Thomas College Student Teaching Observation Record

Student Teacher: Mackenzi Veilleux

Mentor Teacher: Elise Theriault
Date/Time Observed: February 15, 2022
Observed by: Elise Theriault - Grade 3 Teacher

Today’s Lesson Focus:

● ​Mackenzi taught a lesson out of our Patterns of Power (POP) Lesson 13.3. The
lesson is focused on using adjectives after the verb.
● Mackenzi created a mystery bag item (cereal) where students had to explain
what the items sounded like, felt like, smelt like, and tasted like. Miss. Veilleux
created a PowerPoint presentation and a worksheet for students to work on for
additional practice and for her to be able to assess to see if students understand
the lesson.
● The class is made up of 18 students. During the time of this lesson, all students
were in the classroom. There are 9 boys and 9 girls in the classroom.
● Seven students in the class have IEPs and receive special education services
and one student has a 504 plan. There are a lot of behavior and
accommodations Mackenzi had to make in order to meet the needs of all
learners.

While student teaching, the student must demonstrate growth in each of the Maine
Standards
for the Certification of Teachers. As the observer, please circle the level by which you
feel the
student-teacher is currently achieving, as well as any notes that may contribute to our
understanding of how the student-teacher is demonstrating the standards.
____________________________________________________________________

Standard 1: Learner Development

The teacher understands how students learn and develop, recognizing that
patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the
cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and
implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning
experiences.

Not Observed. Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes:
● The Teacher recognizes differences in learning speeds, patterns, needs,
and accommodates and differentiates for those needs.
○ Throughout the lesson, Mackenzi had a PowerPoint Presentation for
students to follow along which was projected for students to see. The
worksheet was used to have students stay on track with the lesson
during the activity. Mackenzi gave spelling for students who needed
the spelling for words in order for all students to be able to
 participate in the lesson.
○ Accommodations for special education students:
■ Additional time to complete the worksheet
■ Additional support
■ Spelling for words was given
■ All words on the worksheet and PowerPoint were read out
loud for all students
■ Multi-step instructions were given for all students to follow
along with the activity and worksheet

Things to work on next lesson:

● Post lesson we talked about how you might break this lesson down into two
separate lessons. One will be the PowerPoint and more examples for they
understand the concept more before doing the interactive/ engaging activity

Things you might look for while observing:

-Teacher recognizes differences in learning speeds, patterns, needs, and
accommodates and differentiates for those needs. -Teacher recognizes that each
student may need something different to achieve common goals.
-Interest in concepts varies amongst students, teacher works to create interest in
concept from each student in the class.
___________________________________________________________________

Standard 2: Learning Differences

The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse
cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that
allow each learner to reach his/her full potential.

Not Observed Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes:
● Teacher recognizes that there is not “one way” to teach and learn.
○ Teacher created a PowerPoint presentation and worksheet for students to
follow along with. This was a hands-on, engaging lesson. All words on
PowerPoint were read out loud to the entire class. Directions and all words
on the worksheet were read out loud as well to the entire class. This
lesson was presented as a whole class lesson. Students who needed help
with spelling were given the appropriate accommodation.
● The teacher works to create visual, auditory, and hands-on instruction to help
each type of learner.
○ Mackenzi was able to create an engaging lesson where students
had to figure out what different types of linking adjectives are after a
verb. Students got a mystery bag of an item (cereal) where students
had to think about what the item sounds like, feels like, smells like,
and tastes like. Students were very engaged because they wanted to
 figure out what the mystery item was. The worksheet that was
created was an excellent supplemental material because it kept
students focused on what they were supposed to be learning instead
of being distracted by the activity.
○ Powerpoint, worksheet, activity were all created and used throughout
the lesson

Things you might look for while observing:

-Teacher recognizes that there is not “one way” to teach and learn.
-Teacher works to create visual, auditory, and hands-on instruction to help each type of
learner.
-The teacher recognizes and works to accommodate ESL learners, and students
from different cultures to best support their learning needs.
______________________________________________________________________________

Standard 3: Learning Environments

The teacher works with learners to create environments that support
individual and collaborative learning, encouraging positive social
interactions, active engagement in learning and self-motivation.

