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Tannye Stewart

Grand Canyon University

EAD-530

Dr. Deis

October 26, 2022

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Clinical Field Experience D: Beginning Teacher Observation and Feedback

Summary of Pre-Conference, Observation, and Post Conference

I am the only new teacher at Riverside Elementary. Alongside me, are three new

paraprofessionals. Mrs. Loncon is technically a veteran teacher at Riverside Elementary.

However, she is unfamiliar with the new reading curriculum the school has implemented this

year. Also, this is her first time teaching first grade. She taught fifth grade for the last 11 years.

Our principal, Mrs. Jones, observed her last week while she taught the new reading curriculum. I

was fortunate to have a pre-conference with Mrs. Loncon in her classroom and attend the

observation. “A trusting relationship between school administration and teachers is a crucial

component of the educational process” (Parker, 2019, p. 1). Before the meeting occurred, I

informed Mrs. Loncon in a comforting and professional manner that I was there to collaborate

with her and discuss how she planned to implement her lesson for her observation. I encouraged

her to collaborate with me. I did not want her to see me as the enemy. I have taught the reading

curriculum she was getting observed on for the past eight years. I thought it would be a good

idea to identify her objectives for the lesson, how to improve the capacity of student learning,

and help her effectively teach the reading lesson that would lead her students to achieving the

objective. Also, I explained the coaching process to Mrs. Loncon. Afterwards, she showed me

her lesson objectives for her future lesson: “I can decode, comprehend, and answer questions

about a given text with fluency and accuracy.” Furthermore, she explained what activities and

resources she planned to use during her lesson: (1) a Google Slides presentation to introduce the

story topic, unfamiliar spellings, new vocabulary within the text, and oral comprehension

questions, (2) a Gran book, and (3) a workbook page where the students would answer questions

about the story from their Gran book.

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We summarized the lesson piece by piece to reflect on the structure of the lesson as I

asked her questions such as “How do you plan to assess your students’ prior knowledge on this

story from their Gran book? What terminology do the students need to grasp to comprehend the

story from their Gran book? How will you introduce the vocabulary words from the text to the

students?” We discussed how it would be easy to assess students’ prior knowledge of the text by

showing them a vocabulary word and a picture that aligns with that word. Then, the students

would have to speak with their partners about what the vocabulary word means or what they

think it means based off the given picture or from previous conversations. We discussed teaching

strategies she could use to scaffold learning. We thought the Total Physical Response approach

may be a good idea for small children who would benefit from acting out some of the vocabulary

words to gain a foundational understanding. “Total Physical Response (TPR) is a method of

teaching language or vocabulary concepts by using physical movement to react to verbal input.

The purpose of TPR is to create a brain link between speech and action to boost language and

vocabulary learning” (Frost, 2016, p. 1).

How a teacher introduces and reads a story can influence student engagement and

motivation to learn. I asked Mrs. Loncon, “How will the resources you mentioned help increase

student engagement?” We reflected on the Google Slides presentation she bought that was

bright, contained big print, and had eye-catching pictures. By using her presentation, Mrs.

Loncon visually stimulated the students to participate in her lesson. The students were actively

engaged during the presentation. The media resource that was used assisted students with prior

knowledge building and captured their interest in the story from their Gran book.

Not all students learn the same way. I asked Mrs. Loncon, “How do you plan to monitor

student learning?” and “How do you plan to incorporate differentiation throughout your lesson?”
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We reflected on the material within the Google Slides presentation and the various questions she

could ask her students to assess their knowledge. When it came to answering oral comprehension

questions, I encouraged her to give her students a sentence frame. With a sentence frame,

students are essentially restating the question and giving an answer in a complete sentence. For

students that need a further challenge, she planned to ask more inferential and evaluative

questions that required an answer not directly found within the text. We collaborated and

discussed some options that would be beneficial to her and her students.

A behavior management system needs to be in place for a lesson to be effective and

paced accordingly. We reflected on different strategies Mrs. Loncon could use to reinforce

positive behavior and communicate effectively with her students in an engaging and safe

learning environment. I asked Mrs. Loncon, “What strategies would you implement in your

classroom to build a trusting, safe, and positive classroom environment?” We reflected on how

she should review the classroom rules and ask students for examples on how to be a good

classroom citizen.

While observing the lesson, Mrs. Loncon was confident while teaching. Her students

were actively engaged and participating in all the lesson activities. She was very positive and

used a calm tone with her students. She never raised her voice to reprimand a student. She used

positive modeling through her language and behavior. She exhibited an enthusiastic and

engaging personality that influenced her students to be more involved.

Mrs. Loncon kept her teacher manual close by because her manual had all her notes for

the lesson she was being observed on. She followed the lesson and its pacing guide. Throughout

her lesson, Mrs. Loncon was able to identify struggling students that were not fully grasping the

new vocabulary terms, were having difficulty decoding the story, and/or finding the
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comprehension questions too difficult to answer. There were some classroom distractions, such

as students being too hyper and shouting out during the lesson. However, Mrs. Loncon

effectively addressed these distractions with a phrase like “I love how Elijah is waiting his turn

and raising his hand to speak!” By referencing the positive behavior shown by another student,

most of the distractions lessened. The workbook page where the students had to answer

comprehension questions about the story served as an effective formal assessment. The words

used in their sentences were mainly decodable and tricky words. Mrs. Loncon gave support to

her students by giving them a sentence frame to use when answering their questions on their

workbook page. I felt that Mrs. Loncon would benefit more from our post-conference meeting if

we were to discuss and reflect on how she delivered her reading lesson to her students.

“The purpose of instructional feedback and coaching is always to support and help

teachers grow as professionals, which filters to better instruction for students” (Chapuis, 2012, p.

