Observation with Charlotte Cameron

3.16.21

Objective: Main idea of a story for informal writing lesson

Discussion points we covered:

● As always, you demonstrate great poise in your teaching. The students respond well to your
directions. They came into the room quietly and replied to your friendly questions about art class. They
kept their eyes on you as you began your lesson by asking a recall question and explained the objective
of the lesson.

● Your lesson objective was evident. You hit all of Bloom’s Taxonomy points. Recall and understanding
of information by question-and-answer format with the question about camping was perfect. Your
activity that went along with the question regarding camping allowed everyone to participate. It also
encouraged them to look at info in a new way when asked to decide on the 3 most important items (out
of 6) to bring on a camping trip. The students you called on had to explain why they chose what they
did, delving into comparing justifying positions. You connected with prior knowledge, experiences, and
interests when discussing the camping trip theme. It allowed students to successfully answer your
questions. Well done!

● Your feedback was again, very encouraging! Some of the reasons the students came up with for
their choices were out of the box, and you allowed them to feel okay about that. I love how you got
them thinking and encouraged them to share their opinions.

● The children were highly engaged, except for the one student we discussed. You shared with me you
were aware of his lack of participation. We mentioned in the past how that is an important part of
teaching…to be aware. You are a natural at recognizing those students.

● Several times you asked them to share a discussion at their table. Each time, you were able to quickly
regain their attention in a quiet, but confident way. Even when wearing your mask, they know to
listen for your voice. This can not be an easy thing, yet you make it seem so.

● I especially liked you included a writing portion in your lesson. You were very patient and walked
around the room making sure they understood and were completing their assignment. The writing
organizer allowed them to copy from your power point too.

To Try-

●As a future idea, with the read aloud (so glad you incorporated the Story Works), you could ask for
volunteers to read a paragraph, and then you read again before asking for another volunteer. You
mentioned struggling readers, and if one wanted to read aloud, you could keep it to a short paragraph.

● If you feel you need to read the entire passage, it might be helpful to read a few paragraphs and ask
comprehension questions (example: What was the disease we’re discussing? What does it do?), before
continuing. This can provide data regarding their listening skills. You might also walk around the room
as you are reading, especially as you still wear the mask.
●We discussed the random selector of partners. Since some students made negative comments, you
quickly turned it into a social skills lesson. (Yay!) You could continue that by discussing it again before
they begin the next day’s activities, and then afterwards to share the results of their actions towards
one another.

This was a wonderful lesson, Charlotte. It was a long one, and you were able to make it a creative
learning experience, keeping their interest.

Mrs. O’Neal

937-408-1578