Benchmark – Beginning Teacher Observation and Feedback

Jennifer Amato

Grand Canyon University

EAD – 530

Dr. Nesa Sasser

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Summary

Aurora Public Schools does not mandate pre-observation conversations. This portion of the

observation cycle is left up to individual educators, and in the case of this observation, was forgone. I did,

however, meet with the principal and Ms. Humphry’s evaluator, Lacy Jolly, about how the observation

would proceed and the differences between observing a new teacher versus a veteran teacher. For this

observation, I was welcomed into Ms. Stephanie Humphry’s first grade math class.

On this day, the students were working on number combinations up to ten using number racks.

Ms. Humphrey started the lesson by inviting students up to the carpet in front of the smartboard.

Students sat in assigned seats on the carpet, so they had access to their “peanut butter and jelly”

partners for turn and talks. Ms. Humphry reviewed the previous lesson and stated the learning

objectives for the students. Once students have their number racks and Ms. Humphry has reviewed

carpet expectations, she asks them to “make six” on their number racks. Students turn to talk to their

partners and share their work. Eventually, students were asked “how many more makes ten?” and

students continued their conversations.

Ms. Humphry’s lesson was planned well. She included elements of student discourse, student

modeling, and collaborative learning. The lesson followed her objectives and the Common Core Math

Standard, 1.OA.C.6, “Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction

within 10.” (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2021). There were some checks for understanding

throughout the whole group lesson as well. Followed by independent worksheet work with illustrated

number racks. Ms. Humphry worked with her higher need students in a small group during this time. The

other students worked to complete their work with each other.

Though Ms. Humphry’s intentions in the lesson were clear, her inexperience was evident. She

had good routines in place, such as expectations for group work, partner talks, and modeling work, along
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with visuals to support her expectations. However, the students struggled to stay on task and Ms.

Humphry repeated herself and the expectations multiple times throughout her instruction. As a result,

her delivery was choppy, and it was hard to decipher whether the students were completely following

along. Partner talks were also superficial. Students turned, told their partner what they found, and then

stopped talking. There was no peer questioning or explaining their thinking. Ms. Humphry also missed

the opportunity to model prior to asking the students to practice. As a result, she spent a lot of her

instructional time repeating what she wanted to see rather than having the students practice effectively.

Ms. Humphry is eager for feedback and welcomes suggestions. Based on my questions from the

observation, my feedback focuses on classroom management and student discourse. Though there are

more areas for growth, these two areas are high leverage and related to one another, therefore, easier

to work on together. The first suggestion I had was to include modeling prior to starting the lesson for

both the academic and wanted behaviors. Asking students, especially “busy” students to model wanted

behaviors gives students time to practice and receive positive reinforcement for a job well done.

Secondly, I recommended imbedding the Mathematical Language Routines (MLRs) we have learned

about in our district professional development sessions to boost the rigor and accountability in her

student discourse. Though her students are very young, they are capable of complex thinking. Any of the

eight routines would help engage students in deeper conversations about their math. The explicit

routines for the practices will also encourage students to follow expectations and stay on task

(Illustrative Mathematics, 2019). These are both areas Mrs. Jolly agrees are next steps for Ms. Humphry.

Ms. Humphry was eager to start working on these elements.

Technology Recommendations

Technology use during the observed lesson was limited to the slides Ms. Humphry displayed for

her students. The slides were clear and easy to understand, appropriate for the grade level. Students use
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Chromebooks in class for iReady, an online diagnostic and practice tool, limited free time, and testing.

Logging into their devices can be cumbersome and is not always the most efficient use of time. My

recommendation for more technology implementation is to allow more student interaction with the

smartboard. I recommended giving students the chance to model their work on the board, either with

the writing tool or through some interactive worksheets or websites. This would allow students the

chance to interact with technology, collaborate while modeling, use online resources, and still be under

Ms. Humphry’s supervision.

Collaboration, Trust, and Personalized Learning Environment

During this experience, I approached the observation and interaction with Ms. Humphry as a

learner and mentor. I left judgments aside and allowed Ms. Humphry to reflect and ask questions. To be

fair, the collaborative environment has already been created by our administration and staff. I also made

sure Ms. Humphry knew that there were positives in her practice and things I would like to implement in

my own class. I worked to support the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) standard six

by encouraging reflection and questioning from the session (National Policy Board for Educational

Administration, 2015). I also reminded Ms. Humphry that, though I have been teaching for longer, the

profession demands that we continue to learn and change. We are never perfect, things continue to

change, and we must learn to grow. We cannot hope to be successful in that endeavor unless we work

and learn together.

Self-Awareness, Vulnerability, Transparency, and Ethical Behavior

It was not until I started to plateau in my professional growth that I realized how valuable

effective coaching is in our profession. Part of being effective as a coach or leader is being human. The

same way we interact with our students, we want to be honest and transparent. In this case, Ms.

Humphry knows I am more experienced and am working towards being a coach. I was open about my
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reasons for observing and working with her. Being open about how much she was helping me allowed

me to be more effective when helping her. Shaping School Culture, talks about the importance of

building relationships and being honest about your intentions while supporting a healthy school culture

(2016). This was my goal in the session, to build a relationship that will help support our school’s mission

and vision. In the process, I was enlightened about ways I can improve my own practice and ways I have

slipped over the last couple years. I honored that enlightenment by telling Ms. Humphry how watching

her helped me too.

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References

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2021). Standards for Mathematical Practice. Retrieved from

Common Core State Standards Initiative: Preparing America's Students for College & Career:

http://www.thecorestandards.org/Math/Practice/

Deal, T. E., & Peterson, K. D. (2016). Shaping School Culture. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Illustrative Mathematics. (2019). Mathematical Language Routines: Developing Students' Voices and

Sense Making. Retrieved from

https://illustrativemathematics.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/MLR-Presentation-Craig-

Sadie-Vanessa.pdf

National Policy Board for Educational Administration. (2015). Professional Standards for Educational

Leaders. Retrieved from National Policy Board for Educational Administration:

https://www.npbea.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Professional-Standards-for-Educational-

Leaders_2015.pdf