2). During the post-conference, I concentrated on the notes and data I obtained from the

observation. I asked Mrs. Loncon to reflect on how the improvements made to her reading lesson

during the pre-conference impacted her observed lesson overall, how the strategies/skills she

acquired could be utilized in her future lesson planning and would she have planned her reading

lesson differently knowing what she does now. I provided her with positive feedback such as

how her students found her and her classroom setting to be warm, welcoming, and safe. I told her

that the students responded well to her enthusiasm and were more engaged. Also, I

complimented her on how engaging her Google Slides presentation was. As an observer, even I

was engaged in her media presentation. In addition, I provided Mrs. Loncon with constructive

feedback on how the story she read aloud to her students should have been the same book with

the same publication year as her students’. The teacher’s Gran book had different illustrations
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and the language was worded slightly different compared to the students’ Gran books. To

conclude the post-conference, I congratulated Mrs. Loncon on collaborating with me during the

coaching process. We reviewed the expectations discussed during our pre-conference. Mrs.

Loncon claimed to enjoy the coaching process and that her expectations were met. She was

grateful for my insight on how to plan the reading lesson effectively and the feedback I provided

her during the post-conference. She asked if I was available in the future to help her plan future

reading lessons. I readily agreed.

Recommendations for Effective use of Technology (B)

I made a few recommendations to Mrs. Loncon about the effective use of Google Slides

presentations within her reading lessons. First, I informed her that each slide should not be

overwhelmed by text. She needed to keep the text on each slide short and concise. Second, I told

her that her font and color for her text on each of her slides should be easily readable. For

example, her students would not be able to read text in yellow. Third, I encouraged her to include

pictures, animations, and embedded videos to improve her presentation. Because Google Slides

are an effective tool to use during first grade lessons, it would benefit Mrs. Loncon to know how

she can successfully improve her lesson delivery and presentation. In addition, I advised Mrs.

Loncon to have the vocabulary words and spellings within the text bolded and enlarged on her

Google Slides presentation. By doing this, the students recognize the emphasis placed on the

given terminology. I also imparted some advice I learned while teaching the current reading

curriculum. I informed Mrs. Loncon how helpful it is to bold the long vowels when presenting

new spellings and bold the tricky words. The bolded long vowels and tricky words are seen as a

reminder to the students on how a particular word should be sounded out and/or which words are

tricky words. “Bold is used to highlight the text and capture the readers’ attention” (Hallur, 2021,
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p. 3). Furthermore, I gave Mrs. Loncon the chance to reflect on how setting up a game board on

her Google Slides presentation would be an engaging activity for her students to participate in.

For example, she could split the slide and students in half and ask each group questions about the

vocabulary and text. If a group answers a question correct, she could have students digitally

move an object onto their side of the slide. This would represent them earning a point. The use of

these animations and multi-media activities could enhance a lesson presentation.

Promotion of Collaboration, Trust, and Personalized Learning Environment (B)

“The key concept behind these meaningful conversations is that they work best when

observer and teacher come together as equals, to learn together” (McVey, 2018, p. 4). When the

observer and the teacher collaborate with one another to create a strong lesson that positively

influences student learning, then you know the coaching process was a success. The observer and

the teacher not only influence student learning, but they also build a school culture based on

collaboration and trust. I made sure to let Mrs. Loncon know that I cared how she was doing and

how she felt during the coaching process. I understood that this was a new grade and curriculum

she was being forced to teach and was unfamiliar with. Being unfamiliar with something can

sometimes induce fear of the unknown. My goal was for Mrs. Loncon to feel empowered and

safe during the pre-conference, observation, and post-conference. I did not want her to feel as if I

was negatively judging her and not providing quality feedback. I went into the coaching process

with Mrs. Loncon knowing I wanted to have meaningful conversations with her while supporting

her any way I possibly could. I enjoyed planning with Mrs. Loncon and observing her. I also

enjoyed working with her as a fellow first grade teacher. After the post-conference, we both felt

confident in the coaching process and the planning and reflection it entailed.

Self-Awareness, Vulnerability, Transparency, and Ethical Behavior (B)

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Authentic leaders demonstrate self-awareness when they reflect on their own strengths,

vulnerabilities, and ethics. I know I am not yet an expert on implementing technology effectively

in the classroom or the various strategies that could be used with technology. I have much to

learn on that topic and eventually will. I make sure to be vulnerable with the other teachers. It

can be terrifying, but open communication will build trust between us. I reiterate to the teachers

that I have coached that I am not an expert in everything. I have my weaknesses just like them.

However, we can all learn, reflect, and grow within the education field. By being transparent

with the teachers I am coaching and working with, I am allowing myself to learn, reflect, and

grow as a future administrator. Lastly, I am responsible for showcasing strong ethical behavior in

the education field. During the coaching process, I can promote further success by building

collaborative and trusting relationships with those I coach. My goal is to empower the teachers

around me and to positively influence them to further their students’ growth.

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References

Chapuis, J. (2012, September). Instructional Feedback & Coaching. Principal’s Playbook,

p. 2. https://www.theprincipalsplaybook.com/instructional-leadership/instructional-

feedback-coaching

Frost, R. (2016). Total Physical Response (TPR). The Teacher Toolkit, p.

1. https://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/total-physical-response-tpr

Hallur, A. (2021, July 29). Bold, Italics, and Underlines: How to Use Them

Effectively? Blogging, p. 3. https://bloggingx.com/bold-italics-and-underlines-in-blog-

posts/

McVey, D. (2018, March 8). Post observation conversations with teachers, about learners:

Guidance for observers, p. 4. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/post-observation-

conversations-teachers-learners-guidance-mcvey

Parker, W. (2019, November 25). Administrator-Teacher Relationships: Building Trust.

Graduate Programs for Educators, p. 1. https://webmail.stpsb.org/owa/