Fullerton Online Teacher Induction Program

Pre/Observation/Post Cycle Form (POP)

Revised 4.20.17
Directions for Preparation for POP Cycle
1. New Teacher (NT) and Mentor (ME) identify date for lesson observation and set dates/times for pre- and post-observation conferences.
2. Minimum three days before lesson delivery, NT prepares POP Cycle Form.
3. NT completes Section 1: New Teacher Information, lesson plan, and Section 2, Part A NT Reflection.
4. NT emails POP Cycle Form and Lesson Plan to ME.
Directions for Pre-Observation
5. Minimum 48 hours before lesson delivery, ME reviews Lesson Plan and Section 2, Part A: New Teacher Reflection; completes Section 2, Part B: ME Feedback.
6. ME shares feedback with NT during pre-observation conference. Lesson plan is adjusted as needed and finalized for delivery.
Directions for Observation and Preparation for Post-Observation Conference
7. During lesson delivery, ME completes Section 3A: ME Observation of Lesson Delivery, noting both Teacher Actions and Student Actions.
8. Prior to Post-Observation Conference, NT reflects on lesson outcomes and completes Part 3B: NT Reflection on Lesson Delivery.
Post Observation Conference Directions:
9. Within 48 hours, NT and ME share notes; discuss lesson observations and outcomes; complete Section 4. All parts should be transcribed into one document and submitted to course instructor. Information is used for ILP.
Section 1: New Teacher Information
New Teacher Email Subject Area Grade Level
tomkanti@g.ucla.edu History/Social Science 6th
Mr. Benitez
Mentor Email School/District Date
dhelena@laalliance.org Kory Hunter MS/Alliance College 03/15/23
Mr. Helena
Ready Public Schools
Content Standard Lesson Objectives Unit Topic Lesson Title
CC.HSS.6.5.1. Locate and describe Students will be able to write a This unit topic is on the ancient Unit 5 DBQ Essay-Part 1
the major river system and clear and coherent introductory civilization of India. The central
discuss the physical setting that paragraph as well as their two theme students will be able to
supported the rise of this clear and coherent body explain by the end of the unit is:
civilization. paragraph by scoring a 3 or What ideas did ancient Indians
higher on this portion of the Unit consider to be the most important
CC.HSS.6.5.5. Know the life and 5 DBQ Essay. to live a better life?
moral teachings of Buddha and
how Buddhism spread in India,
Ceylon, and Central Asia.

CC.WHST.6-8.4 Produce clear and

coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and
style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.
CSTP Element(s) Focus for POP Cycle
1 - Emerging
NT pedagogical skills are newly formed and
just coming into prominence
CSTP Element
4.4
Planning instruction that
incorporates appropriate
strategies to meet the learning
needs of all students
(In semesters 2, 3, 4, copy pertinent elements from ILP for POP Cycle focus.)
2 - Exploring 3 - Applying 4 - Integrating 5 – Innovating
Skills are developing as NT investigates Skills are applied as NT makes Skills are refined as NT combines elements Skills are polished as NT expands ability to
and examines pedagogical practices increased relevant and suitable use into a cohesive and unified pedagogical add new methods and strategies into
of pedagogical choices repertoire pedagogical repertoire
Initial Rating Rating Description (Identify both teacher and student rating for CSTP 1 and 2.)
2-Exploring in
Semester 1.
Now at 3- Lessons are designed so students are synthesizing the work done in
Applying the entire unit to complete their end-of-unit assessment: A 5
paragraph essay that answers the essential question of the unit: What
ideas did ancient Indians consider to be the most important to live a
better life?
3/2/23
Students have taken the last weeks to work on several different
assignments to come up with the information needed to correctly
complete the essay. Students use this information, direct feedback left
by the teacher for some of the information and their own editing skills
to type the 5 paragraph essay. 3/2/23

Students will use all the information they have learned about ancient
India to independently write a thesis that incorporates some of the
main sources of philosophical thought on how to live a better life in
ancient India (Emperor Asoka, Buddhism and Hinduism). They will use
this information to write a restated thesis before diving into the essay.
Students are expected to have finished typing paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 by
the conclusion of the lesson. 3/12/23
POP Cycle, Fullerton Online Teacher Induction Program (FOTIP), 2017. Adapted from CSU Fullerton Titan EDUCATOR Project, 2017. Page 1

