Announced Observation #1
Observation Protocol: Pre-Conference Planning Form
To be completed by the Teacher Candidate, and reviewed by Program Supervisor and
Supervising Practitioner prior to Announced Observation #1.
Observation Details
Date: 2/26/24
Content Topic/Lesson Objective:
X Whole Group
Element(s) to be Observed (circle)
1.A.1: Subject Matter Knowledge
1.A.4: Well-Structured Lessons
1.B.2: Adjustments to Practice
2.A.3: Meeting Diverse Needs
2.B.1: Safe Learning Environment
2.D.2: High Expectations
4.A.1: Reflective Practice
Office of Field Placement & Partnership Outreach | Campion Hall 102 | Field Placement Advising Site | prac@bc.edu
Time (start/end): 8:45-9:15
Phonics: closed syllable words with suffix s
Small Group One-on-One Other
Comments
The subject matter knowledge displayed in this lesson includes the sounds /z/,
/n/, and /l/, the r-controlled vowels ar, or, er, ir, ur, the vowel teams ai, ay, ee,
ea,ey, oi and oy, closed syllables, marking closed syllable words with suffix s, and
spelling closed syllable words with suffix s.
My lesson is well-structured in that it has an opening where students will review
concepts they are already familiar with as a warm up to the new concepts, a
during where I introduce the new concept of spelling closed syllable words with
suffix s and provide students time to practice spelling some of these words, and a
closing, where students will be asked write a variety of words in their phonics
notebook, which will allow me to determine what students know and do not
know at the end of the lesson.
This lesson finishes with students writing a variety of words in their phonics
notebooks. I plan to use these notebook entries to plan instruction for the rest of
this unit, where I will look at areas that most students have mastered versus areas
that most students still need more practice with, to determine which areas I
should focus on the rest of the week so that students will be prepared for the unit
test on Friday.
I meet diverse needs in my lesson by utilizing slides (technology) to support
students in following along with the lesson as well as to support visual learners
who struggle to learn through hearing only. Additionally, utilizing slides will help
students to connect the words they are hearing to the text on the screen, which
will help them learn how to spell the words we are working on.
During my lesson, I will maintain a safe learning environment by reinforcing and
reminding students about appropriate behavior during class, and sending
students to take a break as necessary so that all students can benefit from the
lesson in a distraction-free classroom.
I will communicate to students that I believe they can all succeed by encouraging
them to keep trying if they get a word wrong, or by telling them to just try their
best if they say they don’t know how to spell a word. I will also encourage and
value all students’ ideas and thoughts they share during the lesson.
I plan to reflect on the effectiveness of this lesson after teaching it both by
considering observations I make while I am teaching as well as looking at the
student notebook entries, in order to improve my teaching in future lessons.
 Boston College CAP

Refinement areas previously identified

Classroom management-I would like to focus on managing disruptive behaviors, especially students talking over each
other and disrupting others’ learning

Maintaining students’ attention

Questions to ask in pre-conference

Should I fill out the reflection questions within the lesson plan after the lesson, in addition to this form?
Yes, please, after you teach, and before our post-observation conference. Thank you!

Is it essential that I get a response from every student when asking students to use words in a sentence? (I think this is
important but I am not sure there is time to hear from everyone and also have time to finish the writing portion, which I
think is also important). Good question, Mary! In a small group it is more realistic to hear from everyone. Watch your
time, so you have time for the writing portion. What would happen if you asked students to use the word in a sentence
and share it with a partner, in addition to asking for individual answers, to increase student involvement? Other ideas
you have?

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CAP Observation Form

To be completed by the Program Supervisor and the Supervising Practitioner during Announced Observation #1

Name: Mary DiMaggio Date: Feb 28, 2024

Observation #: 1 Type (Announced/Unannounced): Announced Observation #1

Observed By: Karen Sandison and Karen Haddock

X 1.A.1: Subject Matter Knowledge X 2.B.1: Safe Learning Environment

X 1.A.3: Well-Structured Units and Lessons X 2.E.1: High Expectations

Focus Elements:

X 1.B.2: Adjustments to Practice X 4.A.1: Reflective Practice

X 2.A.3: Meeting Diverse Needs

Date of Lesson: February 27, 2024 Time (start/end): 8:45-9:15 am

Content Topic/Lesson Objective: Phonics: closed syllable words with suffix s.

X Whole Group Small Group One-on-One Other

Active Evidence Collection occurred during the observation and is synthesized and categorized below.

