Observation

Student Observation

Classroom: Sheila Haston Observer: Taylor Carswell

Grade: 4th Date: 10/23/17
Curriculum Area: Science Time: 9:50-10:10

What I notice Thoughts, Questions, Connections to

The teacher said Write down what you had
for breakfast this morning or dinner last
night. Either one.
Methods Classes
This was the engage portion of a lesson plan.
We have learned to include an engage
section in our lesson plans, too.
Some students said they did not eat
breakfast. I think this is a major issue in
classrooms. Students come to school hungry
and dont eat until lunchtime. Some argue no
student should be hungry, but if their parents
bring them to school and they dont get there
early enough then they will not have that
opportunity.

The teacher just read straight from a The students were very bored during this
PowerPoint lesson and looked like they were about to fall
asleep because the lights were all the way off
and they werent having to do anything
besides listen.

The PowerPoint wasnt colorful and it didnt This didnt help the already not interesting
have illustrations on it. It was just full words. lesson plan.

The lesson started 5 minutes late and ended
5 minutes early.
I know the lesson ended 5 minutes early
because lunch is 10:15-10:45, and its about a
5 minute walk to the cafeteria. Science time
is only allotted 30 minutes every other week,
which isnt a whole lot of time. I know cutting
into other subject areas isnt desired, but
could it sometimes be necessary? Or should
you stick to the schedule no matter what and
how much was accomplished?

Students didnt have any kind of assessment Is it common or acceptable for there to not
for this lesson. be any student work to take up?
The lesson did not have many real life I think relating material to real life is really
connections important because students are more likely
to remember and really understand
information if they can relate it back to their
own lives.

Students learned about Vitamin A and how it
helps to see colors-the brightest yellows and
the darkest blues.
I think it would have been neat to show the
difference between a color that someone
with sufficient Vitamin A sees and that of
someone who is Vitamin A deficient sees.
There could have been pictures of these
foods that might have unfamiliar names to
fourth graders.

Each vitamin had its own slide on the I think pictures could have been included to help
PowerPoint. students visualization which foods fell under
which vitamin.

Write down what vitamins you had in your plate-
label what foods fall into what categories
Write down some of your favorite healthy foods
you like to eat and label them in vitamin groups.
Cupcakes and chocolate dont fall into any
category.
Ah, students are finally doing something to
interact with the lesson.
Students could have drawn a picture of these
foods. This would have appealed to the artsy
students in the class.

Questions to Consider in Your Reflection:

Do you think the teacher you observed established and communicated learning goals, tracked
student progress throughout the lesson, and celebrated success? Explain.
I do think the teacher did a good job of communicating learning goals, which were learning about
different vitamins and the benefits of consuming healthy foods. However, student progress was
not really tracked because the teacher was only reading the information off of the PowerPoint
while the students watched and listened. The teacher stopped the lesson after going through the
PowerPoint and that was it for science for the day. The teacher did not celebrate success because
there was nothing for the students to do, therefore there was no opportunity for success.
Do you think the teacher was effective at managing the classroom during science instruction?
Explain.
The teacher was effective at managing the classroom during science instruction. The students
were pretty well behaved and if a student did act out then she would call their name to quiet
them and that seemed to work pretty well.
Do you think the teacher helped students effectively interact with new science concepts and/or
processes? If so, how? If not, why do you think that?
I do not really think the teacher helped students effectively interact with this new science concept.
Students were to write down what they had for either breakfast or dinner and after she gave them
time to get their answers down, she let every single student answer who had their hand up, which
was just about every child in the classroom. Im sure the students enjoyed that, but several

2
 minutes of useful instruction time were lost because of it. The main reason I dont think the lesson
was very effective is because all the students did was sit there and listen to the teacher talk after
students shared their engage activity. Students did not have any sort of task to complete.
Do you think the teacher helped students deepen their understanding of new science concepts
and/or processes? Explain.
Again, I do not think the teacher helped students deepen their understanding of new science
concepts because they did not get to discover anything for themselves or interact with the new
material. I dont think students would be able to explain the different kinds of vitamins.
Do you think the teacher effectively engaged the students? Explain.
I think the teacher started out effectively engaging the students but once content started being
delivered, I do not think the teacher effectively engaged the students throughout the lessson.
Do you think the lesson you observed was an inquiry lesson? Explain.
I definitely do not think the lesson I observed was an inquiry lesson. The students did not ask
questions nor discover anything for themselves. The students really werent involved in the lesson
at all except for the leading command to write down what you had for breakfast this morning or
for dinner last night.
What aspects of the lesson that you observed would you change? Keep? Explain.
I would change the way the content was delivered to a way that would involve the students to
think and be engaged more. I would maybe set up stations where each station was dedicated to a
different vitamin they learn about. There would be pictures of examples in these stations, which
there was not in the PowerPoint presented on the board. I would keep the beginning of the
lesson, having them write down what they recently ate. This will give the students a real life
connection to the material they are learning about.