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: Savannah Carpenter Date: 4/18/17

1. To what extent were learning outcomes appropriate and achievable to your students?
a. The learning outcomes were definitely achievable. At first I felt there may have
been too many L.O. but realized they were related to each other. The students
learned about each other and were excited to find out new things about their
classmates. I feel that our learning outcomes were achievable and approiate for
our lesson.
2. How effective were your instructional strategies? What changes would you make in
your instructional approaches if you taught this lesson again? Why?
a. The instructional strategies we chose accurately advanced students
knowledge. Starting with the book, the students were introduced to the topic
and knew we would be talking more about families. We then had a discussion
on what a family is and why everyones is different. Then we had students
create a family tree and do a gallery walk. This was a great strategy to use so
they students were active while also seeing how other students family tree.
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.)

a. The written communication was something we could have improved on. We

drew a family tree on the whiteboard and labeled it with personal names. The
students were confused and we changed them to generic names such as mom,
grandparent etc. This helped students understand what names went where. The
confusion continued when they asked about step siblings, cousins and aunts.
They were unsure where they fit on the family tree so we added them to the
generic tree. This helped students a lot and they could make their own family
tree. This written aspect of the lesson could have been clearer. The spoken
language we used was effective and me and Elise did a good job giving each
person a chance to talk.
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.)

a. The students were really engaged and excited throughout the lesson. They
were excited to talk about their own families and about other families. When we
started discussing traditions the students had so many they want to share and
ask about. This showed me the students were engaged and excited about the
lesson.
5. How effectively did you use instructional materials, resources, and/or technology?
 a. We had the students draw their own family tree on a piece of paper. This was
really the only resource we used. We could have pulled up an online interactive
version of family trees or showed them some websites that can make large,
extended families. This would have been a good use of resources.
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?
a. I think our assessments were effective. If we had collected the family trees it
would have helped to see how much they understood. Other than that I feel
assessing their conversations and work helped us to see what they learned.
7. To what extent was your feedback to students accurate, substantive, constructive,
specific, and/or timely?
a. During our lesson, myself and Elise both did a good job calling on different
students and gave good feedback. One thing I can work on is giving more
genuine feedback. I feel that I often just have generic responses to students
such as good job and others. Adding more personal comments will help
students to know that I am really listening.
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.)
a. Our classroom management was good. It felt like it was smooth and in control.
Our environment was accepting so that all students felt comfortable sharing.
9. Did you make modifications to your lesson plan during the lesson? If so, what were
they and what motivated these changes?
a. Due to some time constraints, we did not get to do the narrative activity. I would
have really enjoyed reading these and learning more about the students.
10. Was your Teaching Behavior Focus goal met?
a. Yes, working with Elise helped me to not be as nervous and I did not have to
talk as much. Because of this, I did not use many filler words and had precise
language.