ALVERNO COLLEGE

SUPERVISORS OBSERVATION
OF ED 215-R Field Student
Candidate: Lauren Checker

Check One:
1stObservation __X

Assessor: Robin Gleason

2nd Observation __

Date: 11/17/14

Cooperating Teacher: Colleen Korpal

Number of Students: 21

School: College Park - Greendale

Planning and Preparation (AEA: Conceptualization, Diagnosis

Grade: 1

WTS: 1,2,3,4,5,7 DISP: Respect)

Plans instruction that addresses the range of the students stages of literacy
development.
Plans instruction that is coordinated with the prior and future learning
experiences of the students.
Plan includes an introduction that clearly connects the lesson objective with
prior learning experiences.
Materials are well chosen for meeting the lesson objective and the
developmental needs of the students.
Plan reflects use of an effective theoretical model, such as Holdaway,
Cambourne, Vygotsky, etc.
Plan includes the teacher think aloud and questions/prompts to engage the
children in the thinking.
Plan reflects the gradual release of responsibility of the learning to the
students.
Plan includes adaptations for students with specific needs and learning
styles.
A meaningful closure that restates the lesson objective and sets
expectations for the learning concludes planning process.
____Inadequate

____Emerging

__X__Proficient

Subject(s): Reading Workshop

Evidence (Candidate)

You carefully planned this lesson by collaborating with your CT to

determine a lesson objective that would coordinate with their current
unit of study in reading focused on understanding non-fiction text. You
were mindful of the lesson objective and the range of developmental
stages of readers in your classroom as you selected the materials you
would use to teach to your lesson objective. Using the Active Board to
display the colorful illustrations from an actual non-fiction text was a
great choice for this lesson. You clearly demonstrated that theory
guided your plan as you intentionally incorporated think alouds, social
interaction, and the gradual release of responsibility into the
Procedures part of your lesson. The plan also included your methods
for assessing student learning as well as appropriate strategies for
meeting the range of readers in your classroom. The plan was
detailed and showed thoughtful preparation throughout. You submitted
your plan in plenty of time to receive and incorporate feedback from
your field supervisor.

____Distinctive

Copyright 2014. Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

ED FORM 708
0210 ED

School: College Park - Greendale

Grade: 1

Subject(s): Reading Workshop

Classroom Environment

(AEA: Coordination, Integrative Interaction WTS: 1,2,3,4,5,6

DISP: Respect, Responsibility, Collaboration, Communication)

Clearly communicates expectations and procedures for behavior and

learning experiences.
Focuses student attention by engaging them productively in learning
experiences.
Offers explicit praise to students.
Teachers and students connect to one another by smiling, sharing and
helping.
Respects each child as an individual, addressing the children by name.
Supports students as they work independently and collaboratively.
Manages transitions efficiently.
Effectively uses resources and curriculum materials to develop the ideas
being taught.

____Inadequate

____Emerging

__X__Proficient

Evidence (Candidate and Student)

You connected easily with the children, established a positive and
productive learning environment right from the start, and kept the
children engaged throughout the lesson. To begin your lesson, you
invited the children to join you in front of the Active Board and
complimented them on their learning behaviors, calling on them by
name. You then focused their attention on the lesson objective and
engaged them in the learning through asking questions and turn and
talks and through the examples you prepared on the Active Board and
the actual texts. You checked for understanding several ways to make
sure that the children understood the expectations for their independent
reading through giving you a thumbs up and through questioning.
Transitions were managed easily to whole group, partner shares,
independent reading, and back again to whole group. Throughout the
whole lesson, you smiled often and used great eye contact with the
children as you supported them through the learning process.
When we conferred after the lesson, you indicated that some of the
children seemed to be confused as you closed the mini-lesson and as
they started in on their independent reading. When you scanned the
room, you noticed that some of the children had their hands up as they
were reading independently and you made the decision to see if they
would settle in on their own. During the partner share, you made sure
that each child had a partner and then again checked in with some of the
partners to focus their learning. It took a small bit of time for the children
to settle. Did they understand what they needed to do with their partners
at this point?

____Distinctive

Copyright 2014. Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

ED FORM 708
0210 ED

Instruction (AEA: Communication, Coordination, Diagnosis,

Integrative Interaction WTS: 1,2,4,5,6,7,10
DISP: Respect, Communication)
Relates learning to students previous learning and/or to students
personal experiences.
Focuses student attention on lesson objectives throughout the lesson.
Demonstrates knowledge of content throughout delivery.
Presents content in developmentally appropriate ways.
Explicitly teaches the lesson objective through modeling the thinking of
the lesson objective using the think aloud approach.
Actively engages students in the thinking and keeps them on task.
Consistently demonstrates enthusiasm.
Models and supports active listening, discussion and thoughtful
responses.
Challenges and supports student thinking by using:
o different types of explanations
o various levels of questioning and/or prompts
o techniques that repeat and/or extend student responses
o a variety of modalities (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)
Adapts plans as needed.
Varies role in instructional process (instructor, facilitator, coach,
audience) in relation to content, purposes of instruction and needs of
learners to gradually release the responsibility of the learning to the
students.
Respects cultural and gender differences.

