Elisabeth Krinos
Observation/Get to Know You Log
LOG Format
CHILD Day of the WEEK Content: Strengths and/or
with DATE Weaknesses
(Choose 1 or 2 Name the content area and state
days per week only what you observed (hear and
depending on see)
days in the field)
Child 1 F- 1/28 Math- Subtraction- focus is on
subtracting single dight and
double-digit numbers (0-20).
The student did not use any
strategies to solve and
consistently guessed the answers
to each subtraction problem.
Child 1 F- 1/28 ELA – Writing – focus is on
writing something relating to a
story topic.
The student chose to not write a
full sentence and wrote the entire
alphabet instead. The student was
eager to participate in the activity
and chose the simpler writing
option for the activity.
Child 1 W- 2/2 Math – Addition – focus is on
Additional Thoughts:
(i.e.: observed learning style,
S/E). You may now add some
personal interpretation here.
Student one was upset and
distracted today, as it is the
student’s second week at the
school. He seems to need more
assistance with using strategies
in math. The student missed
several lessons on strategies at
this school and it is possible
that they were not taught at
the student’s old school. The
student may need additional
practice, guidance, and
reminders when using
strategies in math.
The student may not be
confident in their writing
abilities because they did not
choose to write a sentence
relating to the story. The
student was also moving
around throughout various
lessons and could not stay in
one place. This may indicate
that the student is interested in
ELA lessons, but learns better
through
interactive/manipulative
activities that can keep the
student’s attention. This may
imply a kinesthetic learning
style. The student was able to
focus on this writing lesson
because it allowed the student
to move around and build.
This student typically struggles
 solving addition problems using
the dot strategy
During the group lesson, this
student was not automatic in
their responses to the addition
problems. The student would
repeat the answer after other
students yelled out the answer.
The student finished the addition
worksheet quickly, by using the
touchpoint strategy.
Child 1 W- 2/2 ELA – Writing – focus is on
writing sentences, using
prompts, based on information
from a polar bear informative
text.
This student followed along with
the teacher, as she went through
each example with the students.
The student did not fall behind or
move ahead of the instruction.
Child 1 W-2/9 Math – Counting to 100 – focus is
on grouping manipulatives into
10 groups to count to 100
This student took a long time to
understand the directions. The
student asked questions about
the directions several times. The
teacher provided consistent
reminders. The student was
grouping the manipulatives by
color, rather than grouping them
into groups of 10 to create 100.
Child 1 W-2/9 ELA - Writing a Paragraph – focus
is on writing a paragraph about
polar bears, using an
introduction and closing
sentence.
This student took a long time to
start the assignment. The student
needed guidance from the
teacher to find facts about polar
bears. The student needed
the most during math lessons,
as they need extra assistance
and reminding of math
strategies. This topic was a
review topic, so the student
picked up on it more quickly
than new topics.
Because the student did not go
ahead or fall behind, this lesson
was most likely on the
student’s instruction level. The
student needed assistance
from the teacher, but was
moving fast enough to
understand how to write each
sentence and where the
information for each sentence
was coming from. The student
seems to enjoy ELA writing
lessons, as the student is
always engaged and follows
along in class.
This student may need
directions repeated several
times. The student has come
up to the teacher and teaching
candidate several times to
repeat the directions in
different content areas. The
student may need directions
explained in further detail or
individually.
The teacher needed to provide
prompts for this student to
start the closing sentence, so
this may be a support the
student will need in the future
lessons to create complete
sentences. In general, this
student’s reading level seems
to be on track, based on his
ability to read all words and
 assistance from the teacher to
create the closing sentence.
Child 1 W-2/16 Math – Expanded Form – focus is
on expanding number into an
expanded form, addition
problem.
This student did not need any
help from the teacher to
complete this assignment. He
completed all ten problems
quickly and did not struggle on
any specific problem. He did not
use any strategies, other than
mental math, to complete this
assignment.
