University of Wisconsin – Stout

School of Education
ECE 480 Pre-Student Teaching Classroom Observation Form

Student Name: Sabrina Avery Reviewed by:

Site: Child and Family

Study Center Supervisor: Nancy Platz
Nancy Platz
Observation #: 1
Date: 4/28/2020 Cooperating Teacher: Amber Syverson
Amber Syverson

Student teacher, cooperating Student

teacher and supervisor are
in regular contact with each
other

Setting

Sabrina is completing her pre-student teaching placement in an unusual and unique

manner. She is working closely with her preschool cooperating teacher as she teaches
online due to the fact that the COVID 19 virus has forced the closing of all schools this
spring. So the setting is in the classroom. The Zoom program is used to allow the teach-
er to meet with her classroom of children from their homes via computer screen.

Planning and Preparation

Sabrina is involved in planning and teaching 4 lessons in 4 different content areas and
covering different skills, as well. Three of these she is video tapping for an imaginary
classroom of children. She will teach one lesson live through Zoom which will allow her
to interact with the children from her cooperating teacher’s classroom in the manner that
her cooperating teacher teaches her lessons. She is using the knowledge she has acquired
related to child development in general and the information her cooperating teacher has
shared with her about this particular group as far as their needs, abilities, interests, and
unique characteristics to construct her lessons so that they are developmentally
appropriate. She is also planning activities that the families can complete at home. This
requires her to consider what sorts of materials are generally readily available in the
children’s homes. She must also send directions that are easily understood by the parents
and children alike. Preparing and planning for her lessons has taken on a whole new look
from what she is familiar with. She needs to carefully consider how to manage her
lessons in ways that the children can observe easily and that encourage them to actively
engage in the learning she is promoting. The video aspect of these lesson requirements
has called for her to learn new technologies right along with her cooperating teacher.
Classroom Environment

The environment is determined by the location of the student teacher’s setting for her
lessons to accommodate the online teaching effectively. Behavior management needs to
be maintained through her reminders to listen carefully and encouragement to think about
answers to her questions, as well as her expressive visual and verbal communication with
the children to keep them engaged. Hopefully, an adult is participating in the lesson along
with the child to monitor and encourage positive behavior from that end. This will most
likely vary from house to house so that control is basically out of her hands. But keeping
the lessons short and as active as much as possible should help her to maintain the
children’s attention.

Instruction

Sabrina’s lesson today that I am observing on video covers the topic of insects. She
gained the children’s attention by displaying a mystery bag. She provided clues to aid the
children in figuring out what insects are in the bag. She allowed for time to think before
showing each picture of an insect from the bag. The pictures were realistic as far as the
appearance of each insect and Sabrina added information about each one as she was
showing them to the children. She ended this part of her lesson by comparing two types
of butterflies whose pictures were in the bag. The children were then introduced to the
book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. She asked the children to think about where
caterpillars are found. After allowing think time she added the information she was
hoping they had thought of. She led the children through the story about a caterpillar who
eats all kinds of foods children might eat, progressively adding more and more of each
food as she read up to the ten final items the caterpillar eats. The next page shows a very
fat caterpillar who doesn’t feel too well. The children are encouraged to think why this is
so. Then the caterpillar eats a leaf which is typical caterpillar food and feels better.
I’d have encouraged the children to figure out why the leaf made the caterpillar feel
better. After showing the next picture the children were provided with a new vocabulary
word“, cocoon” which Sabrina defined at their level of understanding. She asked what
other insects make cocoons but there really aren’t many and some would argue that the
caterpillar probably should have turned into a moth as a butterfly makes a chrysalis which
is not the same as a cocoon. However, that distinction is something for children to learn
later on! She allowed the children to guess what might happen after the caterpillar was in
his cocoon for a time. The last page of the book shows a beautiful butterfly like the ones
from the mystery bag which she held up for comparison. The children were directed to a
four cornered chart Sabrina had created. The four categories were: ARE, CAN, HAVE,
and EAT. She led the children to consider what characteristics of insects fit under each
category. She was able to include new vocabulary definitions to increase the children’s
knowledge of insects. Her printing was of a quality that sets a good example for the
children who are just learning how to print. It is important for her to use the correct term-
inology. Insects do not have arms! But they do have 6 legs which she counted out for
them. A little longer wait time is needed, but that is challenging to gauge for imaginary
children. Her lesson ended up with a review of the completed chart. Sabrina noted she
had made a mistake and she corrected this error. It is good for children to realize that
we all make mistakes, even teachers. This is reassuring to children. She instructed the
children to flap their wings like a dragonfly or butterfly as they left her lesson. The video
ended with a picture of the book’s cover and then a chart with several insects displayed.
This might allow the child who is especially interested to identify more insects, so a nice
possible extension of learning.

Professional Responsibilities/Personal Characteristics

This placement has definitely called for flexibility and the ability to accept and hopefully,
appreciate the challenges that teachers must face and overcome in a very limited amount
of time. UW-Stout students are generally fairly well versed on the use of technology but
this has stretched them to explore and grow in that area which will be a real benefit for
Sabrina as she pursues a teaching career in this technology driven world the children are
living in. There is so much out there to enhance the teaching and learning through tech-
nology. Sabrina is also researching a topic of interest in the area of early childhood
education and will submit her research and what she has learned through it to me. She
provided a friendly and informative letter if introduction to the families and has added
information to the newsletter. These children and parents did not have the opportunity
to meet Sabrina face to face so this is a way for them to feel a connection to her
personally.