Observation Guidelines

A requirement to successfully complete EDUCA 1100 is to complete 20 observation hours in a public school K-12 classroom. While observing,
look for the following indicators, provide examples, and reflect on your observations. You may not see all indicators throughout your observation
time, and that’s okay. ​If you do not observe these indicators directly, have a conversation with your cooperating teacher to understand more
about the indicators you do not observe​. This document must be completed and submitted with your observation log.

Indicators
Classroom Atmosphere
Teacher-student interactions
student-student interactions
Classroom Procedures
Groups, materials, supplies,
transitions, routines
Classroom Behavior
Expectations, rules,
monitoring, response
Classroom Setting
Examples
-Students who needed extra help with reading sat
at the “teacher table” to work on reading with
the teacher
-Students who met their reading goal got to
choose which station they got to go to
-Depending on the subject, students either
worked individually or in groups. In English,
students worked individually on annotating their
book. In Spanish, students worked in groups for
interpersonal communication. No matter what
the subject, there was always a routine. In both
these classes the teachers provided them with
the materials/supplies needed for the day. When
transitioning, the teacher would give students a
warning such as “five minutes until we move on.”
-The teacher I observed had a 3 strike policy, and
it worked most of the time. When a student was
corrected, they would stop at 1 or 2 strikes.
Occasionally they would continue and get 3
strikes. This student was sent down to the office.
Reflection
-I thought that it is wonderful that the teacher and
students had a good relationship to where they can work
1-on-1 or in very small groups. I feel like this type of
instruction would be very beneficial to those students
who need a little extra help.
-Teacher allows students independence once they meet
the goal set. I like this idea a lot. If you can show that you
can meet the goal at hand, then you can choose which
station you want to go to.
I enjoyed observing both an English and Spanish
classrooms because the two classes are run very
differently. English is more individual-based because you
have to read individually. Spanish is very group based
because you need to practice using the language.
Regardless of the classes being run differently, there was
always a routine set in place. In my opinion, students are
more successful when there is a routine/pattern. They
know what to expect.
-I am not a fan of the three strike policy. I am a coach and
it never works for me. It might be because the kids I
coach are younger but it seems the junior high kids
respond well to it. Maybe I will try this in my classroom
and see if it is effective.