Child 1 W-2/16 ELA – Writing – focus is on
writing complete sentences, with
punctuation, spaces, and
capitalization, when answering
comprehension questions.
This student had visible difficulty
making a complete sentence, as
he did not use punctuation or a
capital letter. It took him a long
time to complete the sentences.
He needed several reminders
about spacing, punctuation, and
capitalization. He asked for help
several times.
Child 1 M-2/28 Math – Adding 10 – focus is on
adding 10 to two-digit numbers,
using strategies and mental
math.
This student struggled to
complete an addition worksheet,
focusing on using written
strategies. The student only
completed two problems in five
minutes, so the teacher
individually worked with the
student. When the teacher
modeled and went over
instructions again, the student
was able to complete the
remaining problems more
independently. The student was
focused throughout the lesson
and rarely got distracted.
sentences during reading
groups today.
The student was more
confident on this math topic,
compared to any observed in
the past. It is possible that he
had experience with this topic
at his old school or addition is
an area in math that he is more
confident in. The student is also
developing more focus during
class, possibly because he is
becoming more adjusted to the
school.
The student does not seem
confident in writing, as he
asked several questions and for
help from the teacher. This
student might benefit from
one-on-one support or small
group support during writing.
This student demonstrated a
need for small group and
individual instruction in some
math topics. The student might
benefit from partner or group
work before completely
working independently on
math worksheets. The student
will need to be observed
closely, as he/she does not
typically show signs of visible
struggle or frustration.
Child 1 F-3/2 ELA- Writing – focus is on writing
about mammals using a topic
sentence, details, and a closing
sentence
This student was focused
throughout the writing. The
student was looking back at
his/her graphic organizer to pull
details about mammals for the
writing. The student forgot
capitalization and punctuation
and had to be reminded to
include these in his/her writing.
The student was able to write all
sentences and completed the
assignment with minimal support
from the teacher.
Child 1 M-3/7 Math- two-digit addition – focus
of this lesson is adding two, two-
digit numbers by adding the ones
place, then the tens place.
This student was completing an
addition worksheet and asked the
teaching candidate for help
before trying the first problem on
his/her own. The student stated,
“I don’t know how to do this.” The
student asked if he/she was
correctly adding several times
throughout the worksheet. The
student was able to do each
problem on his/her own, with
consistent reminders about using
his/her number line and fingers.
The student would guess the
answer before using strategies.
The student stated that the paper
was easy after completing several
problems.
Child 1 M-3/7 ELA – writing – focus is on writing
details about a story, specifically,
the story, Bugs, High and Low.
This student was focused during
the group lesson and discussion.
The student was paying attention
to the teacher and was referring
In writing, this student may
benefit from a card or
reminder about
punctuation/capitalization. This
student benefited from the
graphic organizers provided
before writing the complete
paragraph. The student was
most likely able to complete
this assignment with ease
because he/she had multiple
papers to reference while
writing. In future writing
lessons, the student would
benefit from graphic organizers
and references, so the student
can learn independently, with
minimal questions and teacher
support.
As noted in other observations,
this student will need
reminders to use strategies and
may also need to be taught the
strategies briefly during
lessons. The student may also
benefit from having less items
per line for math worksheets,
as he/she takes a long time to
finish a worksheet, compared
to rest of the class. The student
needs a large amount of
individual support during math.
Conferencing with student and
closely monitoring the student
would be beneficial.
As displayed in this
observation, the student
benefited from prompting
when answering questions. The
student may also benefit from
a review of vocabulary, like
closing sentence, when writing.
 back to the story. The student had
trouble answering questions
about the story during the
discussion. He/she took a long
time to answer questions and the
teacher provided a large amount
of prompting. The student
completed the writing worksheet
quickly, referring to the
SmartBoard for answers. The
student made complete
sentences, with correct
capitalization and punctuation.
The student needed some
prompting for the closing
sentence, as he/she asked the
teacher what they were supposed
to write.