Element Evidence
Your lesson connects to students’ prior knowledge. The review at the beginning of your lesson
1.A.1: Subject Matter was both engaging for the students and also a way for you to gauge their knowledge of phonics
Knowledge skills thus far. Students were able to both call out responses as a group and to come to the board
individually to point to correct answers.
Your use of technology enabled students to see and hear the words and sounds being used. The
1.A.3:
graphics/illustrations gave them cues of the written words to decode. In our pre-observation
Well-Structured
meeting we reviewed your lesson plan and you told us what you wanted us to watch for as you
Lessons
taught the lesson.

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1.B.2: Adjustments to Early in your lesson you set the tone for cooperation and participation. You reminded students
Practice often what you needed from them.
You spoke clearly, repeating words and phrases the students needed to repeat, and then later to
2.A.3: Meeting
record in their workbooks. Visual aids were present in your slides as mentioned above. You have
Diverse Needs
been working closely with your SP to meet L.’s needs in the classroom.
You eased students through transitions by posting and reading aloud the materials they would
need:
2.B.1: Safe Learning “Grab a white board. (1 ⁄ 2 of the students first to save on traffic moving around the room.) Next,
Environment “Grab a marker and eraser.” The second group of students gets up as the first returns to the rug.
“Get out a divider and a pencil, then come get your notebook when I call your name.”
The students know this routine and follow it with ease.
“During this lesson you said the following things to communicate your expectations to your
students:
“Hold on, wait for me.’
Countdown to come to the rug: “Five, four, three, two, one.” You calmly count off with their in
turn calm movements.
“Voices off now.”
2.E.1: High
“Thumbs up if you agree.”
Expectations
“Do you know why?”
“Can we fix that?”
“I love how Louisa is raising her hand.”
“Does it have to be a long sound for a closed syllable?”
“L., can you take a break?”
“Who agrees with that?”
I look forward to reading your post-observation Candidate Self-Reflection form and to hearing
4.A.1: Reflective your reflections in our post-observation meeting tomorrow. In our brief discussion yesterday you
Practice indicated that you noticed many of the students had their hands raised often for participation.
You noticed their ability to stay focused and complete tasks as asked.
BC Teacher
Education Theme:
Student responses were heterogeneous, as were table groupings.
Advancing Equity and
Justice
BC Teacher
You focused on pacing to keep students interested, as well as your behavioral management skills.
Education Theme:
We have ongoing discussions with your SP, especially regarding support for one student, L.
Inquiring into Practice
SMK Requirement:
You used the smartboard to guide the lesson.
Digital Literacy

Focused Feedback
You achieved your goals of managing behaviors, keeping students focused, and pacing the lesson
and transitions effectively. Your calm tone provides a pleasant learning environment for the
Reinforcement children. At one point during the practice test I looked up from my notes to see students
Area/Action: completely absorbed in the task at hand. The only noise was quiet whispers as students repeated
(strengths) to themselves what you said while writing.
Also, you picked your battles so to speak with L. ignoring his off task behaviors drawing on his
white board, because it did not disrupt your lesson flow for others. You gave him a “L. good job!”
later upon completing a task.
Post lesson goals throughout the lesson for students to see at beginning and end. Give a clear
Refinement
introduction with their participation somehow. Come full circle at the end with a wrap-up. Notes
Area/Action:
included below.

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(areas for
improvement)

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 Boston College CAP

Observation Protocol: Candidate Self-Reflection Form

To be completed by the Teacher Candidate after Announced Observation #1.

Directions: Following an announced or an unannounced observation, please use the form below to reflect on the
lesson. Submit the form to your Supervising Practitioner/Program Supervisor within 24 hours of the observation.

Observation Details
Date: 2/27/24 Time (start/end): 8:45-9:15

Content Topic/
Phonics: closed syllable words with suffix s
Lesson Objective:

Type of Observation: Observed by:

Supervising Program
✓ Announced Unannounced X X
Practitioner Supervisor

Reflection Prompt: What do you think went particularly well? How did this strength impact your students’
learning?
I felt that I paced the lesson well which allowed it to keep moving at a steady pace. Although there were some
moments where students needed a reminder of what they should be doing, students did remain engaged
throughout the lesson for the most part. This allowed students to absorb the information from the lesson rather
than being distracted. I aimed to call on every student who wanted to talk during the class, which allowed students
to demonstrate their knowledge and take pride in what they were learning. When discussing whether words were
closed syllables or not, I gave the option for students to raise their hand if they think the word is a closed syllable,
but did not require those who raised their hands to speak. This allowed students who were more shy or weren’t
quite ready to explain their thinking in front of the class yet a way to still participate in the lesson and show me
what they knew. Also, providing examples of the oy and oi vowel team helped students to connect the new vowel
teams they were learning to words they likely encounter frequently. This way, students can reinforce this learning
when they encounter these words outside of phonics class.