Reflecting on teaching
6.1
practice in support of student
learning
Focus Students
 essay include having student-led
Summarize critical needs and how
you will address them during this
lesson.
Inquiry Focus/Special Emphasis
 What is your inquiry focus and/or special emphasis?
 How will you incorporate the inquiry focus and/or
special emphasis into the lesson?
 What specific feedback do you want from your ME?
POP Cycle, Fullerton Online Teacher Induction Program (FOTIP), 2017. Adapted from CSU Fullerton Titan EDUCATOR Project, 2017.
This is structured to have students complete each part of the
paragraph by a certain amount of time (For example, citing evidence
within 5 minutes), while allowing students to work at their own pace.
Students also have access to materials to help them overcome any
issues with understanding what to do during the essay (such as a slide
deck, an essay checklist and an essay rubric). 3/12/23
Almost all activities within the unit are done with the essay in mind. I
have graded most of the assignments which will be used by the
students in their essay, and direct feedback has been left, both so
students know what errors to rectify before the essay will begin and to
provide me with data on how well students comprehended the
2-Exploring in information or if a reteach is necessary. 3/12/23
Semester 1.
Now at 3- After I grade the essay, I can see if students have made any
Applying improvements in comprehending and writing independent arguments
to correctly answer the thematic questions of each body paragraph
and if they made strong reasonings to explain the ideas to answer the
essential question of the unit: What ideas did ancient Indians consider
to be the most important to live a better life? 3/12/23
Section 2: Pre-Observation Conference
Focus Student 1: English Learner Focus Student 2: Student w/ILP/504 Focus Student 3: Your Choice
N.V-This student does well
overall, but can be rushing
through an assignment and
A.B.-Some of their needs include misunderstand the main
B.G-Some of the critical needs
difficulty with reading long texts objective. I will address this by
include her difficulty with writing
and not understanding some checking in to ensure he
for extended periods of time and
academic words due to their EL understands what to do in the
needing time to process
status. Some of the ways this has lesson in addition to reviewing his
information. I will address these by
been addressed leading into the work ahead of time to provide
providing accommodations (such
feedback on both the positive
as sentence starters and additional
guided readings, having the rest of aspects of his work along with
time to turn in the assignment)
the document read in partners and anything that needs to be
plus breaks. In addition, this
discussing certain unfamiliar words adjusted. One specific aspect I
student will receive a graphic
with the class. In addition, direct will do for this student is have
organizer in lieu of the essay plus
feedback has been provided to aid more frequent check-ins besides
be pulled out by the grade-level
with any issues with writing the normal essay monitoring to
RST teacher to work in a private
assignments that will be used in the ensure he comprehends what we
environment.
composition of the essay. are doing and discuss which part
of the essay we are completing
with the essay checklist as the
guide.
Part A: NT Reflection Part B: ME Feedback
Use questions to guide reflection on the lesson plan. Provide feedback on lesson plan reflection.
The inquiry focus for this lesson is for students
to be able to synthesize their thesis and create a
restated thesis to have all parts necessary to
answer the essential question of the unit: What
ideas did the ancient Indians consider to be the
best to live a better life? The remaining time will
be dedicated to working on the essay that will Inquiry focus is clear.
serve as the assessment to determine if
students are able to answer this question in the
5 paragraph DBQ Essay. Feedback would be to
ensure that all students have an understand on
how to write a successful thesis and understand
the purpose of a restated thesis.
Page 2

