Observation of a Gifted Teacher

On Monday, September 20, 2021, I observed Dr. Jormel Cofield’s Honors Chemistry class at
Midtown High School during our 3A block. Dr. Cofield has been an educator for 23 years, a
gifted teacher for 6 years and currently serves as team lead of the Science Department. Her
Honors Chemistry class has about 30 students, most of which are 10th graders. Prior to
observing this class, I watched and reviewed the GaDOE gifted standards webinar.
Therefore, I used this recently acquired knowledge to compare my observations with the
Georgia gifted standards, as detailed below.

The first thing that I observed about Dr. Cofield’s class is the clear presence of
routines and procedures. As Dr. Cofield completed her hall duty by standing outside
of her room door before class, students knew to enter, sign into their APS
Chromebook and begin the warm-up presented on the Boxlight. No student asked
what they were going to learn that day but instead knew to refer to the daily agenda
and view class materials on the LMS, Schoology. The course materials were
organized in a virtual notebook using Google Slides but the veteran teacher repeated
the instructions verbally as well. As students were silently reviewing the online lab
instruction posted in Schoology, Dr. Cofield quietly and quickly took attendance
using her seating chart. To further improve the classroom learning environment, Dr.
Cofield used intentional grouping to manage the large class which was filled to
capacity, an example of standard CP&I2.4. Students were verbally reminded of their
lab group members - groups of 3 students working together on one side of a lab
table while another group of 3 worked on the opposite side of the table. This lab was
a real-world application of the scientific method lesson focusing on the formulation
of an hypothesis, exemplifying gifted standard LE1.1.

All lab materials were ready in the back of the classroom for students to access.
Safety instructions were thoroughly explained and modeled by Dr. Cofield as she
presented each chemical and tool used in the experiment to students. To enforce the

2021-22 ­Gifted Endorsement Internship Gina Robinson

 Observation of a Gifted Teacher
most critical safety instructions, Dr. Cofield had students respond in chorus as
suggested in standard CP&I2.4. Then, the lab officially began. As students were
gathering materials and reuniting with their lab partners, Dr. Cofield repeated key
vocabulary terms relevant to the experiment. She also reminded students that they
should refer to their notes from the previous class when formulating their
hypotheses.

During the class period, the pacing of instruction and activity was fast-paced and
highly organized. There was no time for boredom as students were fully engaged,
focused on their activity and assisting their lab partners. This class was an excellent
showcase for standard CP&I2.1, as students were challenged and so eager to achieve
that they did not even notice my presence in the classroom. Students collaborated
well as they first asked each other questions before calling Dr. Cofield over to clarify
misconceptions. Dr. Cofield continued to circulate the room, assisting students in
groups. This enabled her to provide informal small group instruction tailored to the
group’s needs. On one occasion, I was close enough to hear a one-on-one student
interaction with Dr. Cofield. When the student asked a question, she did not answer
it directly, but instead asked a series of guiding questions to prompt the student to
determine his own answer exhibiting standard CP&I2.4. I particularly liked how Dr.
Cofield provided the rationale behind each safety instruction for the lab to deepen
the student’s understanding of the processes and install common practice for future
labs.

Dr. Cofield used humor effectively when directing students and affectionately stated,
“Excuse me, young people …” when addressing a class concern. Though there were
no behavioral issues during my observation, I did notice Dr. Cofield quickly remind a
student to remain on task. She used proximity control very effectively as she used a
firm but quiet tone with the student. As I thanked Dr. Cofield for the privilege of

2021-22 ­Gifted Endorsement Internship Gina Robinson

 Observation of a Gifted Teacher
observing her class, she pointed out that she added elements of rigor to the on-level
state Chemistry standards for her honors students as guided by standard CP&I1.1.
She mentioned that in a subsequent lab, students would be given an extension to the
on-level lab experiment, as suggested by standard CP&I1.2.

This observation was extremely valuable on multiple levels. Being able to experience the
expectations of honors 10th graders was insightful for me as an honors 9th grade teacher.
With intention and experience, I hope to refine my pacing for my honors courses to
maintain a rigorous pace to match the rigorous content. Furthermore, it was helpful to see
a veteran gifted teacher put the Georgia gifted standards in action. There were several
take-aways from this class observation that I intend to use this school year and beyond.

2021-22 ­Gifted Endorsement Internship Gina Robinson