Classroom Layout
Arrangement of furniture,
resources for student use,
technology integration
Indicators
Communication
Learning outcomes,
expectations, directions,
explanation of content, use of
vocabulary
Questioning and Discussion
Bloom’s taxonomy,
pedagogical cycle, wait time
Student Participation
Techniques
-If students were off task the teacher would
verbally correct them or move them to a different punishing them. I like how the teacher moved the one
spot in the classroom in hopes that they would be student away from his friends. Once he moved, he wasn’t
less distracted by their friends.
-Students responded well to teacher correction
-Classrooms were set up differently. Some had
individual desks, some were clusters of desks, and each classroom. This way you are not sitting alone all day.
some had tables
-Every student had a Ipad
Teaching
Examples
-teachers had a routine they followed every class
-students were aware of expectations
-teachers lectured at the beginning of class and
then let students work independently
-teachers always waited for a student to answer
-teachers waited for students answers
-name sticks
-Verbally correcting students is better than immediately
distracted and got his work completed by the end of the
period.
-The teacher wants their students to learn. They don’t
correct students just because they can. They want them
to learn the material so they are prepared properly.
-I like the idea of seating arrangements being different in
You get to meet new people and collaborate with them
throughout the day.
-Many schools have gone 1-to-1 with technology. At the
school I observed at, students had Ipad and teachers had
MacBooks. I personally would prefer to have a MacBook
over an Ipad but the students did not seem to have any
issues using them.
Reflection
I observed 6th-8th grade so the students were aware of
what their teachers expected of them. Teachers followed
a routine each class. I think this is a good thing because
children thrive with structure. Most teachers lectured, to
explain the content, and then let students work
independently or with groups. I like this because it
addresses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.
I think this is a good idea because it forces students to
think and provide an answer. If the information is just
given to them, they just have to listen instead of thinking.
I would use any of these tactics in my classroom. I don’t
think it matters how you get students to participate.
How are they participating?
What is required of them?
Differentiated Instruction
Student interests, culture,
incorporated into activities
and assignments; examples
of multiple intelligences/
learning styles
Grouping of Students
Whole class, small groups,
pairs, individuals
Pacing
Gaining attention,
transitions, reflection,
closure, wait time
Indicators
Student Background
Concepts, skills, prerequisites,
student abilities, learning
styles, level of need
Learning Outcomes
-calling on students randomly
-virtual wheel with students names on it
-observed and ESL classroom with Arab, Hispanic,
and Pakistani students
-science class: small groups
-english: pairs to compare annotations
-spanish: pairs to talk in Spanish
-ESL: whole class
-Some teachers put the class schedule on the
board
-To get students attentions, they turned off the
lights
-class always ran to the last minute
Lesson Planning
Examples
-ESL students were all at different levels
-In English class the teacher would repeat the
same questions for each short story
Rather, it is important to get all to participate. If you are
engaged, you are paying attention to the material
presented to you.
The ESL teacher asked students to provide an example of
their culture to the class. Not only does this help other
students learn about their classmates, but it provides the
teacher more information on who they are. We have
multicultural classrooms and it is very important to be
accepting of everyone.
I think you should use a variety of groupings at school,
even in your classroom more specifically. I will make an
effort to use many different groupings of students
because it all helps students to learn material in different
ways.
I like the class schedule for elementary students, but not
for junior high. I know that some students like this, but no
teachers do this in high school. The point of junior high is
to prepare students for high school. I do like turning off
the lights because it is effective. I sometimes have to use
this tactic at my job. Most teachers went right up until
the bell which means students were occupied the entire
time.
Reflection
-The ESL classroom was more chaotic than the traditional
subject classrooms because students are all at different
levels and speak different languages. Some were learning
how to read and some were learning the alphabet. There
was a big difference between students in the same
classroom.
-After repetition, students understood what she was
looking for and soon answered the questions correctly. I
Linked to standards within
and outside of discipline
Learning Activities
Design, enhancement of
student learning, challenging,
multicultural, supportive of
group learning, supportive of
diverse student population
Assessment
Formative, summative,
aligned to learning outcomes
that drive planning and
instruction
Indicators
Expectations
Criteria, how is it
communicated to students?
like how the teacher did not just give them the answer
and move on. She was patient.
-a lot of group learning/collaborating in all classes -I noticed that almost all subjects had some sort of group
-teacher would walk around and observe learning included in the class period. I think this is
wonderful because we can all learn from one another
regardless of our race, religion, culture etc. The teacher
did stand in front of the class and lecture all period. There
should be other methods to learning the material and I
think group learning is the most effective. I was glad to
see this in all the classrooms I observed. Students were
engaged and supportive of students from all
backgrounds.
-both formative and summative assessments I would think that math would use formative and Spanish
were used would have used summative assessments. There is no
-Math: formative one correct way to use a language, but there is one
-Spanish: summative correct answer in math so the teachers assess the
students accordingly. I also think that it is good for the
students to be assessed in multiple ways because not
everyone is strong in the same testing method.
Assessment
Examples Reflection
-English teacher wrote expectations down on the -I liked this idea because the kids have their expectations
board and set timer for 10 minutes written out on the board for them and they know they
need to get it done by the time the timer is up.
Monitoring student learning
How does the teacher
monitor student learning?
How do students
self-monitor?
Feedback
Timely, substantive,
constructive, teacher
proximity, guidance,
reflection
Classroom Layout
Arrangement of furniture,
resources for student use,
technology integration
Assessment Style
Formative, summative
Grading
Traditional, standards-based
-Almost all the teachers I observed walked
around the classroom to make sure students
were on task
-after independent work was done the teacher
would ask the students questions. If correct, they
would move on. If not, they would stop and
explain or have other students try to help
-all classrooms had desks or tables
-moved/turned desks/tables to work in groups
-books in almost all classrooms for student use
-more formative assessments
-standards-based grading (4, 3, 2, 1)
-Especially at the junior high level, students will try to get
out of doing work whenever they can. Because of this, I
thought it was good to see all the teachers making sure
their students were on task.
- I think this is a good way to gage where students are. If
they seem to grasp a topic, there is no need to spend
extra time focusing on that. If the students are struggling,
I believe you should stop and try to see where there is a
disconnect, and the teachers did just that.
-I noticed a lot of student movement throughout the class
period. They turned their desks/tables in order to work in
groups.
-there were always books available for student use in all
classrooms/subjects.
-I noticed there were more formative assessments where
I observed. The only class that had a summative
assessment was Spanish class. I like both types of
assessments, but formative is the more traditional type of
grading so I’m assuming that is why many teachers use it.
-This school used standards-based grading which I am not
a fan of. In my mind, an 4 is an A, a 3 is a B and so on. I
don’t see the benefit in using this type of grading. If
anything, it will confuse the kids because when they go to
high school, where they use traditional grading, they will
not be used to it. I prefer the traditional grading scale
over standards-based.