Inquiry Focus/Students
 What specific feedback regarding your focus students
do you want from your ME?
Specific Feedback
 What additional specific feedback do you want from
your ME regarding lesson implementation?
Instructional Planning
 How is the lesson structured (opening, body, and
closing)?
 What varied teaching strategies and differentiated
instruction will help students meet lesson goals?
 What progress monitoring strategies will be used?
How will results inform instruction?
Student Engagement/Learning
 How will you make the lesson relevant to all the
students?
 How will students show progress towards master of
lesson objectives?
Classroom Management
 How will you maintain a positive learning
environment with a welcoming climate of caring,
respect, and fairness?
 Identify specific classroom procedures and strategies
for preventing/redirecting challenging behaviors.
POP Cycle, Fullerton Online Teacher Induction Program (FOTIP), 2017. Adapted from CSU Fullerton Titan EDUCATOR Project, 2017.
Specific feedback I would want for the focus Identifying and discussing contextual
students is to see if the lesson plans have the definitions used for the thesis ahead of time
correct accommodations and modifications to will be helpful for all students. B.G may
ensure that all of these focus students can reach benefit from additional support, such as cloze
the mastery level of the lesson. sentences and multiple choices.
Specific feedback on lesson implementation
Unless otherwise guided, I will use students’
would be to determine the level of engagement,
participation in writing and editing of the
especially when going over the expectations of
essay assessment as the main metrics of
the essay expectations, when I am being
engagement.
observed during the teaching of the lesson.
The lesson is structured into chunked activities
centered on the Ancient India DBQ Essay. After
the opening section called the Do Now, where
students ensure they have everything they need
for success in the essay, we go into what is
expected in their thesis for the essay. Once this
is complete, we discuss the purpose of the
restated thesis before students independently
write this. After both the thesis and restated this
is complete, students will start answering the Mr. Benitez has effectively made the material
essential question in chunked time blocks to digestible for students by only focusing on a
have a clear and coherent introduction certain portion of the documents used to
paragraph along with two clear and coherent create the thesis/thesis restatement for this
body paragraphs by the end of the lesson, with opening lesson. Mr. Benitez effectively
the exit ticket being to add a transition sentence embeds strategies that will aid students’
to paragraph 3. Some of the teaching strategies literacy skills that culminate with the essay to
to help differentiate include having a guided conclude Mr. Benitez’s unit. Mr. Benitez has
reading of the essay expectations, modeling of pinpointed several moments throughout the
how to process the information, working as a lesson where he will check for students’
class to help each other critically analyze the understanding of key ideas.
information and providing scaffolds like
sentence starters to help process the
information. Progress monitoring strategies
include cold-calling when discussing answers as
a class, purposeful monitoring to ensure
students are on-task and analyzing the
responses to the essay at several different
points within the chunked time blocks for
typing.
I make this lesson relevant by starting the lesson
The opening part of the lesson will help
with having students recollect the importance of
students orient themselves around why the
the ideas ancient Indians believed were
thesis and thesis restatement are important
important to write their thesis. Students are
parts of their DBQ essay. There is an
reminded that their responses to the thesis are
opportunity for students to make personal
student-led, and I will progress monitor the
connections in regards to how the ideas and
written thesis’ to validate students’ responses.
laws of ancient India could still affect them in
Students will show progress towards mastery of
their everyday life. There is also an
the lesson objectives by completing the thesis
opportunity for students to contrast the
statement along with the restated thesis in the
severity or negative aspects of the different
first part of the lesson, and have a clear and
laws and ideas they studied in their ancient
coherent introduction paragraph along with two
India unit that will go into their thesis and
clear and coherent body paragraphs by the end
essay.
of the lesson.
I maintain a positive learning environment by Mr. Benitez proactively maintains a positive
affirming students’ responses, even if they are learning environment by affirming students’
not necessarily correct. To redirect challenging efforts. Additionally, Mr. Benitez maintains
behaviors, I use the Boystown system, which can high expectations for his students by offering
range from reminding students to raise their support.
Page 3
 hands to share a comment/question, ask a
student to stop a challenging behavior, have a
hallway conversation if the behaviors continue
and have our dean come in for a three way
conversation if those behaviors do not cease at
the end of class.
I close the lesson with the exit ticket, where
students add the transition sentence to let the
reader know that they will talk about the impact
of Hinduism’s central beliefs in the lives of
The exit ticket aligns with the flow of the
ancient Indians. I will review the transition
Closure lesson and students should be prepared to
 How will you close your lesson? sentence they wrote and provide feedback so
 How will you assess student learning and prepare show a high level of understanding of the
that students can succeed in informing the
them for the next lesson? lesson’s key expectations on which part of the
reader that this will be the next topic that will be
essay that scholars should be at.
elaborated in the essay in addition to ensuring
that all 3 paragraphs are complete at this point
of the lesson, so that they can finish the essay by
the end of the next lesson.
Section 3: Observation of Lesson Delivery
Part 3A: ME Observation of Lesson Delivery Part 3B: NT Reflection on
Teacher Actions Student Actions Lesson Delivery
Student groups answered worksheet questions that included all
EXAMPLE When teacher reviewed worksheet, she asked additional questions Students completed the worksheets and were able to ask
levels of Bloom’s (“Identify 6 problem-solving strategies; pick two
CSTP 1: Engaging All Students of analysis and evaluation (“which problem-solving strategy do you questions. Most groups needed revisions for their questions;
strategies and identify at least one similarity and one difference
 In what ways were students prefer? How could you create a math problem that could be solved
between them”). Groups then selected a strategy and created
comparison/contrast was the most common analysis question. I
engaged? with this strategy?”) need to give them a Bloom’s question stems handout next time.
two math problems to exchange tomorrow.

Specific Feedback
 What information can you
provide the NT regarding
requested special
feedback?

CSTP 1: Engaging All

Students
 In what ways were students
engaged? How were
students not engaged?
 How did students
contribute to their
learning?
 How did teacher and/or
students monitor
learning?
 How were the focus
students engaged and
supported throughout the
lesson?

CSTP 2: Effective Learning

Environment
 How did students and
teacher contribute to an
effective learning
environment?

CSTP 3: Organizing
Subject Matter
 What actions of the NT
contributed to student
assimilation of subject
matter?
 How did students construct
knowledge of subject
matter?
 What misconceptions did
students have and how
were they addressed by
the teacher?

POP Cycle, Fullerton Online Teacher Induction Program (FOTIP), 2017. Adapted from CSU Fullerton Titan EDUCATOR Project, 2017. Page 4
CSTP 4: Learning
Experiences
 How were students
supported through
differentiated instruction?
 How did students
participate?
 How did the NT contribute
to student learning?

CSTP 5: Assessing Student

Learning
 How did students
demonstrate achievement
of lesson objectives?
 In what ways did students
struggle or demonstrate
limited understanding?
 What teacher actions
contributed to student
achievement?

Section 4: Post Observation Conference

To what degree did students
achieve lesson objectives?

Focus Student 1: English Learner Focus Student 2: Student w/ILP/504 Focus Student 3: Your Choice
To what degree did focus
students achieve lesson
objectives?

What would you do differently

next time?

What were three top Lesson

Strengths?

What were three top areas for

improvement?

What are next steps?

Other Comments/Notes

All parts of this form should be transcribed (typed; not hand-written) into a single document and submitted to course instructor.
Information from this POP Cycle should be summarized on the NT ILP as appropriate.

POP Cycle, Fullerton Online Teacher Induction Program (FOTIP), 2017. Adapted from CSU Fullerton Titan EDUCATOR Project, 2017. Page 5