Observation Guidelines
To pass EDUCA 1100, you must complete 20 observation hours in a public-school K-12 classroom. While observing, look for the following
indicators, provide examples, and reflect on your observations. You may not see all indicators throughout your observation time, and that’s okay. If
you do not observe these indicators directly, have a conversation with your cooperating teacher to understand more about the indicators you do not
observe. This document must be completed and submitted with your observation log.
Indicators
Classroom Atmosphere
Teacher-student interactions
student-student interactions
Classroom Procedures
Groups, materials, supplies,
transitions, routines
Classroom Behavior
Expectations, rules, monitoring,
response
Classroom Layout
Arrangement of furniture,
resources for student use,
technology integration
Classroom Setting
Examples
Guided reading (Teacher and three or four student's ratio)
A Teacher and a student needing more help than others
There is a specific curriculum where students interact with other
students. Such as math, writing, word of the day, etc. Where students
can help one another and communicate with each other.
At a table, there are four to five students. There are five groups, and the teacher calls the table
group by color (blue, green, purple, red, and yellow table).
The teacher has all of her extra supplies in the front of the classroom. Where students can take
a pencil, glue stick, markers, and crayon if they need or don’t have a supply for an
assignment or project.
Each student has a crayon box where they carry their supplies.
The teacher gives her students a 5 to 10 warning to move on to the next subject or finish their
assignment.
The teacher will remind students about the classroom rules.
The rules are listed at the front of the classroom. The teacher
will call out a rule to remind students to behave. Such as voice
quiet, eyes watching, ears listening, and body still. There are
also rules that the school set for the students as well.
The classroom has a Smartboard.
The tables formed in a plus shape. There is an open space in the
middle to keep the student's distance.
There are books and supplies around the classroom. During guided
reading, they have pillows and chairs. Students can sit around the
room and read.
Reflection
I have notice how important it is for a student to
interact with the teacher as well as your classmates.
Having a connection and building a relationship to get
to know your student behaviors, learning techniques
and characteristics.
Teaching in the classroom, you must be organized and have
backup plan. Having supplies and materials ready when teaching
the assignment. Having your things organized is key to not stress
out. Mrs. Seppa was very organized and knew what she needs to
do in order her lesson plan to work.
Taking care of a lot of student and being the only adult
in the classroom is very challenging. Seeing how Mrs.
Seppa knows how to deal with a student's behavior or
noticing how loud the classroom is getting and being
able to quickly fix the situation.
The classroom is very spacious, which is beneficial for the
students to be able to stretch, move, and can switch sitting
locations instead of staying in one location and sitting at the chair
for a very long time. I liked how Mrs. Seppa understands that
students need to keep their blood flowing in order to focus on
their activity and be comfortable at the same time.

Indicators
Communication
Learning outcomes,
expectations, directions,
explanation of content, use of
vocabulary
Questioning and Discussion
Bloom’s taxonomy, pedagogical
cycle, wait time
Student Participation
Techniques
How are they participating?
What is required of them?
Differentiated Instruction
Student interests, culture,
incorporated into activities and
assignments; examples of
multiple intelligences/ learning
styles
Grouping of Students
Whole class, small groups, pairs,
individuals
Pacing
Gaining attention, transitions,
reflection, closure, wait time
Teaching
Examples
The teacher will demonstrate or share an example of how to do the assignment. She will ask
questions and repeat directions. There will be times where she will practice not sharing an
example rather than explaining step by step.
She uses rhyming words or simple songs to help them remember. For example, R-E-D red
R-E-D red that spells red. Or even movements that support students to remember.
How students participate is by raising their hands.
They are constantly moving. The students will be seated at the tables or sitting on the floor. On
the floor, there are numbers to which they are assigned. They talked to a student next to or
around them. The students share and discuss with each other.
Asking questions.
Raise their hands.
Give students a chance to talk.
They have classroom jobs/roles that they switch out every
week.
There will be some activities where they draw what they are interested
in.
There will be times where the teacher would explain that not all
students celebrate a holiday.
The teacher would have to reword the word parent to a trusted adult or
someone in your household rather than saying, mom and dad.
Small groups or being solo during Guided reading.
Some students would be pulled out to meet with a different teacher.
When sitting on the floor, they have a student-to-student conversation.
The teacher would give them the warning to wrap up.
She would re-ask the main question.
She does not rush the students to finish. She would give them
a bit more time to clean up their tables and put things away.
Reflection
Communication and education are important for teachers to
understand their students and students to understand their
teacher. When talking to the teacher you could ask questions to
have a better understanding. Not communicating can lead to a
disaster and confusion.
I like how Mrs. Seppa creates a constant movement that allows students
to move their seats. Students can sit at their tables or sit on the floor
which allows them to focus and be comfortable rather than sitting in a
chair for six to seven hours a day. When sitting on the floor they are
allowed to discuss as a group or to discuss with their shoulder partner.
When discussing they are able to express their thoughts and ask
questions.
Participation in education is key to see if they understand what you're talking
about. It could either be raising their hands or taking turns to talk. It is important for
students to speak. In a kindergarten class, Mrs. Seppa gives out jobs in the
classroom. Where students participate in helping around the classroom. I think it's
a great idea where every week, new students can participate in accomplishing
those jobs. Every student gets a chance to participate, which is a good thing to
have and be fair.
When giving instructions, there will be times where students are visual
learners or auditory learners. When it comes to a kindergarten class, it's
better to show how it is done rather than telling them how it is done. I
realize how important it is that every student is different and that comes
with a different background. Not everyone celebrates the same holiday or
religion. Not every student has a mom or dad. It's those little things that
really affect the student's behavior.
When grouping students there will be times where it's necessary to be paired with partners or working alone.
In some cases like Guided reading where Mrs. Seppa gives options to the students to either read alone or
work with her on activities about sounding out letters, words, or vowels. During guided reading, students would
be pulled out to work with a teacher and other students from the same grade level but different classrooms.
There will be other activities where they will be paired up into two and discuss their ideas or when it's a
read-aloud the whole class joins in to discuss. It really depends on the subject and how you want to group
students.
Letting them know in advance when an activity is about to end is a way
to help students not to be stressed. As well as not rushing into the next
activity. Giving time for them to transition and clean up. Even if the
activity was expected to end a long time ago. Give the students time to
finish up, clean up their mess, and put things away.

