Case Study: Mr.

Smith

Cassandra Young

EAD-530

August 18, 2021

Assumptions

The presentation that Mr. Smith presented to the students was accurate for the content he

was explaining to his students. However, upon thinking of what the students are doing in the

classroom, they were not engaged and worried about writing the material down later. He was

talking to a room of bodies, not instructing students with parts of a cell. I assume that he does not

know what is on his slides since he is stuck in the front of the room, assuming he does not know

the material well. 

Questions

Some questions I would ask Mr. Smith are as follows. I want to know what the students

know while sitting in the classroom; how do you know they are engaged? When do the students

have time to engage in conversation to see if they understand what is presented? Is there a reason

you are stuck upfront and not moving about the room? How are you planning on assessing the

students to see what they know about the topic? Finally, tell me where you plan to go next with

the lesson? 

Positive Feedback

Mr. Smith, you had great visuals for students who need to “see the science” and how it

occurs, supporting many of our learners. It helped many learners present the information in

multiple ways to grasp the concept of cells and how they are made up. Great classroom

expectations are set in place for when direct instruction is taking place that way, and all students

can learn. The presentation you have created on cells allows your students to get the information

instead of searching the slides for the information you want them to know.

Constructive Feedback
 The lesson itself was an excellent presentation, and you know the material inside out and

back, but I feel that there is more you could do with a task like this. As you are planning your

next direct instruction day, plan to make the notes that way students have them but after each

topic area, ask the students a question to make them process what you just were explaining. Now

that you have asked them a question to process have them turn and talk to their shoulder partner

to discuss it, then have three to four students share their thinking. This will be an excellent gauge

tool of what they are understanding and what they are not to support where you should go next.

You have been doing this for many years, but we must remember that kids’ instinct is to talk,

which means they might gain more knowledge. This will force them to ask more questions after

the discussion piece to support all the students learning. Try this next time, and I want to reflect

on how it goes. Please let me know when this will be. 

Reflection

Focusing back on the assumptions I made from the scenario, and my biggest concern was

if the students were engaged in the lesson and understood the material. I was also concerned

about him standing near the computer instead of walking around the room engaging with

students during the lesson, which made me think he did not know what he put in the

presentation. Knowing that Mr. Smith is a much more capable teacher than what he presented

during my short observation makes me wonder if something was “off” with him that day. He is

typically very in tune with his students and wants to make sure he gets the most from the lessons.

I need to know background information before making assumptions about what is occurring in

classrooms. I would want to check in before jumping to conclusions or corrections during a short

observation, keeping my feelings out of what I think is happening to find what is going on.
 My observations where someone has made assumptions about what I was doing or how I

was doing a lesson led to a not-so-great reflection time with the dean of middle school. We have

different pedagogical backgrounds and teach in various ways due to that thought, but our goal

should be the same for students to understand the material. There was a short observation where

I stopped the mid-lesson and went back to reteach something since, they did not grasp the

concept the year before, which did not allow for me to move forward. I then spent a day

reviewing the idea they missed but then redoing the lesson where she told me that I was wasting

my time and should have done a mini-lesson quickly then moved on. Knowing that it was a

priority standard for that grade and grades to come, there had to be conceptual understanding, not

surface. Unfortunately, there was no compromise between us, so I had to do things her way

instead. 

As a leader, that is not how I want to be. I want to make sure that I understand why the

teacher feels that way while coming to a common ground. No matter how I think about a teacher

or if I agree with their pedagogical background, I cannot let that affect my coaching abilities to

support their vital areas to grow the weak spots. We must remember that no matter what we

believe or agree with may not always be what our teachers do, so we have to make sure we can

back our choices with research or even the framework of the school. Our personal beliefs or

preferences need to be set aside to support the teachers in front of us instead of pushing those on

our teachers. For me, making sure that I keep my emotions away from my words is the area I am

working on so that no matter how I feel about a situation, it will not affect my thought process on

handling that area. Being able to compartmentalize is something that must occur. When we are at

work, we must think of all those around us, even if that is not how we would do a particular
lesson. Evaluating teachers must be authentic to them and following the framework or guidelines

that the school has in place, watching the wording to support why you put the teacher there.