Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Elementary Education Program

Pre-Observation Form

Directions: This form is to be completed prior to every lesson that will be observed by the mentor
teacher or university supervisor. It is to be submitted no later than 3 business days prior to the actual
observation along with your lesson plans.

Name: McKenzie Weed Date:11/13/17

1. What is the topic of your lesson?

The topic of my lesson is compassion and kindness towards others.
2. Why are you teaching this lesson? What is your rationale for teaching it?
I am teaching this lesson because throughout the semester I have noticed that
students seem to struggle with being nice to each other. This lesson will set up a
workshop like environment for students to work on their understanding of being
kind towards one another.
3. What is your Teaching Behavior Focus? Why did you choose this?
My teaching behavior focus is centered on creating an engaged classroom
discussion. I have noticed that class discussions are often dominated by a few
students. I would like to hold a classroom discussion that is engaging for all 16
students.
4. Why did you design your instruction in this lesson the way that you did?
Why did you choose this way of teaching the lesson (e.g., Was the idea
from a methods course? From your mentor teacher? Another source?)
Payton and I came up with the majority of the lesson on our own. We created a
spinoff of an activity that we had found on Pinterest in order to make it work for
our targeted learning outcomes.
5. As you are thinking through this lesson, what do you believe will be the
most challenging part of this lesson for you when you teach it? Why?
I think the most challenging part of this lesson will be managing the students as
they rotate through their classmates papers during the activity. At times they
seem to get silly when they do activities so we will need to set clear and strict
boundaries prior to beginning the activity.
6. How will you know if your learning outcomes for the students are met
successfully?
We will know at the conclusion of the lesson through our embedded assessment
if the students have met the targeted learning outcomes. If students are able to
write 15 nice things about their peers and then think of a way that they can be
kind in the classroom then we will know that our lesson was a success. If we see
that classroom relationships have changed, we will know that students are
effectively using what they learned in our lesson.
7. How will your classroom management support the learning outcomes?
I will instruct the students to stay in a circle during the activity. This will enable us
to have some order as the students rotate around the circle during the Freeze it
activity. Having this ordered environment will allow the students to think more in
depth about kind things they can say to their peers. My hope is that each student
will be able to think of one kind thing for every student in the classroom.
8. List 1-3 areas which you would like for your observer to pay particular
attention. Why do you want your observer to focus on these areas?
I would like Mrs. Kearns to pay particular attention to my instructions. Although
my main teaching behavior focus is an engaging class discussion, I would also
like the focus on giving clearer instructions. I think this will help the activity and
lesson run smoother all together.
9. Is there anything else you would like your observer to know before the
observation?
I hope that this activity will be engaging enough to keep the students interested in
the lesson. If there is anything during the lesson that you would like to add please
feel welcome to do so! Also if you want to participate in the Freeze it, you are
more than welcome to! The students would probably love it as well.