FOCUSED

PROFICIENCY OBSERVATION #1 CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

INTERN:

CRISTINA GADDIE

OBSERVER:

GNEVANS

DATE OF THE OBSERVATION:

TUE 09 FEB 2016

SUBJECT/GRADE LEVEL/CLASS PERIOD: PHYSICAL SCIENCE @ LOFTEN HS WITH SHEFFIELD

RECORD OF THE OBSERVATION BELOW

How does the Intern manage student behavior and create rapport with and among students in an
environment of respect?
Asking students to review the TPS procedure instead of telling them establishes them as responsible
partners in learning. TPS fosters a collaborative learning environment, pairing semi-randomly allows
students to work with a wider range of partners and helps establish group cohesiveness.
Students work in three different groups during this lesson, seem to move easily from one set of partners to
another- this indicates that classroom environment fosters collaboration with a variety of peers.
How does the Intern effectively and safely use physical space / proximity to enhance learning for all
students (If relevant, specifically address lab safety)?
During bellringer, CG circulates to monitor student work, gives a student a handout (make up work?)
Has students move outdoors for walking velocity lab. Has distances pre-marked out so students can
efficiently begin lab (Since there is plenty of sidewalk, Id recommend doing 4 separate areas to spread
students out more)
No real safety issues evident in todays lab. CG is attentive to all groups for the duration of the lab,
circulating among & interacting with all groups multiple times.
How does the Intern manage classroom procedures to maximize time for instruction?
Clear beginning of class routine: Bellringer (BR) displayed on the board, timer set to 5 min and started when
bell rings. Students come in & begin work without any verbal instruction. Verbal announcement of 1 minute
remaining to prompt students to finish bellringer.
How does the Intern establish classroom standards that foster a culture of learning for all students?
Begins class with think-pair share of BR question- asks students to recall how TPS works (we havent done
this for a while) After reviewing procedure, students seem to know the procedure for pairing up.
Bellringer q & following conversation revolves around go-carts- this seems to be high interest to students,
especially as they are discussing in context of what factors influence how fast a GC will be.
When discussing terminology, asks students to recall yesterdays lesson as examples to illustrate the idea of
displacement.

COMMENTS FOR DEBRIEFING / CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TIP (TRY THIS!):

Make sure you are addressing students by name in every interaction. I seldom heard you call specific
students by name. This will also help with behavior management.
I like how you discuss the research question thats due and relate the science fair data collection process to
the go cart question students have just been discussing.
As you circulate be sure to address off task behavior. Group nearest me had a slow time getting started.
During the reading round robin, seemed like too much unstructured time, especially for the group of boys
near me. How do you hold students accountable for finishing the assignment within the time given? Be
sure that as you are circulating during the activity that you address off task behavior (at the timer one
member of a group had a paper from another group and was merely copying answers). Actually, you may
want to break up that specific group- it may just be the combination of personalities- the other groups all
seem to be much more focused.
Based on how you reviewed terms before the lab, I would have some prelab questions related to
displacement & velocity (record definition & give an example) to make sure students have those concepts
clear before going outside.
Give materials list either on board or on handout to make sure everyone has all the things they need before
going outside. (its kind of a long list to remember). If I am going to be doing a lab for multiple periods, I
often prepare one bin for each group that has all required materials, then have them take a bin, check to
verify everything is there. This helps make sure everyone has what they need with out wasting a lot of time
wandering around collecting things
Make sure you are not getting stuck with any one group for too long. You should be constantly scanning
all students even as you talk with a particular group- this will help keep everyone on task.if you are going
to position yourself to have students coming to you for questions, make sure your position is nearest the
group least likely to be working. (seems like you got stuck in the area under the awning ~15 minutes),
meanwhile groups furthest from you were not as focused on task.
There are several different papers / assignments for students to keep track of during class today. It woud be
helpful to have a clearer way to communicate what to do with each one: A list on the board or ppt turn in
today: Save for later:
Is homework an everyday thing?