Mahidol University International Demonstration School
Pre-Observation Form
Name: Kunakorn Poochinda
Date of Preconference: Nov 20, 2017 Date/Time of Observation: Nov 21, 2017/ 2.15 – 3.15 pm
Grade Level: 11 Subject Area: Math
Observational How working in pairs can help students gain new knowledge.
Focus:
Directions: To the teacher: Write the area of instruction that will be the focus of the observation on the line
above. Be prepared to answer the questions on this form when you attend the pre-conference with the
Administrator.
1. Briefly describe the students in this class.
There are 22 students in the class and they are
ranked medium to high ability in math. Seventeen
of them are in Accelerated Physics class. Most of
them are keen to participate in class, but they are
also language learners.
2. What are the goals for the lesson? What do you
want students to learn?
The goal is to help students learn how to add and
subtract complex numbers both algebraically and
geometrically, which is one of the objectives of this
unit.
3. Why are these goals suitable for this group of
students?
Complex numbers are the basis of electrical
capacitance and inductance, which would be helpful
for students in accelerated physics. In addition, the
addition and subtraction of complex numbers are
similar to those of vectors, which are important
concepts in general physics.
4. How do these goals support the school’s
ESLOs, standards and benchmarks?
The goal should help students progress towards
being innovative thinkers, as the concepts can be
applied in various topics in physics. In addition,
working in pairs help students practice
communicating math in a meaningful way, which
should help students become articulate
communicators. Also, the goal is consistent with CA
ccssmathstandard – N-CN (1-6)
: Perform arithmetic operations with complex
numbers, Represent complex numbers and their
operations on the complex plane.
Administrator: Dr. Stephen Coryelle
6. How do you plan to engage students in the
content? What will you do? What will the
students do?
I plan to ask students to do activities, including
opening question and practice solving problems, in
pairs. I will walk around and talk to the students to
see if they run into any difficulty. Then, students
will be asked to write their answers on the board
and to explain their work to his/her pair. Finally, I
will ask students to do an exit slip to summarize
what they learned.
7. What difficulties do students typically
experience in this topic, and how do you plan to
anticipate these difficulties?
In order to better understand addition and
subtraction geometrically, students need to be able
to visualize coordinates and graphs well. Therefore,
I will prepare some graph papers for every pair.
Also, they may not remember the math
vocabularies very well, so I will write them on the
board along with some examples.
8. What instructional materials or other resources
will you use? (Attach any sample materials you
will use in the lesson.)
Worksheets and graph paper.
9. How do you plan to assess student
achievement of the lesson outcomes? What
procedures will you use? (Attach any tests or
performance tasks with rubrics or scoring
guides)
Worksheets, exercise in notebook and exit slip.
Scoring guide:
Wrong answer and wrong method will be ranked
low
Right answer but no detailed work will be ranked
medium.
Right answer and right method will be ranked high.
5. How do these goals relate to broader
curriculum goals in the subject area as a whole
or in other subject areas?
To the broader math curriculum goals, this class
should help students solve quadratic equation
where no real solution exists. To other areas of
science, operations with complex numbers can be
applied in many physics topics.
To the teacher: List any items below that you wish to call to the attention of the Administrator. Share your
lesson plan at least a day prior to the observation.
10. How do you plan to use the results of the
assessment?
They will be used to evaluate which subtopics most
students lack an understanding. Some clarifications
or re-teaching may be needed if less than 60% of the
students get the correct answers on the practices
or exit slip.