EDUC 5312/3315-Curriculum and Instructional Design

Classroom Observation Assignment

Observation Form 1

Observation Date: 06/08/2017 Observation Time: 1:00 PM

Teacher Observed: Mrs. Carberry Subject/Grade Level: Social Studies/ 5th Grade

School Observed: - Observer: Ridvan Gunduz

1-What was/were the learning objectives/outcomes of the lesson? (Add state objectives if
known, for example, TEKS 111.4. Grade 2.b.)

Teacher`s agenda of the lesson for this video: What were the strengths and weaknesses of the
continental army?

2-How did the teacher begin and end the lesson?

Teacher begun the lesson by mentioning today`s agenda and asked some questions about related
the topic. Teacher ended the lesson with pair work and asked the students to find their partner for
this activity.

3-What did the teacher use for teaching materials or instructional aids/equipment?

Teacher used projector and smart board for teaching materials.

4-Which instructional methods and strategies did the teacher use? ( lecture, inquiry,
discovery learning, discussions, games or simulations, demonstrations, cooperative learning,
integration of technology, socrative questioning, etc)

Teacher used mainly lecturing technique and used projector to explain a topic and used socrative
questioning technique. Also while asking question, she used discovery learning methods for
example she asked another question when the students get wrong or say wrong answer. She tried
to help the students to find correct answer by giving clue and asking another questions.

5-How did the teacher assess learning? (informal, formal, formative, summative, oral, open-
ended, quiz, feedback etc) See Chapter 8 for more information on assessment methods
Teacher mostly assessed their students informally and orally by asking question. She used yes-no
questions, open-ended questions and fill in the blank questions. At the end of the class, she gave
group work to determine/assess the students` understanding.

6- What can you say about the teachers philosophy/beliefs and style?
(Traditional/progressive, behaviorist, student-centered vs. teacher centered, authoritative etc)

Teacher used traditional style, teacher centered teaching method because asked questions all the
time and help the students to find correct answers by asking another question. She gave the
lecture during class period until group work session.

7-How does the teacher manage classroom? Can you identify classroom management
techniques used?

Teacher has well-established classroom routines and procedures in her class. She created a
climate for learning and students can ask any question related the topic. Teacher encouraged her
students when they answer the question wrong, and gave positive feedback when they get the
correct answer. She has enthusiasm to teach her subject and students want to participate more.
Teacher uses her time wisely and using every activity or question to help their students
understand better.

8-Observe in the classroom setting and determine types of behavior students play when off-
task. What do they do when they are not paying attention? How does the teacher re-direct
them or get them back on task?

Teacher uses columns configuration which is the most common classroom arrangement for
lecturing. Students are facing to the board or to the teacher all the time. But sometimes students
get bored, they turned back and talked with friends or asked a question when they did not get to
answer. Teacher did not warn them to get back to work.

9-How does the teacher communicate with students (verbal, vocal, meta-verbal or non-verbal
communication such as facial, body language, use of space, motion and time?)

Teacher used verbal communication, she asked questions and expected to answer by students.
Sometimes she used non-verbal communication by using body language. She walked around the
students and to listen her carefully she made eye contact with students all the time.
10-Who were the students in the class? What did you notice about them? (Background,
diversity, attitude, motivation, interaction, participation, etc)

Most of the students are paying attention to the teacher and answering her question immediately
but some students are not paying attention and teacher did not ask any question or any action to
participate those students who are not paying attention. Teacher motivated her students when
they answer the questions. Her attitude were always positive towards to students even if they
answer the question wrong.

11-What did you see that is effective in engaging students? What do you see that is
ineffective in keeping students engaged?
Teacher asked interesting questions to engage students to the discussion and most of them were
engaged, asked or answer the question during class. It was effective questioning technique. But
sometimes she asked simple and yes-no questions. Students do not want to answer these type of
question. Simple questions and yes-no questions were ineffective in keeping students engaged.

12-What are the two instructional strategies you observed and would like to apply in your
classroom?

I really like discovery learning- questioning technique. I would like to implement this method to
my classroom. Students want to discover the answer by asking or answering different type of
questions.

Another strategy I would like to use is discussion. Students want to ask different question about
topic and answer his/her friend question then other students agree or disagree with the given
idea. Students are participating this kind of discussion more and they learn better when they
listen their friends.

13-What are two important classroom management strategies that you observed and would
like to apply in your classroom?

Positive reinforcement- Sometimes I forgot to give my students feedback when they answer a
question or do their work well. In this video, I realized that positive reinforcement is the key for
more participation for students.

Encouragement of Students- In my class, when I asked a question to students, if they do not

know the answer, I ask the question to another student. I realized in this video, to encourage
students and give some clue, helping students find the answer quickly. So I would like to
encourage my students to find the answer by giving hints and asking some question to find the
answer for better understanding.