Reflection Prompt: If you could teach this lesson again, is there anything you would do differently? How would this
have impacted your students’ learning?
If I were to teach this lesson again, I would have not done whiteboard practice and writing in the notebooks in the
same class. This was a lot of time spent on transitioning in one class, when this time could have been spent using
just the whiteboards or just the notebooks. I also would have posted a learning goal for students and discussed it
at the beginning and end of the lesson so that there was more of a clear opening and closing of the lesson and so
that students would know at the beginning of the lesson what they were going to learn that day. One thing I am
thinking I will do more often with phonics and other lessons in the future is calling on students by using the
popsicle sticks. I have noticed that the same handful of students always raise their hand, so I want to work on
giving more of the quieter students a chance so that they can have the same opportunity to participate and so that
I can assess their learning during the lesson as well. Had I utilized the popsicle sticks during this lesson, this would
have allowed me to see the learning progress of students who tend not to raise their hand as much, and not just
those who always raise their hand to participate.

Essential Element
1.A.1: Subject Matter Knowledge
Evidence: Where possible, provide one piece of evidence that you believe
demonstrates your performance relative to the Quality, Consistency or
Scope of each element.
My lesson contained the subject matter knowledge of the sounds /z/, /n/,
and /l/, the r-controlled vowels ar, or, er, ir, ur, the vowel teams ai, ay, ee,

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1.A.3: Well-Structured Lessons
1.B.2: Adjustments to Practice
2.A.3: Meeting Diverse Needs
2.B.1: Safe Learning Environment
2.E.1: High Expectations
4.A.1: Reflective Practice
BC Teacher Education Theme:
Advancing Equity and Justice
BC Teacher Education Theme:
Inquiring into Practice
SMK Requirement:
Digital Literacy
Boston College CAP
ea,ey, oi and oy, closed syllables, marking closed syllable words with suffix
s, and spelling closed syllable words with suffix s. Students had a warm up
at the beginning of the lesson with reviewing sounds they have already
learned, and then practiced the other concepts throughout the lesson and
at the end of the lesson in their phonics notebooks.
My lesson contained clear sections of review at the beginning by speaking
aloud the sounds that students are already familiar with, learning the new
concept of oi and oy vowel teams, then time to practice closed syllables as
well as other new concepts on the whiteboards and in their phonics
notebooks.
Throughout the lesson I refocused students as needed so that all students
remained engaged in the lesson. Following the lesson, I reviewed
students’ phonics notebooks and noticed that many students misspelled
the words when and where, missing the h. I used this information to plan
future phonics lessons where I will provide students with extra practice
spelling these words correctly.
Throughout the lesson, I provided students with clear directions, visual
elements on the slides, and provided multiple different ways for students
to participate in the lesson, by touching sounds they know, marking up a
word on the board, raising their hand or doing the hand signal for agree,
sharing their thinking about whether a word was a closed syllable, writing
on whiteboards and in phonics notebooks.
I gave students clear directions when it was time to move on to the next
activity. When it was time to get whiteboards, I asked half of the class to
do this at one time to minimize the traffic jam that usually occurs when
students go get whiteboards.
I communicated high expectations to students by reminding them that the
expectation is that they stay focused during the lesson, as well as
complimenting and thanking students for being example, such as when
students were quietly raising their hands and sitting patiently to say
something and when students got their materials and came back to the
rug quickly.
I spent time after teaching the lesson thinking about how it went and how
I will use what I learned in this lesson to modify future teaching so that my
lessons are more effective.
Students were able to choose their spots on the rug as well as at the
tables. Students were encouraged to raise their hands and share answers
during the lesson but were not required to.
Throughout the rest of my practicum I plan to work closely with my SP and
PS to work on ways to ensure my teaching is effective, and learn new ways
of managing behaviors as well as different ways to support students’
needs in the classroom.
During this lesson, I utilized a slideshow so that students could follow
along during the lesson as well as work on connecting the words they hear
to the words they see on the screen.
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Observation Protocol: Post-Conference Planning Form
To be completed by the Program Supervisor and Supervising Practitioner after
Observation Details
Date of post-observation
Feb 29, 2024
conference meeting:
Content Topic/Lesson Objective:
Refinement Area #1
Self-Reflection Question(s) to
prompt candidate
Evidence from Observation
Recommended Action
Potential Resources/Guided
Practice/Training to support
Boston College CAP
Announced Observation #1.
Time (start/end): 11:50 am-12:30 pm
Phonics: closed syllable words with suffix s.
1.A.1: Subject Matter 2.B.1: Safe Learning
Knowledge Environment
1.A.3: Well-Structured Units 2.E.1: High Expectations
and Lessons
X
1.B.2: Adjustments to 4.A.1: Reflective Practice
Practice
2.A.3: Meeting Diverse
Needs
How can you provide closure as the lesson ends, and you transition to the spelling
test, or after it to the next class?
You do have their workbook pages to assess, and we discussed in the
pre-observation meeting that you would identify students who needed additional
support before the “spelling test” at the end of the unit. Your SP has a record to
share with you for this task.
Ask them what they did today/learned today in the final minutes before you dismiss
them. Plan for this time as you pace your lesson. Say something like: “Turn and talk
with a partner to answer this question, have it posted on an ending slide: “What two
new vowel sounds did we learn today?”
Talk to your SP and observe other teachers to see how they sum up the lesson for
their students. A quick recap at the end of class works well with a quick introduction
at the beginning to help students know they have achieved the lesson goals.
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Refinement Area #2
Self-Reflection Question(s) to
prompt candidate
Evidence from Observation
Recommended Action
Potential Resources/Guided
Practice/Training to support
Boston College CAP
1.A.1: Subject Matter 2.B.1: Safe Learning
Knowledge Environment
1.A.3: Well-Structured Units 2.E.1: High Expectations
and Lessons
X
1.B.2: Adjustments to 4.A.1: Reflective Practice
Practice
2.A.3: Meeting Diverse
Needs
Where is a good place to post your lesson agenda/objectives for the entire lesson?
(In addition to your slide at the beginning.) What would it be like to have a student
read the goals aloud for you?
You did show a slide and say at the beginning, “We will be doing two new vowel
teams today, OI, and OY.”
Have that information posted so that after you change slides, they can still see it
throughout the lesson. Ask them to turn and talk to a partner restating the goal for
the day while you are sharing the slide.
Talk to your SP about having a space on the agenda for you to write the goal and
make students aware that it will be there all day.
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1.A.1: Subject Matter 2.B.1: Safe Learning