Child 1 Th-3/17 Math- 2-dimensional shapes-
focus is on identifying defining
attributes of polygons and
identifying real-life examples of
each shape around the school
This student was visibly excited to
participate in a hands-on activity,
looking for polygons. The student
was focused and writing down
examples of polygons in a journal.
The student was actively
participating in the activity. The
student asked the teacher several
questions about whether or not a
specific object was a polygon. The
student was asking less questions
toward the end of the polygon
hunt.
Child 1 Th-3/17 ELA- writing- focus is on writing
an informative text, with a topic
sentence, 2-3 facts, and a closing
sentence about bumble bees.
This student was focused, sitting
in his seat the entire time, until
completed. The student was slow
finishing his writing, as he took a
lot of time to come up with ideas
for his/her facts. As the teacher
and teaching candidate walked
around, the student expressed
The class has been working on
closing sentences for a while,
but this student may need
additional reminders of how to
create one. Reviewing
vocabulary at the beginning of
the lesson or including
definitions on worksheets
would be beneficial.
This student may have a
kinesthetic learning style, given
he/she clearly learned and
enjoyed the hands-on math
activity. The student was asking
less questions by the end of the
lesson, demonstrating an
understanding of the content.
Providing opportunities for
hands-on learning would be a
beneficial way to differentiate
in future lessons.
This student seems to benefit
from a large amount of
prompting throughout the
writing process. The student
also relies on reminders of key
features within writing, like
what a closing sentence is and
capitalization. For future
lessons, this student would
benefit from these supports
throughout the writing process.
The student also seems to
 several times that he/she did not
know what facts to write about.
The student was able to come up
with 3 facts after some
prompting. The student was given
reminders about capitalization
and a proper closing sentence.
With a large amount of support,
the student accurately completed
the entire piece of writing.
Child 1 M- 3/21 Math- Polygons – focus is on
identifying defining attributes of
rhombuses and squares.
This student was excited to move
around the room to identify one
object that was a rhombus and
square. The student would come
up and tell the teacher about
what he/she found. The student
clearly showed interest and
excitement. The student was able
to accurately complete the papers
on his/her own, identifying how
many corners and sides each
shape had and identifying
whether it was open or closed.
The student remained focused
during this lesson and did not
have any questions for the
teacher while completing the
activities.
Child 1 M- 3/21 ELA – Writing – focus is on
writing sentences about
information from maps.
The student was focused during
the whole group lesson about the
students’ addresses. This student
was able to identify his/her
address. This student struggled to
create a sentence about where
he/she lives. The student took a
long time to get started on the
assignment, requiring a large
amount of prompting from the
teacher. Once the teacher gave
him/her prompt questions, the
student was able to create one
enjoy coming up with his/her
own ideas, so providing
opportunities for choice might
also be beneficial.
This student continues to
demonstrate a kinesthetic
learning style, specifically
showing excitement when
completing activities where
he/she moves around the
classroom or does an
interactive activity. The student
has been successful with
shapes over the last week. The
lessons seem to be at the
student’s instructional level, as
he/she is not bored or asking
many questions. The student
overall was slightly less focused
today, possibly because he/she
is getting over a cold and was
absent yesterday. The student
needed a be reminded of
directions and expectations
many times throughout other
lessons.
The student has struggled with
getting started on assignments,
even in other content areas.
This student would have
benefited from sentence
starters for this assignment.
The student would have been
much quicker getting started
with a sentence starter. He/she
would not have needed as
much prompting. The student
would also benefit from
example sentences, or even a
graphic organizer, to get some
ideas before writing. This
would be a good scaffold for
 sentence, using correct
punctuation and capitalization.
Child 2 F- 1/28 Math- Subtraction- focus is on
subtracting single dight and
double-digit numbers (0-20).
This student completed the
subtraction worksheet at a slow
pace and would use the number
line to solve problems.
Child 2 F- 1/28 ELA – Writing – focus is on
writing something relating to a
story topic.