Not Observed Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes:

-Teacher works with students to set goals and creates tiered ways to reach those
goals building self-motivation, with support from the educator

● The class is made up of 18 students. During the time of this lesson, all students
were in the classroom. There are 9 boys and 9 girls in the classroom.
● Seven students in the class have IEPs and receive special education services
and one student has a 504 plan. There are a lot of behavior and
accommodations Mackenzi had to make in order to meet the needs of all
learners.
● At the beginning of the lesson, Mackenzi used a transition song to help the class
stay on task to be ready for the lesson. Each time the class is ready by the end of
the song, they get to pick a sticky note off their reward system. Right now,
students are work towards and movie and popcorn party.
● As a whole class, this class needs a lot of reminders to stay on task. Mackenzi
did repeat reminders to the class to keep students on task.
● Students were getting out of their seats during the lesson because it was a
different and “exciting” lesson but redirection was given to those students

Notes:

● Next lesson try to focus on positive behaviors you are seeing instead of negative.
Looking at the students who are sitting in their seats and saying I like how “_____” is
sitting and listening to the next direction.
● ^this is a difficult transition to make but it can be more effective to call on the models of
the class to show what the expectation is
 Things you might look for while observing:
-Teacher creates a safe, trusting learning environment, using support and positive
feedback to promote risk-taking and academic and social
growth.
-Teacher works with students to set goals and creates tiered ways to reach those
goals building self-motivation, with support from the educator
.______________________________________________________________

Standard 4: Content Knowledge

The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and
structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning
experiences that make these aspects of the discipline accessible and
meaningful for learners.

Not Observed Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes: -While observing, the educator is knowledgeable in the content they are
presenting.

● Miss. Veilleux took time to create Powerpoint and worksheet with activities before
teaching the lesson
● Provided multiple examples for students to learn from before coming up with their
own

-Teacher can provide help when students are grappling with new content, without giving
answers.
● Miss. Veilleux asked good questions throughout the lesson to prompt students
● Miss. Veilleux asked the class if they remembered what a noun was. She also
asked for someone to describe what an adjective is. This activities students prior
knowledge because previous POP lessons have been covered about these
topics.

Things you might look for while observing:

-While observing, the educator is knowledgeable in the content they are presenting.
-Teacher can provide help when students are grappling with new content, without giving
answers.
-Teacher can engage students in deeper level thinking about topics being taught.
______________________________________________________________________

Standard 5: Innovative Applications of Content

The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use different
perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking and collaborative
problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.

Not Observed Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes:
-The teacher engages learners in applying content to real-world problems.
● Created visual and worksheet to go along with engaging lesson
● Miss. Veilleux asked good questions throughout the lesson to check for
understanding
○ Teacher -​​“What’s an adjective”
○ Students “it’s a type of word.
○ Teacher “Correct but what does this word do?”
○ Student “it is similar to a noun”
○ The teacher corrected and stated that an adjective describes a noun.
● Mackenzi displayed examples of adjectives and a sentence on the PowerPoint
presentation. A linking verb is a world that connects the noun in a sentence to the
adjective.

Things you might look for while observing:

-The teacher engages learners in applying content to real world problems.
-The teacher engages students in questioning and challenging of
assumptions to foster critical thinking. -Teacher brings different perspectives
into content delivery, to expand their understanding of local and global
issues.
_____________________________________________________________

Standard 6: Assessment
The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to
engage learners in their own growth, document learner progress, and
guide the teacher's ongoing planning and instruction.

Not Observed Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes:

● Teacher created worksheets to go along with the lesson which provided

evidence of understanding for students. Even though this was a whole class
lesson, students had to follow along and come up with their own ideas before
figuring out what the mystery item was
● Students had to put their pencils in the air when they wrote their guess to check
to see when they could move on

Things you might look for while observing:

-Teacher uses different forms of formative and summative assessment to
judge student learning and readiness. -Teacher uses data from the
assessment to plan further instruction and find gaps in learning.
-Teacher uses quality assessments to show student performance and learning.
________________________________________________________________________

Standard 7: Planning for instruction

The teacher draws upon knowledge of content areas, cross-disciplinary
skills, learners, the community, and the pedagogy to plan instruction that
supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals.

Not Observed Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes:
-Lessons are clear, concise, have a scope and sequence and are well planned.
● Followed district grade-level curriculum map
● There are only certain POP lessons that are supposed to be completed each
month. Mackenzi has done a great job following the curriculum maps and
completing these lessons.

Notes for next lesson:

-The observer can speak to students in class and get a clear idea of what it is the
student is working on, and where they feel they are in their
learning.

