Educational Leadership and School Improvement Portfolio

Reflective Essay on Classroom Observations

To enhance my understanding of teaching and learning, I chose to venture out of my normal area of expertise which is Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE). I observed high school instruction and learning in the four major academic areas. To guide my observations, I looked for the use of the nine instructional strategies identified by Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock (2001) that are most likely to improve educational achievement which include: identifying similarities and differences, summarizing and note taking, reinforcing effort and providing recognition, homework and practice, nonlinguistic representations, cooperative learning, setting objectives and providing feedback, generating and testing hypotheses, and cues, questions, and advance organizers.

 Observation 1:             College Prep Economics

The essential question and GPS standards were written on the dry erase board. On this particular day, the purpose of the lesson was to prepare for an upcoming test on monetary policy. The teacher in this class was an active, energetic male who preferred to engage students through a lecture-style format. One interesting observation in this class was the use of classroom space. There were 26 students in the classroom on that particular day and the desks were arranged (almost crammed together) at the back of the classroom. The teacher had prepared a lecture area for himself in front of his desk. This area was large enough for him to move back and forth as he delivered his lecture content to students in an animated format (much like an actor would address an audience). The teacher demonstrated a variety of effective instructional practices as he led his students through a review of the test. He encouraged students to identify the similarities and differences in concepts by creating analogies to help students remember the difference between monetary policy and fiscal policy (identifying similarities and differences).  Also, I noticed that he engaged students in kinesthetic activities (nonlinguistic representations). For example, he physically engaged students during the review by taking money from a student. He also demonstrated contractionary policy by asking a student to try to raise his arm as he pushed down on his arm to symbolize the effects of the government’s attempt to reduce the money supply. I also noticed the economics teacher’s use of higher level questioning and his wait time for responses (cues, questions, and advance organizers) as he encouraged students to think more deeply.

Observation 2:              Advanced College Prep Math  

The teacher used a PowerPoint presentation to highlight the essential questions and GPS standards as she began a new unit on data analysis and probability. There were only six students in the class. In talking with the teacher, I learned that several students had dropped the class after the first semester due to the rigor of the new advanced math curriculum which covers four years of coursework in three years. I noticed the use of several effective instructional practices as the female teacher led students through the lesson. After introducing the concepts of experimental and theoretical probability and developing a theory of what would happen if a coin was flipped a certain number of times, the teacher grouped students into small groups of two (cooperative learning) and had them conduct an experiment to determine the actual number of heads and tails occurrences (generating and testing hypothesis). The teacher also discussed that the probability of passing this class was dependant on the regular completion of homework assignments. Then the students worked in cooperative learning groups again to solve new problems (homework and practice). I also noticed the teacher using higher-level questioning to encourage student thoughts and responses to “what if” scenarios (cues, questions, and advance organizers) related to the practice activity being completed in class.

Observation 3:              9^th Grade Career Tech English (Inclusion)

The teachers had the essential question and the GPS standard posted on the wall. There were only 11 students in the class. First, the inclusion teacher led the class through a daily grammar sentence-diagramming activity on the dry erase board. The inclusion teacher helped students classify the sentence parts based on characteristics (identifying similarities and differences). She also encouraged students by acknowledging those who attempted to answer and recognizing their individual efforts (reinforcing effort and providing recognition). Next, the English teacher allowed students to study for a quiz for a few minutes as she passed out an April calendar for students. After taking the quiz, the English teacher led the class through a guided reading activity as students read aloud passages from the book “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. The teacher gave recognition to students who volunteered to read (reinforcing effort and providing recognition) and helped students understand the content of the material by the use of comparison, metaphors, and analogies (identifying similarities and differences).

Observation 4:              9^th Grade Career Tech Physical Science (Inclusion)

The essential question and the GPS standard were posted on a bulletin board. There were 20 students in the class. The unit topic was heat and temperature. To begin with, the teachers passed out advance organizers that students worked on individually using their note cards as a resource (cues, questions, and advance organizers). Next, the science teacher used an overhead projector to present the correct answers and help students compare and classify new concepts such as absolute zero, temperature, and heat (identifying similarities and differences). After finishing with the discussion of the advance organizer, the teacher presented the learning goals and objectives of the new chapter (setting objectives and providing feedback). Next, the teacher presented a PowerPoint and discussed examples of new content such as kinetic energy and thermal energy as students filled out a guided outline that followed the PowerPoint and lecture. The last 10 minutes of class were spent reviewing important vocabulary terms. The inclusion teacher used a buzzer to have students study their vocabulary note cards quietly for two minutes. Next, she held up large note cards with the definitions to important vocabulary terms and students took turns identifying the term (homework and practice).

Overall Reflection

I was impressed with the quality of instruction that the teachers I observed provided to their students. Each classroom had a distinct feel to it and each teacher had a particular teaching style and patterns of interacting with students that were unique. In the college prep classes I observed, students were very active and energetic and they appeared comfortable expressing their opinions, asking questions, and making comments to their teachers. In the career tech inclusion classes, I observed that students seemed to be more engaged in the individual activities they were doing. Career tech students also responded well to the teacher when they provided recognition and reinforced effort. College prep classes seemed less rigid in terms of teacher-student interaction styles during discussion. In the career tech classes, the teachers seemed to guide the discussions more than in the college prep classes. Overall, the instructional strategies I witnessed seemed appropriate and effective in all the classes I observed.

Relevant ELCC Standards:

Standard(s):     2

Elements:

2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works:

Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.