Practicum Observation

_______________________________________________________________________ __________________________ Student Teacher Information: Student: Sarah DAngelo Smith instructor s!: Al "udins#$
%racticum &'ser(ation ): 2 *ocation: +a,le Street School Date: .e'ruar$ 2/0 2124 4rade le(el: 2

EDC class: 345

Semester: 2

Smith College Su,er(isor: -ate Saccento Su,er(ising Teacher: +argaret 3etts

Standard A Plans Curriculum and Instruction

Strengths Your lesson plan was clearly written. It demonstrated your understanding of reading instruction by providing sample questions for: meaning, language structure, text structure, and visual information. You identified appropriate reading material, My Pet Bobby reading level !", for t#is first grade guided reading group. Your verbal communication is very clear. You use appropriate volume and tone. (t t#e beginning of t#e lesson, you elicited students) predictions about t#e boo%: *$#at do you t#in% t#is boo% is about&+ ,#ere was a student w#o was very upset from a prior conflict wit# anot#er student. You continued to encourage #im to participate, even w#en #e exclaimed t#at anot#er student too% #is idea. (fter your direct prompts and encouragement, #e was able to fully participate in t#e lesson. You gave regular and frequent feedbac% to t#e students, suc# as: *$#at I)m #earing from you is-+ You pointed to t#e words as you read. You

Suggestions $#at did t#e students wor% on in t#eir previous lesson& Is t#ere particular prior %nowledge from t#at lesson t#at you want to activate at t#e beginning of your lesson&

3 'elivers !ffective Instruction

You used t#e term *point of view+& 'o t#e students %now it& Consider #ow you can introduce it to t#em. $rite t#is new term on a card for t#em to see.

as%ed compre#ension questions after reading t#e first page. You #elped t#e students use t#e pictures to figure out t#e *silly+ t#ing about t#e boo%. You were able to provide a lot of instruction in t#e s#ort time t#at you met. ,#ere wasn)t a minute of instruction time lost. ,#e %ids were very ent#usiastic and involved wit# your lesson. *.et)s tal% about w#at #appened in t#is boo%. $#at #appened at t#e beginning of t#is boo%&+ You used t#e *c#e, c#e, c#e+ to quiet t#e rest of t#e class. ,#is was effective for a few minutes. You were able to manage t#e t#ree disruptions t#at came to t#e guided reading table in a quic% way, t#en pic% up wit# t#e ot#er students immediately, so t#at minimal instruction time was lost.

C /anages Classroom Climate and Operation

$#at management tools can you put in place so t#at t#ey rest of t#e class) volume doesn)t get too loud w#ile you are providing instruction to a reading group. $#at is effective w#en t#e cooperating teac#er wor%s wit# a small group and t#e rest of t#e class is wor%ing independently& $#at is t#e expectation for disruptions at t#e reading table& Consider teac#ing t#e students some tools so t#ey don)t approac# you first at t#e table w#en t#ey #ave a question. 0or example, *(s% t#ree friends before you come to me."

Standard D Promotes !quity

Strengths I really li%ed #ow you encouraged t#e effort of all students during t#is lesson. It started out bumpy for two, because t#ey #ad a conflict, but you didn)t let t#eir conflict impede on t#eir instruction. In t#e post lesson conference, you identified t#e students in your group as struggling readers. You #eld #ig# expectations for all of t#em despite t#eir c#allenges.

Suggestions $#at instructional ad1ustments #ave you determined from previous assessments for t#is group& Indicate t#ese in your plan."

E /eets Professional 2esponsibilities

Your lesson was prepared in advance. You effectively used t#e sc#ool reading group template. You demonstrated ent#usiasm for t#e material t#roug# t#e tone of your voice as you read and as%ed questions. ,#is ent#usiasm proved to be contagious, as your students were very involved in t#e lesson.

Comments: I was really impressed to #ear t#at t#is was only your second lesson wit# t#is reading group. 'espite t#e fact t#at two of t#e students #ad a conflict at t#e start of t#e lesson, t#e lesson #ad a very natural flow to it: somet#ing t#at can often be difficult to get wit# younger students in reading group. ,#is flow can be attributed to your ability to wor% off of t#e students) strengt#s and w#at t#ey are bringing to t#e group. ,#ey were very ent#usiastic about parts of t#e boo%, and you were very successful at managing t#eir comments, w#et#er t#ey were on or off topic. You s%illfully wove many of t#e compre#ension questions into t#eir *discussion+ so t#at you were able to c#ec% t#eir understanding of t#e text. You didn)t try to cover too many areas of compre#ension. You aimed for dept#, rat#er t#an breadt#, particularly in t#e realm of main idea. 3e sure to include standards in your plan, as well as instructional ad1ustments determined from previous assessments. What Sarah said: What went well: The student conflict resolved itself. I tried to give them validation and then moved on. Most challenging: The students became caught u! in irrelevant !art of the boo" #cat$. Sarah noted that this ha!!ens often and it%s a bit ty!ical of the age. Sarah and I reflected about the volume of the rest of the class. She said that the noise doesn%t bother her& but this is something that she wants to wor" on& as it may bother others.