● Go over the “I can statement” see if you can get a student to explain what they
are going to be working on during the next lesson

Things you might look for while observing:

-Lessons are clear, concise, have a scope and sequence and are well planned.
-Goals of lessons are clear to students both visually and within the framework of the
lesson being taught, and are referenced often. -Observers can speak to students in
class and get a clear idea of what it is the student is working on, and where they feel
they are in their
learning.
______________________________________________________________________

Standard 8: Instructional Strategies

The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to
encourage learners to develop a deep understanding of content areas
and their connections, and to build skills to access and appropriately
apply information.

Not Observed Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes:
-Teacher uses projects, technology, experiments, discussion,to deepen the knowledge
of content amongst their class.
● Created Powerpoint, worksheet, hands-on activity to engage learning
● Students had to use sense to figure out different words to help them understand
 what Miss. Veilleux meant as “describe”
● All students were able to participate in this activity

Things you might look for while observing:

- “One size does not fit all.”
-Teacher uses projects, technology, videos, lecture, experiments, discussion, group
work, etc. to deepen the knowledge of content amongst their
class.
-Teacher utilizes reading articles, online web-based information, research
skills, etc. to deepen knowledge.
______________________________________________________________

Standard 9: Reflection and Continuous Growth

The teacher is a reflective practitioner who uses evidence to continually
evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and
actions on others (students, families, and other professionals in the
learning community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each
learner.

Not Observed Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes:

-Teacher reflects on lessons and adapts and makes changes as necessary.

● I met with Miss. Veilleux after she taught the lesson. She stated that next time
she would have split this lesson into two parts. Part one would be the Powerpoint
and to go over more examples. The second part would be the activity and the
worksheet to make sure students understood what was being taught
● She felt like she went through the Powerpoint about adjectives quickly. She
wished she would have given more examples before the activity
● Due to our schedule, we have two 25 minute periods of time to fit in quick
mini-lessons which can be hard to get used to
● Ms. Veilleux stated that she would like to have the students come up with
adjectives before the activity to check more for understanding
● Miss. Veilleux demonstrated that she is a reflective teacher and that she thinks
about what she teaches after the lesson is complete. She comes up with ways to
make changes in the future to do it better next time. She can identify issues with
the lesson even though overall the lesson went really well.

-Teacher is able to “shift gears on the fly” when a lesson is not meeting the intended
goals.

Things you might look for while observing:

-Teacher reflects on lessons and adapts and makes changes as necessary.
-Teacher notices ineffective instruction and is able to update approaches to better serve
students.
 -Teacher creates growth goals for themselves and works to achieve those goals.
-Teacher is able to “shift gears on the fly” when a lesson is not meeting the intended
goals.
_______________________________________________________________________

Standard 10: Collaboration

The teacher seeks appropriate leadership roles and opportunities to take
responsibility for student learning, to collaborate with learners, families,
colleagues, and other school professionals, and community members to
ensure learner growth, and to advance the profession

Not Observed Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes:

-Teacher seeks feedback from fellow educators and mentors teachers about lessons
and units.

● Mackenzi collaborated with her student teacher mentor to make sure the POP
lessons are fit into the weekly lessons and to make sure the third-grade
curriculum map is being followed which is mandatory to ensure the same content
is being taught across all of the third-grade classrooms.

Things you might look for while observing:

-Teacher seeks feedback from fellow educators and mentors teachers about lessons
and units.
-Teacher shares new ideas with fellow staff and administration to better overall school
success.
-Teacher uses meetings with the community and parents, to better understand their
learners.
-Teacher seeks out roles of leadership within the building.
_______________________________________________________________________

Standard 11: Technology Standards for Teachers

Effective teachers model and apply the National Educational Technology
Standards for Students, as they design, implement, and assess learning
experiences to engage students and improve learning; enrich professional
practice; and provide positive models for students, colleagues, and the
community. All teachers will meet the standards.

Not Observed. Needs Improvement Emerging Proficient Advanced

Notes:
-Teacher uses technology effectively, to support learning as a tool.
● Created Powerpoint
 ● Use of document camera to display the worksheet
● Played transition song to single transition for class to get ready for the lesson.
When the students beat the song, they are able to take a post-it off their positive
reward system and earn a popcorn movie party in the future

Things you might look for while observing:

-Teacher uses technology effectively, to support learning as a tool.
-Teacher utilizes google classroom, apps, and other tech-based tools to deepen
knowledge and further student engagement.