Knowledge Environment
X

1.A.3: Well-Structured Units 2.E.1: High Expectations

Reinforcement Area #1 and Lessons

1.B.2: Adjustments to 4.A.1: Reflective Practice

Practice

2.A.3: Meeting Diverse

Needs

You acknowledge appropriate behavior when you said:

“I like how ______ and _______ were super speedy and came back to the rug.”
“______ and ______ you are doing a great job today!”
Evidence from Observation
“Beautiful! Good Job! Make sure you have the blend and the suffix.”
You thanked students for responding to your commands of, “Fix it,” and “Voices Off.”

Continue to look for and point out every desirable behavior you see to encourage
Recommended Action
more of the same from the students.

1.A.1: Subject Matter 2.B.1: Safe Learning

Knowledge Environment

1.A.3: Well-Structured Units 2.E.1: High Expectations

and Lessons

Reinforcement Area #2

1.B.2: Adjustments to 4.A.1: Reflective Practice

Practice

2.A.3: Meeting Diverse

Needs

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Evidence from Observation
Recommended Action
Upcoming Steps in the CAP Process:
● Type of Next Observation: Unannounced Observation #1
● Date of next Observation: TBD During week of take over starting Mar 11, 2024 .
For Field Placement Office Use Only:
Checked By: Anna
Checked On: 2/29
Boston College CAP
You continually guide your students with the following phrases:
“Get ready for the next thing.”
“I agree. Who else agrees?”
“Let’s pay attention to ______ please.”
“Check over your spelling. Make sure you have all the letters and sounds.”
“Make sure that you write the suffix at the end.”
“Find the page with me.”
“Skip the next line, and go to the line below it.”
“Make sure you have punctuation at the end of the sentence.”
Continue to think of ways to meet student needs by breaking down tasks and giving
them both verbal and visual cues. You put them at ease, decrease anxiety and
misbehavior by helping them stay focused in these ways.
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