SETON HILL UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM OBSERVATION FORM

Student: Mackenzie Longo Teacher: Dr. Monica Graziani

Grade: 11th and 12th Subject: Honors Anatomy and Physiology

Franklin Regional SHS

1/23/2023

CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Describe the classroom environment (seating arrangements, bulletin boards, etc.):
The classroom is set up with 6 seats across. Two desks (four seats) are in rows on the left side of
the room, and there is an aisle, and then another desk (two seats) is on the right, closest to the
door. The sides of the room have décor, and the side of the room with the door also has a
chalkboard with a Promethean board. There are several class pets, including two axolotls, a
tarantula, a jumping spider, a tree frog, and roaches. Dr. Graziani sits at her desk because she
uses her laptop for the PowerPoint, as well as for her notes.

INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY
Describe how the teacher grabs the students’ attention at the beginning of the lesson:
Students began by getting a quick overview on what the plans are for the next few days. Students
will have an exam next week, depending on their class schedule (whether it is an A or B Day).
They started out by watching a Crash Course video on the Peripheral Nervous System and pain,
which tied into the special senses lesson.

Describe the structure of the lesson (pacing, instructional strategies, group work, etc.):
This lesson was paced a bit on the faster side because students were provided with almost
complete guided notes. This information will be on the exam that students are going to have, but
it’s almost like a mini lesson. They already dissected an eye and will be completing another
lesson on the eye tomorrow, so this is a continuation of past information.

Dr. Graziani tied information on the eye back to the Health Occupations Stations that we did
with students on Friday. She also tied the information to other body systems and supplemented
with a video of the difference between the eye and a camera.

She moved on to other special senses, all in the same PowerPoint. Each topic was connected
back to “real life” or had fun facts associated with them, which helps students stay engaged and
remember information
Describe how the teacher ends the lesson:
Dr. Graziani ran short on time but continued to lecture until the end of the period. She wrapped
up quickly before running right into the bell. Tomorrow, they’ll continue with more notes and a
lab.

Describe the teacher’s style of classroom management:

Dr. Graziani very much expects her students to be responsible for their own learning. She
reminded students to watch the video/pay attention to the lesson because they will be tested on it.
Some students continued to be their phones, but Dr. Graziani didn’t continue to remind them.
Apparently, today was a “Senior Skip Day” but most of the students were present because of
some important information in this class and others.

Describe how the teacher uses formative or summative assessment:

Dr. Graziani is planning on having an exam next week, which will serve as a summative
assessment. Throughout the lesson, she checked in with students about what they remembered
from previous lessons.

Describe how the teacher incorporates technology:

Technology is a very important part of all classrooms here. The Promethean board was used for
the note slides, as well as the videos. Dr. Graziani uses her cursor as a pointer instead of
physically touching the board.

REFLECTION
If you had the chance to teach this lesson, what changes would you make? What would you
keep the same? How would your use of instructional, classroom management, or assessment
strategies differ? How would these changes enhance student learning?
The biggest thing that I would’ve done differently was pay closer attention to pacing. She didn’t
realize that she was close to time at the end of the class, which made it a bit harder for her to
close out the lesson.

I also prefer to walk around a bit more when teaching and be situated close to the board, because
I think it makes it easier for students to pay attention. Everything would be situated in the same
area, and I could more broadly reference the board. I think this also would help give students a
bit more pressure to stay on task and off their phones.