The student completed one
sentence, with proper spelling
and punctuation, and asked the
teacher candidate to read it, with
excitement. The student showed
interest in the writing activity.
Child 2 W- 2/2 Math – Addition – focus is on
solving addition problems using
the dot strategy
The student completed the
addition worksheet quickly, only
using the touchpoint strategy for
the first one, completing the
majority of the problems using
mental math. The student stated
“I only have three more. This is
easy.”
Child 2 W-2/2 ELA – Writing – focus is on
writing sentences, using
prompts, based on information
from a polar bear informative
text.
The student was actively
participating during the lesson,
raising their hand several times.
the student.
Student two seemed to use a
large amount of mental math,
as the student did not start
using the number line
immediately. The student may
need additional reminders
relating to problem solving
strategies if the student is
struggling to answer a problem.
The student also seems to be a
quiet student, typically working
individually and silently.
The lesson focused on creating
a computer and slate board
relating to a story. The student
showed interest in creating
something. This may indicate
that the student is a hands-on
learner and would benefit from
writing activities focusing on
kinesthetic learning.
The student showed
confidence in this lesson.
Because the lesson was review,
the student was more
confident in their abilities. The
student also talked more with
classmates while completing
the worksheet. This could
mean this topic was not
challenging enough and the
student became bored while
completing the worksheet. The
student may need more
challenging topics or more
interactive activities.
The lesson topic was most
likely interesting to the
student, as the student was
excited to participate. It would
be beneficial in future lessons
to incorporate interesting
topics, so this student is
focused and does not get
 The student followed along with
the teacher, as she went over
each sentence. The student did
not get distracted throughout this
lesson.
Child 2 W-2/9 Math – Counting to 100 – focus is
on grouping manipulatives into
10 groups to count to 100
The student took the entire
allotted time to complete the
activity. The student talked to
other students during the activity.
The student verbalized that
he/she enjoyed the activity. He
counted each of the ten
manipulates and grouped them,
before moving on to another 10.
He did not have any questions
and completed the activity
without any assistance.
Child 2 W-2/9 ELA - Writing a Paragraph – focus
is on writing a paragraph about
polar bears, using an
introduction and closing
sentence.
The student started the paragraph
right away. The teacher and
teacher candidate had to remind
the student to stay on task a few
times. The student forgot
punctuation on several sentences
and needed reminders.
Child 2 W- 2/16 Math – Expanded Form – focus is
on expanding number into an
expanded form, addition
problem.
The student took their time to
complete the first few problems
and asked the teacher candidate
if he/she was doing it correctly.
The student remained calm
throughout the quiz. The student
finished the remaining problems
quickly.
Child 2 W- 2/16 ELA – Writing – focus is on
writing complete sentences, with
distracted with other students.
The sentence writing was most
likely on the student’s
instructional level because they
did not work ahead or fall
behind, like some students in
the class.
The student tends to talk to
other students while he/she
works, even if the activity is an
individual activity. The student
may benefit from group work
or activities that focus on social
interactions, as well as
individual work. This student
may have a kinesthetic learning
style, as he/she verbalized
enjoying the activity and was
able to learn the content.
Because the student needed
reminders about punctuation,
the student may benefit from
additional reminders during
assignments or directions
posted in a variety of ways. The
student generally gets work
done in a timely manner.
This student may need
additional positive feedback, as
they did not seem confident in
their abilities starting the quiz.
Consistent feedback, both
positive and constructive, could
help this student during future
assignments and worksheets.
The student would benefit
from additional support when
 punctuation, spaces, and working with complete
capitalization, when answering sentences. The student may
comprehension questions. have been adamant to use
This student was hesitant to write complete sentences because
a complete sentence. The student they are a challenge. The
stated “Do I have to write in a student might not be able to do
complete sentence? Why?”. The this completely on his/her own
student attempted to write the at this point. Receiving
answers in complete sentences. consistent reminders and
Several sentences were not modeling of complete
complete, lacking capitalization sentences may help this
and punctuation. student.
