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: Madison Zimmermann Date: April 2017

1. To what extent were learning outcomes appropriate and achievable to your students?
My outcomes were appropriate and achievable to my students. All students were able
to participate actively in the lesson and contribute. The lesson focused on self
reflection and what students would do in different situations.
2. How effective were your instructional strategies? What changes would you make in
your instructional approaches if you taught this lesson again? Why?
I found my instructional strategies to be effective. I read a book aloud and had
students answer scenarios and questions. I would choose to complete this lesson in
this way again.

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.)
There are times when my oral communication was redundant or confusing and had to
be immediate corrected. I think that my learning objectives and tools and directions
were clear. I feel the confusion for students comes in with my lack of concise
directions. I find myself rambling and rephrasing to make sure that all students are
understanding directions and what is happening in the discussion.
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.)
My students were very engaged throughout the lesson. All students participated in the
class discussion and were able to share their thoughts. Students also were engaged in
the reading. There were audible gasps and facial expressions that matched what was
happening in the story.
5. How effectively did you use instructional materials, resources, and/or technology?
The only instructional resource I used was a smart board. It worked well for my lesson.
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 used formative assessment strategies during my lesson. I used student responses to
gauge how well they were able to contrast their thinking from the characters thinking in
the book.
7. To what extent was your feedback to students accurate, substantive, constructive,
specific, and/or timely?
I feel that my feedback was timely and accurate as I was responding immediately to
their thoughts. If students contributed a response that was school appropriate- I had to
 quickly divert and recommend school appropriate strategies. This proved to be my
biggest challenge.
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.)
Due to the nature of the lesson it was not difficult to manage the classroom. There
were numerous points in the lesson where students could contribute their thoughts.
Students sat quietly and listened to the story I read and were respectful audience
members.
9. Did you make modifications to your lesson plan during the lesson? If so, what were
they and what motivated these changes?
I did not make changes during the lesson.
10. Was your Teaching Behavior Focus goal met?
I think that my teaching behavior focus goal was met. I tried to revoice every students
response, especially responses from students that spoke quietly or shared longer and
more detailed thoughts.