Indicators
Student Background
Concepts, skills, prerequisites,
student abilities, learning styles, struggles that they need to work on.
level of need
Learning Outcomes
Linked to standards within and
outside of discipline
Learning Activities
Design, enhancement of student
learning, challenging,
multicultural, supportive of
group learning, supportive of
diverse student population
Assessment
Formative, summative, aligned
to learning outcomes that drive
planning and instruction
Lesson Planning
Examples
The teacher has a binder of students' names. It When it comes to a student background it is necessary
keeps track of the students' progress and
she would teach a student one on one
She sits students near her table for the ones
that need more help.
At the school district, they have tickets that are
called Gator golds. These tickets represent the
student's behavior that they are respectful,
responsible, and have a positive attitude.
During a curriculum, there will be some
students that will be pulled out from the
classroom. Meeting with teachers that teach
speech, ELL, etc.
There will be fun projects and read-aloud
where students can connect and discuss.
Meeting with the teacher one on one
Putting groups into 3 –4
Creating fun activities to test the students
Working on Letters, Reading, Writing, Vowels, etc.
Reflection
to have notes from each student about their skill, their
abilities, learning styles, and what level of assistance
they need in order to approve. Mrs. Seppa talks about
how she has a binder that lists each student's
progress and struggles. This helps her by focusing on
how to improve their skill. When meeting the student,
what activities can she could do to create a better
understanding of their education.
Occasionally, it's better to reward the student’s
behavior, improvement, and accomplishment.
Students should know that working hard pays off and
there will be times that it will be difficult but it doesn't
mean to give up.
Having a classroom full of diverse cultures shows
other students that there's not one language we speak
or culture we celebrate. It gives them an opportunity to
grow an understanding of multicultural and different
languages. Luckily, at the school that I went to
observed there are programs that help students with
speech and learning English. It is important to help
students that are struggling speaking the language
that everyone speaks.
When testing students, it is easy to scatter different
learning levels into a group, creating fun activities for
them to work on, and to reward with stickers. With
students that are struggling, it is important to work one
on one with them. Giving them motivation and positive
comments on their work.

Indicators
Expectations
Criteria, how is it communicated activity should've ended, giving feedback to the about expectations in the classroom and give
to students?
Monitoring student learning
How does the teacher monitor
student learning? How do
students self-monitor?
Feedback
Timely, substantive,
constructive, teacher proximity,
guidance, reflection
Classroom Layout
Arrangement of furniture,
resources for student use,
technology integration
Assessment Style
Formative, summative
Grading
Traditional, standards-based
Assessment
Examples
I think the teacher gives examples of how an I think it's important to communicate with students
students and reflecting on their actions. feedback on their work.
The teacher would monitor the students learning by keeping a
binder showing what level of learning. What are their
struggles/challenges, and how can they improve.
Students have a booklet where they have practiced words and
letters and sound out syllables to review at home.
Throughout the day, the teacher has breaks to review and reflect on
the outcome of the lesson plan.
Asking herself what she can improve and make changes for next time.
Make a note to yourself.
The classroom layout is very spacious, and there's room
to stretch and move.
The tables face the smart board to see the screen.
They have supplies and books nearby for them to use.
The assessment style is formative.
The teacher goes by helping the students to
learn and practice. Learning to improve, and
supporting their needs.
The students are graded by their performance.
Each student has a goal.
Every student is different by the level of learning.
Reflection
I've noticed how keeping a spreadsheet or taking notes on each
student benefits learning makes it simple and focus on the
students' struggles and what level they're at when it comes to
Learning. It helps the teacher to monitor the students' academic
and decides what do we need to improve that student’s learning
capability.
I've noticed that not only giving feedback to the students but as a
teacher because it shows that we should improve the next time
we do the activity and let us calculate how long the activity lasted.
As well as did it work out as we planned on the lesson plan. Its
key information to let us know what we should in to improve for
the better.
One of the key ideas when it comes to education is having a classroom organized,
spacious, and having everything in one place. Mrs. Seppa’s classroom was
comfortable to the point where you don't feel claustrophobic. Everything was
organized. Students were able to reach and find resources they needed. Having
the Smartboard, is a privilege to have in a classroom, it helped to make activities
smoother and projecting videos and music easier.
The style of assessment has improved by testing the student's
progress throughout the course and giving feedback. Which in
this case Mrs. Seppa focused on helping the students to improve
and support their educational needs. I think it is important for
students to make progress throughout the course and focus on
completing one part of a subject their struggling in.
In the classroom that I observed, grading has changed over the years starting with
traditional grading, which is test scores, quizzes, and trying to get a specific letter
grade transforming into standard-based grading which is measuring the students'
academic performance. It seems to me it's more reasonable because each
student has a different learning level and a goal to achieve towards their
education. Having the students being tested does not benefit their learning at all,
it just makes it more complicated and challenging.