Child 2 M-2/28 Math – Adding 10 – focus is on Because the student was
adding 10 to two-digit numbers, distracted, it is possible that
using written strategies and he/she found the topic too
mental math. easy or would benefit from a
The student completed each different way of learning. The
addition problem correctly and student may benefit more from
was quick to answer each working in an environment
problem after looking at it. The with more social and peer
student took a large amount of interaction. For times when the
time to complete the worksheet, student needs to work
as he/she was visibly distracted. independently, the student will
The student would talk to other need to be seated in an area
students, slowing his/her progress with few distractions. This may
on the worksheet. When the be around few people or
student was focused and not specific people that the student
talking, he/she completed the typically does not talk with. The
worksheet fast. student might also benefit from
an additional challenge, such as
more problems or more
challenging questions.
Child 2 F- 3/4 ELA- Writing – focus is on writing This student continues to get
about mammals using a topic distracted during his/her work,
sentence, details, and a closing which causes the teacher to
sentence remind him/her to stay on task.
This student had multiple The student benefits from
questions for the teacher about additional reminders, especially
the writing assignment. The regarding staying on task. The
student had the teacher repeat student gets off task
the directions multiple times. The throughout the day, typically
student got distracted talking with talking with a few specific
some of his/her neighbors. The people. The student may need
student was able to complete a to be seated in a specific place
paragraph, glancing back and during lessons to help him/her
forth between the graphic focus. The student will also
organizers. The student wrote need reminded about
correctly on the lines, with punctuation in future writing
 capitalization at the beginning of
each sentence. The student had
to be reminded about
punctuation.
Child 2 M- 3/7 Math- two-digit addition – focus
of this lesson is adding two, two-
digit numbers by adding the ones
place, then the tens place.
This student was focused during
small group math instruction. The
student was asking the teacher
questions about the problems and
was able to complete most
problems on his/her own. The
student used a number line and
touchpoints to solve the
problems. The student took
longer than most students to
complete the additional math
worksheet. When given the
additional math paper, the
student verbally expressed
confusion and needed consistent
reminders to use strategies.
Child 2 M- 3/7 ELA – writing – focus is on finding
details in order to write about a
story, specifically, the story,
Bugs, High and Low.
This student was focused during
the whole group lesson, with
his/her eyes on the SmartBoard.
When the teacher would ask
questions about the story, the
student would enthusiastically
raise his/her hand to answer the
questions. The student was able
to answer the teacher’s questions
correctly by looking back at
his/her book for information. The
student was able to follow along
with the teacher and complete all
of the sentences, with sentence
starters. The student completed
the closing sentence on his/her
own, only asking for help with
spelling.
Child 2 Th- 3/17 Math- 2-dimensional shapes-
lessons, possibly by using a
checklist on a worksheet or a
reminder card.
This student would benefit
from consistent reminders of
directions and strategies. The
student knows how to use
strategies, but seems to get
overwhelmed/confused when
beginning math worksheets.
The student may also benefit
from peer support or working
in pairs, especially when
starting a
worksheet/assignment.
The student was easily able to
complete the sentences, using
the sentence starters that the
teacher provided. For a future
writing lesson, this student
would benefit from sentence
starters, especially when
introducing a writing topic. This
student seems to enjoy
participating in group
discussions. The student is
always eager to answer
questions. Providing various
opportunities for group
discussions within a lesson will
benefit this student.
This student has consistently
 focus is on identifying defining
attributes of polygons and
identifying real-life examples of
each shape around the school
This student was focused
throughout the activity, writing
down examples of polygons in
his/her journal. The student
raised his/her hand several times
throughout the group discussion,
excited to answer questions. The
student would talk to other
students while walking around
the school looking for shapes. The
student was sharing his/her ideas
with other classmates. The
student did not ask the teacher
any questions throughout the
activity, going to other students
first.
