Running head: CASE STUDY MR.

ROTH 1

Case Study: Mr. Roth

Daniel D. Ramos

Grand Canyon University

EAD 530: Improving Teacher Performance and Self-Efficacy

Professor Patricia Blanton

October 20, 2021

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Case Study: Mr. Roth

Observation Reflection Questions

In this case study, Mr. Roth is the 11th grade U.S. history teacher and is observed to be at

the door, greeting students as they enter the classroom before the bell rings. This is a telling

observation as Mr. Roth has his lesson preparations done to be able to greet them at the door and

build rapport with each student upon arrival. This rapport is then used as a springboard into the

lesson where the students answer the question of the day. The students know the expectations for

this portion of the lesson and quickly begin to work on their summary as Mr. Roth monitors the

classroom and assists with students who are having difficulty. The culture and climate of the

classroom is effective and responsive to the task demands of the lesson as the students are ready

to work and are respectful of Mr. Roth when he provides any prompting or cues.

In terms of instructional strategies used in the classroom, Mr. Roth was able to provide a

entrance question to better gauge where the students were at with their understanding of the

judicial branch. Following this activity, he provided the students with a reading about a court

case and had the students look for key information and vocabulary before diving into the reading

in small groups. After the small group work had concluded, Mr. Roth allowed students to share

their findings from the article and allowing groups to agree or disagree with what was being

shared. He then gathered the class in a whole group discussion and had them reflect on their

initial response in the beginning question and provide and additional exit ticket question before

the lesson was concluded. The independent work, small group work, and whole group work that

Mr. Roth was able to incorporate into this lesson were effective in the most part to facilitate

learning among groups of students and have students collaborate with one another to learn as
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opposed to having a teacher provide direct instruction for the period. Differentiation existed in

this lesson by providing small group scaffolds to allow students to assist one another in building

meaning from the reading. Another instance of differentiation existed when Mr. Roth provided

support for students who did not understand the directions in the first activity and Mr. Roth was

quick to address these situations with individual prompting.

In speaking of higher order thinking skills prevalent in this lesson, Mr. Roth provided

these skills as he allowed students to reflect on their previous learnings, predict the meaning of a

passage, summarize findings, collaborate with peers, agree or disagree with other groups, and

then predict again based on the learning contained in the lesson. These activities allowed closure

to be found in the lesson. In the text, Talk about teaching!, Danielson further built on this

premise of the lesson structure stating that, “[t]he teacher organizes student tasks to provide

cognitive challenge and encourages students to reflect on what they have done and what they

have learned. That is, the lesson has closure, in which the teacher encourages students to derive

important learning from the learning tasks, from the discussion, or from what they have read”

(Danielson, 2015). Mr. Roth was able to build these higher order thinking skills into the lesson

structure to allow students to benefit regardless of their present levels.

When speaking to the use of technology in the lesson, the case study does not mention

the implementation of technology into this lesson. While there are no technologies incorporated,

the lesson was effective in meeting the objectives set at the beginning of the lesson.

Post-Conference Preparation Questions

To prepare for the post conference, I would like to ask Mr. Roth if he felt that the lesson

was effective in meeting the objective set forth. I would also ask him if students were able to

provide a reasonable prediction in the exit ticket based on the findings of the lesson. I would also
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probe questions to have Mr. Roth identify what higher order skills he provided to these students

during the lesson and determine why he chose them for these students.

When selecting positive feedback, it is important to note the teachers perceived strengths

based on how he answers the questions above. I would provide positive feedback on his ability to

manage a classroom to be collaborative and reflective in their learning. Mr. Roth is able to have

students dissect their learning from the lesson and discuss their findings as it compares to the

other students. I chose this feedback as some teachers shy away from collaborative opportunities

in their lessons as they feel that students are apt to become distracted. Mr. Roth was quick to

address any issues in these small groups and I would like to reinforce this practice with him, as

well as with other educators on campus.

When looking to provide constructive feedback to Mr. Roth, I found guidance in an

article entitled, How to Give Professional Feedback. In this article, the authors provided me with

clarification on how to give feedback on lessons that are perceived to be very effective, stating

that, “…the feedback should feed teacher learning forward, identifying next steps—next targets

—in a journey toward the goal the teacher has selected” (Brookhart & Moss, 2015). While I

perceived this lesson to be very effective, some constructive feedback I would provide would be

how the teacher can leverage the use of technology in these small groups and learnings. Another

piece of feedback would be to ask Mr. Roth if the exit ticket could be turned into a differentiated

experience for the students if they are having difficulty with the higher order thinking skill of

prediction. I chose these areas of feedback as they would not subtract any effectiveness of the

lesson but would add depth and innovation to the classroom learning and dialog. If Mr. Roth has

difficulty with the technology piece, I would attempt to identify one aspect of the lesson to add a

technological component to and schedule a follow up appointment to show him how to

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implement this practice into the classroom. Questions I would make in the post-conference

would be about the overall professional goals that Mr. Roth has for his students and even for his

career to gain a better understanding of the direction he would like to go and provide additional

steps to get him there. These comments and feedback relate over to PSEL standard 6D which

states that effective leaders, “[f]oster continuous improvement of individual and collective

instructional capacity to achieve outcomes envisioned for each student” (National Policy Board

for Educational Administration, 2015). While teachers may be effective in providing exceptional

learning opportunities in their lessons, it is also important to update our teaching practices to

enhance the classroom to allow for student success and learning to thrive.
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References

Brookhart, S. M., & Moss, C. M. (2015). How to Give Professional Feedback. Educational

Leadership, 72(7), 24–30.

Danielson, C. (2015). Danielson. Talk about teaching! (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.

National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional Standards for

Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.