FOCUSED PROFICIENCY OBSERVATION #4 SUBJECT MATTER

KNOWLEDGE
APPRENTICE TEACHER: Grace Cho
OBSERVER: Dr. Apraiz
FOCUS OF OBSERVATION: SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE
DATE OF THE OBSERVATION: April 1st, 2021
SUBJECT/GRADE LEVEL/CLASS PERIOD: Algebra 1 Honors
RECORD OF THE OBSERVATION BELOW
How does the Apprentice Teacher demonstrate an understanding of the subject?
The lesson is structured to build upon students’ prior knowledge. Grace began the lesson by showing two different ways to
multiply binomials. She included steps on the board and reminded students to write notes. Next, Grace explains to
students what the conjugate is and she has them say the word aloud in class. The remainder of the class is spent working
on rationalizing the denominator for radical expressions. Grace knows the students are struggling with rationalizing the
denominator and walks around to assist students during independent work.

How does the Apprentice Teacher connect the content with previously learned topics, future topics, and other
subjects?

The class begins with a warm-up that consists of previously learned material. Grace continually refers back to previous
taught material. For example, she refers back to multiplying a binomial by a binomial when working with rationalizing the
denominator.

How does the Apprentice Teacher demonstrate an understanding of the philosophical and historical development
of the subject?
I was not able to observe this in the lesson.

How does the Apprentice Teacher demonstrate an understanding of state and national standards and use this
knowledge to enhance student achievement?
Grace’s lesson plans include the state standards for Algebra 1. She uses the standards to create her learning goals for the
lesson. Students are told the learning goals at the beginning of the lesson.

COMMENTS FOR DEBRIEFING:

You were very clear in how you were explaining rationalizing the denominator. There seems to be some confusion among
the students. Could you have asked some clarifying questions before they tried the problem on their own to check for
understanding? For this lesson, students would benefit from seeing an error on the board when working a problem that
involves rationalizing the denominator.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TIP (TRY THIS!):

It is clear that the students respect you as the teacher. You have built positive student relationships with this group of
students. From my view, it looked like all the students were putting forth the effort to learn the material.