Child 2 Th- 3/17 ELA- writing- focus is on writing
an informative text, with a topic
sentence, 2-3 facts, and a closing
sentence about bumble bees
This student was slow to
complete the writing, getting
distracted often. The student
would talk with his/her neighbors
instead of writing. After
reminders from the teacher to
remain on task, this student was
able to complete the piece of
writing. The student followed
directions. The student completed
a topic sentence, facts, and a
closing sentence. The student
asked several questions about
what he/she should write for the
facts. After prompting and
reminders to use ideas on the
board, the student was able to
come up with facts on his/her
own.
Child 2 M-3/21 Math- Polygons – focus is on
identifying defining attributes of
rhombuses and squares.
This student was focused during
the whole group lesson and
demonstrated excitement in
group discussions. This is
something that could be
incorporated into future
lessons, as it seems to benefit
this student’s learning. This
student was able to learn more
from this activity because it
incorporated peer interactions.
The student was able to share
ideas, which allowed him/her
to understand the content
more, given he/she did not ask
many questions. The student
consistently shows that group
discussions and opportunities
for peer interaction would
benefit his/her learning. Hands-
on activities could facilitate this
type of learning.
This student benefits from
prompting and reminders
throughout the writing process.
The student might also benefit
from sentence starters, as
he/she used several examples
from the board for the writing.
This would scaffold learning
and allow the student to write
more independently. This
student also did not seem
interested in this particular
writing, as he/she got
distracted. Providing more
interesting topics that the
student enjoys may benefit the
student.
This student continues to
demonstrate a kinesthetic
learning style, focusing more
during interactive lessons. The
student also played a spelling
 directions, actively participating
by answering the teacher’s
questions. The student was
excited to get up and find a
rhombus and square around the
classroom, stating that he/she
wanted to find more. The student
was able to find a square and
rhombus on his/her own. The
student was able to complete the
entire worksheet, correctly
identifying each defining attribute
for the square and rhombus. The
student forgot to draw each
shape on the worksheet, so the
teacher had to remind him/her.
Child 2 M-3/21 ELA – Writing – focus is on
writing sentences about
information from maps.
This student was interested in the
topic of the lesson. The student
showed excitement when asked
about their address. The student
was able to identify his/her street
number, street name, city, and
state. The student was focused
and clearly actively participating
during the lesson. When writing a
sentence, the student was able to
write one sentence about where
he/she lives with minimal
prompting. After the teacher
discussed that the student could
start with “I live…”, he/she was
able to write a complete
sentence. The student used the
teacher’s sentence starter. The
student lacked focus after writing
the sentence, by beginning to talk
with neighbors.
game today, manipulating
spoons with spelling words,
and was focused throughout
that activity. The student has
clearly demonstrated this
learning style in various
content areas. The student may
benefit from manipulative and
interactive shape and math
activities in the future, as well
as in other subject areas. The
student does not seem to need
too much support in shapes,
specifically.
This student will continue to
benefit from sentence starters.
The student seems to be able
to write complete sentences,
mostly on his/her own, but will
need some support starting
each sentence. Because this
student seemed to finish this
writing assignment quickly and
got distracted once he/she was
done, a longer writing
assignment would be more
appropriate for future lessons.
The student may need to write
2-3 sentences, so that the
student is not finishing too
early and is challenged enough.
 Additional Information on Each Student Based on Conversations with the Mentor Teacher:
Child One

- The mentor teacher stated that this student is new to the school and missed various less ons
relating to math strategies.
- MT has discussed that the student’s weakest subject area seems to be math. She assumes that
his old school must not have discussed some of the strategies that she uses in her classroom.
- MT has discussed the student’s strength in reading, compared to other areas, like math.

Child Two

- The MT mentioned that this student is fairly strong in both math and ELA. In reading groups, the
student is able to read on his/her own and will need minimal support. The student also do es not
need a large amount of support during math, as most topics are at his/her instructional level.