. Mancuso used the Smartboard slides to help the class through the initial instruction for this lesson. This process would set the guidelines for future slides and instruction. In addition, Ms. Mancuso had a student just to the side of the Smartboard to provide a touch which would move from one screen to the next. Character Change: The different actions and thoughts of a character as the story progresses.

The students continued copying the information from the screen. Thumbs up if you are done. The next slide had four important questions about Martys behavior around family at the beginning of the book.

Character Change:
Throughout stories, characters change. Its our job to figure out what makes them change. Lets take a look at Shiloh. We ask ourselves these questions: 1. What does the character want? 2. How did Marty act around his family in the beginning of the book? 3. Since meeting Shiloh, how has Marty been acting around his family? 4. What is the action that Marty keeps doing, even though inside of his head he knows its wrong?

Throughout this entire process, the class was well behaved and following the directions. Mr. Mancuso carefully guided the class through the initial parts of the lesson. At around 10:28, the class began to read chapter 7 of Shiloh. There were questions about the characters and reasons for their actions featured throughout the reading/discussion. Questions were also asked about the authors decisions to italicize words. The students appeared to enjoy the reading. There was some good active participation on the part of the class. The reading of this part of the book was completed by about 10:35. The class was directed to read the rest of the chapter independently. The students were told that this reading could count towards their reading logs. One of the groups (7 students) was called back to the meeting area with their Shiloh books as the class read. Mr. Mancuso did very well asking the students questions and while engaging them in a stimulating discussion about the character, Marty. While the small group was working with Mr. Mancuso, the rest of the class was beginning to finish their reading of chapter seven and began to move on to reading a book of their choice.

Mr. Mancuso was very adept at monitoring the entire class as he worked with the smaller group. A timer was used to mark the reading time and let the students know when they should be done. At about 10:47, Mr. Mancuso praised the group for their reading and their analysis. He then focused on the last couple of lines in the chapter. There was good student discussion. The timer went off at 10:50. Mr. Mancuso praised the whole group. An assignment with a writing piece that had two distinct parts was explained to the class. One part related to the text and the other was related to themselves. The copies of the work were distributed. A student was asked to read the directions. The students were given about ten minutes, but they were told that if they were not finished, they would have time later in the day. At 10:57, Mr. Mancuso was at the easel where the four questions about Marty were handwritten. At 10:58, a time advisory of 5 minutes was given to the class. With about a minute and a half left, Mr. Mancuso needed to correct some students who were talking and not focusing on their responsibilities. The students were directed to stop and finish later. They would complete their independent reading logs later. Some students began to act up, but Mr. Mancuso was immediately there to correct their behavior. From about 11:03 to 11:07, the students were reading questions from the easel and discussing their answers. The class began to make their transitions to snack and mathematics.

Instructional Skills:
Mr. Mancusos lesson plan on chapter seven of Shiloh and character change in the main character was thoughtfully prepared and very well executed. Mr. Mancuso did a very good job using the Smartboard and the easel to display the information with each of the steps that would hopefully build a clearer understanding for the class. Mr. Mancuso was poised, organized and extremely resourceful throughout the lesson. He was very business-like as he moved from one screen to the next. Mr. Mancuso was able to meet with a small group while the rest of the class was reading on their own. Mr. Mancuso was able to explain the lesson plan and discuss the chapter with the students. There was active participation from the class throughout the lesson. This lesson was very valuable for Mr. Mancuso because it demonstrated the importance of how a teacher must have their lesson thoroughly prepared, but must always be prepared to think on their feet. His ability to keep up the pace, provide good explanations/discussion and to ask thoughtful questions is to be commended.

Classroom Management:
Mr. Mancuso is learning the importance of using different methods/techniques, and he appears to be very comfortable planning a lesson that meets the various needs and

learning styles of the class. As stated in his reflection, My highly structured pedagogy in this lesson paid off because the students all paid close attention and didnt lose focus. He also appears to be very assertive with the class when disciplinary situations arise. Mr. Mancuso was able to skillfully work with a small group of students as he monitored the rest of the class.

Observations/Recommendations:
1. You handled the SmartBoard very well. It complemented the lesson, but it didnt dominate the lesson. 2. Your lesson was structured and flowed very well. You understood where each part of the lesson was going and what you wanted the students to do. 3. You were very wise to follow the routines/format that the students knew. Good decision! 4. Your voice and demeanor were relaxed, but firm when you needed to be. 5. In the beginning of the lesson when students are copying material from the Smartboard, consider moving around the class to assess their work. This is also a very good method to enhance classroom management. 6. Continue to work on your writing skills when using the easel. Consider trying to get the writing done earlier (before the lesson). This will improve with time. 7. I think you are quite correct when you stated in your reflection that their daily routine of snack time at 10:50 was disrupted. To your credit, you were still able to get the assignment done even with the chattiness and minor disruptions. However, the students must be reminded from time to time that sometimes it might be necessary to adjust the schedule for the day to make sure they can get everything done. *Mr. Mancusos lesson was scheduled for 9:15. Unfortunately, it was impossible for this observer to be there on time. Mr. Crawford was contacted and he was kind/flexible enough to move Mr. Mancusos lesson to 10:15. While this schedule change did impact the Flow of the Day, Mr. Mancuso was still able to complete his lesson in an organized, professional manner.

Grade: Student Teacher: Supervisor:

9.0/10 _______________________ _______________________ _____________ _____________