DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

University of Puerto Rico
Mayagez Campus
PO Box 9265
Mayagez, Puerto Rico 00681-9265
(787) 265-3847 Ext. 3064

Facultad de Artes y Ciencias

Universidad de Puerto Rico
Recinto Universitario de Mayagez
Apartado Postal 9265
Mayagez, Puerto Rico 00681-9265
(787) 265-3847 Ext. 3064

September 16, 2014

Jo Anne Hernandez
UTD Observation
Dear Jo Anne,
This letter serves as documentation of my observation of your INGL 3103 section on Monday, September
15th at 11:30 am in Chardn 124. As a first semester Graduate Teaching Assistant, I was impressed with
your ability to command the class at the large group level. You had excellent rapport with your students
and you are obviously comfortable in your role as the instructor of record. This letter provides a list of the
strengths of your class as well a list of areas where I believe you can improve. While I have provided
some suggestions below, they are only made for you to continue to evaluate your own teaching. Please
see my comments below.
The strengths of your class were:
Your class was well organized as you reviewed the key aspects of naming a naysayer in an
argumentative essay and producing counter arguments.
The power point presentation was easy to read and set your class up for success as you went
through what was in the assigned reading. The slides provided the important information from the
chapter for students to consider. The font size was easy to read.
You had an excellent teachers voice as you made your way around the classroom. It was clear and
easy for students to understand you.
You used technology effectively. You didnt allow the technology to teach the class, but used the
technology as an aid by which students had something to facilitate their note taking.
Throughout the class hour you gave constructive feedback to students, both individually and in
small groups.
Your confidence and positive attitude will continue to make you a well-respected teacher.
Suggestions for future thought:

In the naysayer activity it would have been helpful to show students a few practice examples of
your own before asking them to do it by themselves. Students tend to work better when they have
a concrete example of what is expected of them. In the future when you are planning to work with
a new concept, idea or composition strategy, try giving students examples first and then set them
off to do the practice activity.

Your class began to lose its structure when you moved into the small group activity. This may
have been related to the fact that they did not know what exactly to do to their argument papers,
but it also may be due to the fact that they had no real sense of a task. Sometime sit works to ask
PATRONO CON IGUALDAD DE OPORTUNIDADES EN EL EMPLEO M/F/V/I
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER M/F/V/H

them to hand in a short writing, or a few sentences before they leave for the day. This way they
have a focus and a motivation to continue. As it was, they seemed to be waiting for the class to
finish rather than taking advantage of those last 10 minutes to try to practice what you had
explained during the lesson. When you asked them to share, it was already 12:15 and they were
beginning to put away their books.

Consider ways to work with classroom and time management. Think about ways that you can use
to move from large to small group activities and not lose your class. Think and plan clearly how
long you want for the presentation, which should be brief (not more than 20 minutes), and how
much time to practice on an activity that is task oriented and requires them to give you something
before leaving the classroom.

I would like to stress that this observation/evaluation was very good. The content that you provided to
your students was comprehensible and valuable to them. You showed positive energy and a positive
attitude toward your teaching. You are doing a great job and I hope you will feel comfortable coming by
and telling me how you think things have changed. Please come with questions or concerns in the future.
Keep up the good work.
Sincerely,

Ellen E. Pratt
Coordinator, University Teacher Development,
Professor of English
University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez

I read this evaluation and believe it is a fair assessment of my performance during the above mentioned
observation.

_____________________________ __________________
Jo Anne Hernandez
Date

PATRONO CON IGUALDAD DE OPORTUNIDADES EN EL EMPLEO M/F/V/I

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER M/F/V/H