Components:

I: Planning and Prep

II: Classroom Environment
III: Instructional Delivery
IV: Professionalism
Notes from the Observation
5/5/15
Time

11:30 - 11:39

Actions and Statements/Questions by Teacher and Students

Students are entering the classroom getting prepared for the days
lesson. D calls tables to the carpet and gets all students to focus on her.

Component

I, II and
III

D connects to yesterdays lesson - what are the forces called? s tension s - buttress (this wasnt a force so you corrected to discuss what
this is)
s - compression then 2 students become a human arch
D asks students to come up and point out an area where students can
see compression
D - how can you tell its compression not tension?
D - How do we remember that compression is a pushing force? S - it
says press in it
Another 2 students are asked to demonstrate tension and another
student points to where it is happening

11:39 - 11:42

D lets students know that the students are going to apply what they know
to something that we see a lot of in Pittsburgh (Nice connection to our
natural environment)

II and III

D - Why do you think Pittsburgh has so many bridges?

D - our community had to shape the landscape based on our needs
Guiding Question: what keeps structures from falling down?

11:42 - 11:44

Students watch Bill Nye on structures and when needed D models the

I and III

same forces
11:44 - 11:57

We are going to build bridges today and one student tells a joke that they
know about suspension bridges
The circle has moved so D says lets move back, imagine there is a
balloon in the middle and it is getting blown up.
Students get a paper copy of their activity for the day and their instructions
and materials are reviewed.
All materials are pre-measured and in cups for ease of distribution
New vocab is used (span) and then rephrased/reviewed
Direct modeling is used to ensure students understand the directions and
know what the 2 bridges look like
Final directions are given to have student move back to seats, choose
partners, gather materials and put quiet signs up in 1 min

11:57 - 12:00

Students move to spaces in the room

D says I sees some of us are sitting down and putting our name on it, so
this is great
Reminder about quiet signals is given so they can get materials.
Students are called one by one to get materials and get started building

12:00 - 12:44

Students work in groups to follow the lab sheet, make predictions and
build their bridges.
D walks around room to see if students are getting started
Student exploration, trial and error with bridge capacity.
D also helps groups that are struggling with their bridges.
Students were called back together to make sure they knew what was
expected of them in the last 20 minutes of class and then they worked to
complete the questions.

12:44 -

Students were called back together for a discussion with 3-2-1.

Each group was asked how many washers their bridges were able to
hold.
Beam
10, 9, 11, 9, 8, 9, 11, 8, 8
Suspension

I, II, III
and IV

20, 20, 15, 27, 37, 18, 19, 71, 42

You helped make the connection that most people got close to doubling
their bridge loads. You then connected it to your trial and the work of
students in the morning.
Some of us had the time to do the calculations for the actual weight in
grams (this was a nice extension for those students that needed an extra
challenge).
D then showed the bridge on the board and reviewed the labeling
question on the activity sheet.
You then asked students to relate their activity to the guiding question.
When students were not paying close enough attention, you brought
them together in a circle on the floor.
When they moved to the floor, they were much more focused and able to
answer your connection questions.
Thoughts/Question
s

Do you make sure groups are heterogeneously grouped?

This activity is naturally differentiated but the directions were the same.
The explain it section seemed challenging for some students. Is there
a way to help students with the reading and questions? Maybe a
differentiated paper? Can Kelly help support this?