1

Case Study: Mr. Roth

Katia Sachoute

College of Education, Grand Canyon University

EAD-530-O501: Improving Teacher Performance and Self-efficacy

Dr. John Whalen

March 29, 2023

 2

Case Study: Mr. Roth

Collecting accurate evidence during the teacher observation is critical when providing

effective feedback. To discuss the feedback, it is important to conduct a post-conference. During

the conference, the teacher is ensured that the focus is growth. This will allow the opportunity for

this to be a collaborative effort between the observer and the teacher. This process should be a

reflective discussion that covers the areas of strengths and weaknesses that occurred during the

classroom observation.

Observation Reflection Questions

As the students arrive in Mr. Roth’s classroom, he is present in the doorway and greeting

each of the students by name. He is having conversations with students about their personal

lives and different activities that they are a part of outside of school. Mr. Roth appears to be

engaged with the students from the very first interaction and shows a genuine interest in what

he is talking to them about. Mr. Roth establishes a positive rapport with his students by these

overt activities that are strategically implemented in the beginning of class, which does not

take anything away from instructional time.

The classroom environment and climate appear to be respectful regarding the relationship

between teacher and student (Frisby and Martin, 2010). The students are aware of the

classroom expectations and quickly start working on the bellringer as they take their seats.

Even the students that were off task and distracted he was able to quickly speak to them and

reinforce the expectations, and they started the task. Also, the décor of the class displayed

curriculum relevant information about historical figures and events, alongside student work

which reinforces collaboration.

 3

There were many instructional strategies utilized during this lesson by Mr. Roth. He first

started with an engaging bellringer to activate student’s prior knowledge where they had to

justify the Judicial Branch being the most powerful. The students then had the chance to share

their responses which added more depth to the task. Students were then provided with a case

study to review using reading strategies, such as skimming, identifying keywords, and titles to

help them indicate what the case would be about. Mr. Roth also took time to explicitly teach

vocabulary that he knew students would need to aid in comprehension. The next strategy was

the small group task of reading the summary and answering the guided questions together.

Once the collaborative effort was completed students once again came back to discuss their

answers. The conclusion of the lesson bought the students back to the bellringer task, allowing

them to look at the question with new information and see how that may change their earlier

opinion.

The student engagement strategies utilized by Mr. Roth allowed for each student to remain

on task. During the lesson students participated by sharing their ideas, as group members they

had to follow along and make the decision if they agreed with the response or come up with

their own responses. The strategies were effective because it allowed multiple opportunity for

conversations and open discussion throughout the lesson.

Observation Reflection: Differentiation, Higher-Order Thinking, Technology

Differentiate instruction during this lesson was not apparent during the observation. It

appeared that the students were grouped based on proximity and not ability or academic levels.

There were no higher-order thinking skills vocalized throughout the lesson, the questions that

the students answered in the small groups may have been higher-order and this is something

that would require clarity during the post-conference. Also, during this lesson technology was
 4

not used or implemented. There were opportunities that technology could be used to enhance

the lesson and that would be an area that should be discussed during the post-conference.

Post-Conference Preparation: Questions and Providing Feedback

The question I might ask Mr. Roth to determine his evaluation of the lesson would be to

initially ask him how he felt the lesson went. I would also want him to tell me the areas that he

was proud of and believed showed a strength of his. I would then inquiry if he were to teach

the same lesson today what would he keep the same and changes would he make to improve

the lesson if any. Prior to providing my observations I believe that a self-evaluation is

extremely effective to allow Mr. Roth the opportunity to look objectively at the lesson

(Danielson, 2019).

Positive feedback that I would give Mr. Roth regarding this lesson, is the initial bellringer

task connecting to the exit ticket at the end of the lesson. I think that was a strong tool that he

used to bring the entire lesson together for the students, and making connections are important

during the learning process. I would also want to bring attention to the time management that

he used throughout the lesson. Students knew the procedures and did not waste any

instructional time when it came to moving from task to task or to different areas in the

classroom. I selected this feedback to discuss with Mr. Roth because I do believe that was the

strengths that I saw through the lesson (Brookhart, Moss, 2016).

Constructive feedback I would give Mr. Roth for this lesson would be the importance of

differentiation throughout any lesson. For example, from the way that the small groups were

put together, that was an opportunity to place different leveled students together. Developing

lessons to meet the need of all learners should be something each teacher keeps in mind when

creating a lesson. This will allow each student to have what they need to assess the information
 5

and the curriculum. This feedback is important to share because our focus is to maximize

student learning and growth, differentiation is a strategy that when utilized allows for this to

happen.

Post-Conference Preparation: Technology and Additional Comments

Incorporating technology to enhance student engagement is something that I would also

mention to Mr. Roth. Technology provides a tool that helps students become more engaged in

the learning. The students could have viewed the text on an iPad and used an annotated tool to

close read and document the answers to the questions. Also, could have watched a video

representation of the case to add visual representation of what they are reviewing. Students

currently are surrounded by technology; therefore, it is important to find more ways to bring

this skill into the classroom.

Additional questions or comments that might be appropriate for this post-conference would

be the importance of enrichment within a lesson. There should be more vocalized higher-order

thinking questions that will help the students develop skills to dig deeper. The lesson was

straightforward, with some additional questioning I believe this would develop the lesson

further.

It is important to present feedback in the best method possible. During classroom

observations, teachers can view the process as invasive and approach it with a negative attitude.

It is the observer’s responsibility to establish the culture of observations for teachers to view

them as opportunities to grow.

 6

References
Brookhart, S. M., & Moss, C. M. (2015). How to Give Professional Feedback. Educational
Leadership, 72(7), 24–30.

Danielson, C. (2009). Talk about teaching! Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. (2016, July 5). Pre & post observation
conversations. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=fszjY0tKJlA

Frisby, B. N., & Myers, S. A. (2008). The Relationships among Perceived Instructor Rapport,
Student Participation, and Student Learning Outcomes. Texas Speech Communication
Journal.