____Inadequate

____Emerging

__X__Proficient

Evidence (Candidate and Student)

You taught this lesson with confidence using a firm and calm teaching voice.
You began by connecting this lesson focused on captions by connecting the
learning to prior learning experiences. You asked the children to list a few text
features they knew and then introduced captions and gave a definition of them.
You also introduced the idea of real live photographs figuring out or capturing
what is in real life photographs. You used the Active Board to display a
photograph with its caption. You read the caption and then asked the children to
tell you what was going on in the photograph (This could have been a time for
you to model what you saw in the photograph first before reading the caption.)
You reread the caption and asked the children to give you a thumbs up to show
if they understood captions (At this point, it may have been helpful to say
where captions can be found near or under the photographs.) You then used
another example with piranhas. You asked the children to notice the details in
the photo and asked them to think about what the caption might say. (Again
you could have modeled your thinking for them instead.) You took what they
said and then included the word gills. You invited the children to turn and talk
with their partners about what they noticed in captions and how they help us to
become better readers. You listened to their responses and responded
appropriately to give them feedback. You revealed the caption and then asked
the children where captions usually are found in their non-fiction books. You
showed another example of a book in which there is not a caption but talked
about another form of captions. You explained and modeled what the children
should be doing while they were reading independently using a post-it note. You
asked for questions and asked the children to give you a thumbs up and
interacted with the children one more time to make sure that the children
understood what they were to do next. After you dismissed the children to get
their book boxes to transition them to their independent reading, you distributed
the post-its to them at their tables and quickly got into conferring with individual
children. You circulated around the room conferring with many children. After a
time, you transitioned the children to meet with their reading partners and
checked to make sure that everyone had a partner. Did the children know what
you wanted them to do? After a time, you invited the children to go back to their
desks and gave directions for what to do with their post-its. At the very end of
workshop time, you closed the lesson by restating your lesson objective and why
it is important to use captions when reading non-fiction text.
Interesting that you chose to have the children really model for each other their
thinking about captions instead of you modeling your own thinking first. (This
was a deviation from your actual plan.) How did this work out? Were the
children clear in the thinking process they needed to do in order to predict what
the words in the captions might say? The anchor chart you prepared was
hanging on the wall next to the Active Board. How could you have incorporated
this more as a teaching tool within your lesson?

____Distinctive

Copyright 2014. Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

ED FORM 708
0210 ED

Assessment (AEA: Diagnosis, Integrative Interaction WTS: 1,2,3,7,8,9

DISP: Reflection)
Focuses the students attention on the process of learning rather than
just getting the correct answer or finishing an activity.
Provides specific feedback to learners (oral and/or written).
Assessment relates directly and is appropriate to the lesson objective
and the levels of development of the students.
Students self assess (oral and/or written).
Evidence of student learning is gathered and used along with
additional information/ feedback from lesson to plan future lessons.
Reflects on own performance in relation to student learning and WI
teacher standards and the Alverno Education Abilities.

____Inadequate

____Emerging

____Proficient

Evidence (Candidate and Student)

You used questioning and turn and talk times to monitor student learning
during the Demonstration/Participation part of the lesson. You also made
anecdotal records of your observations as you conferred with the children
during independent reading time and partner share time. It was great that
you had previously thought about what behaviors you would be looking for.
Did you also think about finding out why the children created the captions
they did?
As we discussed during our debriefing, you shared that your assessments
revealed that several of the children were confused about captions. This
shows that you were really focused on their learning and that your
assessment procedures were really beneficial to you. Nice!
What specifically did you find out about their learning as you assessed
them? How will you use this assessment information to plan for future
instruction?
You gave lots of positive feedback as you interacted with the children
throughout the lesson through smiling, nodding, and saying things like
Good job. Did you use specific feedback as you interacted with the
children during independent reading time? Is there a way that you could
have incorporated student self-assessment into your lesson?
You thoughtfully reflect on your practice in relation to student learning, the
theory and the WTS and AEA.

__X__Distinctive

Copyright 2014. Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

ED FORM 708
0210 ED

Professional Responsibilities (AEA: Communication, Integrative Interaction WTS:

1,2,6,7,9,10 DISP: Respect, Responsibility, Reflection, Collaboration, Communication)
Demonstrates professionalism through timely completion of quality work for field
classroom and seminar.
Demonstrates professionalism through appropriate dress and regular attendance,
arriving on time to the field classroom and seminar.
Relates professionally and effectively with students, cooperating teacher, staff, and
supervisor (including initiating conversation, and problem solving). (Social Interaction at
Level 4)
Completes self -assessments, reflecting on planning and implementing of lessons in
relation to student learning and the theory.
Is willing to give and receive help.
Demonstrates Effective Citizenship by attending a school/parent event and thoughtfully
completing an accompanying log.
Actively participates in seminar by coming prepared and offering ideas, sharing
materials and supporting peers. (Social Interaction at Level 4)
____Inadequate

____Emerging

____Proficient

Evidence (Candidate)
You demonstrated strong professional practices in all areas,
Lauren, which clearly and positively impact your performance in
the classroom.

__X__Distinctive

Additional Comments: This was a fine literacy lesson, Lauren. One of the best parts of your performance was your reflection
on your own practice in relation to student learning and your insight into how complicated teaching something as simple as
captions can be in a first grade setting. This type of self-reflection is a necessary characteristic of a truly effective teacher,
Lauren. In addition, you are thoughtful and intentional in applying your learning from ED 225 when planning and teaching
your lessons in your field. You took full advantage of your time in this field placement, Lauren. I wish you well as you
continue on your journey to becoming a truly outstanding teacher and challenge you to apply what you learned about
effective literacy teaching and learning in your kindergarten field next semester.

Copyright 2014. Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

ED FORM 708
0210 ED

Overall Performance: ____Inadequate ____Emerging ____Proficient ____Distinctive

Copyright 2014. Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

ED FORM 708
0210 ED