This document should be run on carbonless paper if possible and a copy should be left with teacher for
follow-up and discussion.
Cues, Questioning, Advance Organizers, Cooperative Learning
Teacher Drop-In Observation Form
Teacher: Ann Gilcrease Observer: Kim Oakley
Please indicate whether the following is true and provide observations to support your
assessments.
Question
STARTING THE LESSON
1. How are students working with their
peers?
-Evidence of collaborative work
-Evidence of cooperative work
2. Is the teacher supporting student
concept understanding with an
advanced organizer?
-Evidence of connecting the known
with the unknown verbally, visually,
or both
-Evidence that the organizer is
presented before instruction
3. Is the teacher using cueing or
questioning to support students’
understanding?
-Evidence of lower-order or higher-
order questions
Date: 5/1/2020
Observed Notes
(+/Δ)
+ T begins class using climate-engagement strategy: T:
“Today we’ll go in favorite color order” (using
ROYGBIV)
+ Teacher shows the different reasons and ways to take
notes with the prompt “What way works best for you?”
suggesting the there isn’t one “right” way or “best” way
which contributes to the understanding that a team of
many different ways could be beneficial. Because of the
lack of audio in the video file, I’m not sure if this was
communicated to students, but the implied message is
there.
Class appears to be synchronous on Zoom with students
+
and teacher interacting and dialoguing -- no audio was
available in the recording
+ Learning objective is clearly displayed on the slide deck:
“Students will learn different ways of taking notes as
they read for information or study purposes” standards
are also clearly displayed
Thinking Tree for “The Lost City” is displayed, partially
+ completed in advance of the Wilmot Lake text.
+
Wilmot Lake text is displayed followed by the same
organizer with the task of applying the understanding of
the “The Lost City” notes to this new text.
+ New vocabulary words are displayed with vectors as
symbols followed by definitions.
Note-taking outline is presented as a template.
+
+ A feedback form is there for students to complete,
presumably as an exit ticket post-instruction.
Questioning was not observable because of the lack of
NA audio in the recording
© TNTP 2012
This document should be run on carbonless paper if possible and a copy should be left with teacher for
follow-up and discussion.
REINFORCING EFFORT & NA This was not observable in this recording because of the
lack of audio.
PROVIDING RECOGNITION
4. What is the Praise to Redirect Ratio?
Is the praise authentic?
Related to effort or achievement?
Focused on process or product?

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

I could see in your video that your students were so happy to be talking to you and
seeing you! It was sweet to see how you engaged with them and I so wish I could hear
what you were saying so I could give you better feedback.

Your use of the organizer was skillful and I thought the support you provided in both
note-taking styles (the Thinking Tree and the Outline) was “chunked” well -- meaning
that you provided short text excerpts with a nice amount of scaffolded note-taking. This
modelling likely served your students very well in their application of the lesson.

I think one of the most powerful things here was your feedback form where you
solicited feedback from your students! How incredible for your students to be able to
keep that two-way communication with you. Well done!

Thank you for sharing this with us. Let’s try to solve the audio issue for the next lesson
so we can hear you and your students.

© TNTP 2012