Student

Teacher
WILLIAMS,
ZACHARY

Supervisor

Coop
Teacher

RUNYAN,
TIGNOR,
CHARLES K ROBERT
M

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Visit # 3 Evaluation

Evaluations

Grade
Level

School
District

HIGH
SCHOOL

GALENA
USD #499

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Visit # 3 Evaluation

Visit Date:
03/23/2015
Visit Time:
09:15 AM
Classes Observed:
Government
General Comments:
Lesson Observations: The lesson plan contained one clear objectives connected to State
Standards 1.1.2, Indicator Supreme Court, material to be used in the lesson, detail in the
description of the instructional techniques, and evaluation strategies to check on objective
coverage. The lesson was well taught. After meeting most students at the door, Zack began class
very shortly after the bell with all 13 students seated and already busy on bell work. Class began
with a welcome back from Spring Break and humorous advice not to catch senioritis. The bellwork assignment (What two major divisions of Federal courts has Congress created?), which had
been placed on the board, kept students busy. During this time he passed back papers and kept
students on task. After 10 minutes and after gaining the attention of the students, Zack began the
lesson with an overview of objectives and activities. Being the first day back from Spring Break,
he first reviewed in a 35-minute questioning/discussion episode. Using a well-displayed
PowerPoint, he reviewed jurisdiction, concurrent jurisdiction, litigants, Marbury v Madison, etc..
This was excellent! Here, he used a battery of probing questions, mixing whole class and student
directed questions, where most every student answered one or more questions. Though it went
perhaps too long, students were attentive. For the last 33 minutes, he then covered the Supreme
Court makeup and the appointments of the Justices. Here he used a human continuum where
students moved to disagree/agree side of room on various statements about the Supreme Court
makeup. They then had to justify their position. For example: Should a Supreme Court Justice
be born in America? After students justified their position, Zack gave them the facts six were
foreign born. Another question was, Should they be graduates of Harvard, Yale, or a prestigious
law school? Excellent discussion followed!
During the instructional episode, questioning was much improved since the last visit. In fostering
discussion, he used a number of student names, achieved an equal distribution of questions, and
gave students appropriate feedback. He keep students on the hook when he asked them a
question by using probing questions. For example: Mason, you dont need your notesyou got
me. Were going to figure this out, together. Feedback was varied. For example, Awesome,
Boom goes the dynamite, there you go! You got it, good job. Pat yourself on your back. During
seat work, students worked quietly as he moved around room scanning the activity. As Zack
interacted with various students, enthusiastic and encouraging attending behaviors were
consistently noticed (level eye contact, brief and precise corrective interactions, and a caring and
positive demeanor). To end class, a brief closure highlighted the days activities. Students left
quietly and orderly at the bell. Overall, his was a well-taught and managed class!
Student Feedback: In talking with five students, Zach was complimented for his efforts in
explaining the material, his use of interesting PowerPoints, his fair assessments, and his
enjoyable teaching style. He is never boring. was one comment. When asked if they had any
suggestions for improvement, they mentioned he could be less strict on the grading the
completion questions on quizzes and sometimes over explains. All would really like to have him
as a regular teacher.