Observations

You will be doing three observations this school year. One will be within your collaboration group and will be done between September 16 and October 21. Another will be outside your group. This will be done between October 21 and December 16. The last will be outside of the district on the morning of February 8.

Please share any positives you observed during your second observation. Use the following format. __**Due December 16**__. First name of whom you observed: Class being taught: Positives to share:**
 * Your first name:

_ Your first name: Chris First name of whom you observed: Nicole Class being taught: 2nd grade math Positives to share: The class was gathered around for the problem of the day. They had two solutions, but thought there might be another one. The student trying to figure out the third answer realized that there wasn't another answer - the whole class handled this well. Nicole mentioned that maybe she had tricked them. Good attitudes and positive response. They were then off to their seats - the students with jobs got busy and handed out materials needed for the rest of the lesson. Geoboards and rubber bands - great to have gone over the rules first. Rubber bands are such a temptation - everyone followed the rules!! Reviewed the vocab - congruent and similar - great job. The class was on task and interested in the assignment. Using the ELMO and the geoboards made the lesson go well. Thanks for the visit, Nicole.

First name of whom you observed: Monte Class being taught: Alg. 1 Positives to share: He first checked the previous lesson from the day before using the Elmo projector. He then introduced the next lesson on Coordinates and Cartesian system. I noticed that while he was presenting his students were very engaged in the informations being presented. I thought he explained the lesson very clearly and thoroughly to the students.**
 * Your first name: Derek

First name of whom you observed: Byron Class being taught: H.S. Band Positives to share: He encouraged students to take risks and put more into their music. He created a very positive and upbeat atmosphere. It was easy to see that the kids were very comfortable and were having fun as they were practicing their pep band songs.**
 * Your first name: Sarah

First name of whom you observed: Mary Class being taught: literacy centers**
 * Your first name: Sandy
 * Positives to share: The class was on task and knew where they needed to be and what they were to do at each center. The transition time went very smoothly from one center to another. You could tell that each child had been taught what they were to do at the different activities. Mary is very organized, and I could tell it's a lot of work to get the centers ready each theme.**

First name of whom you observed: Marlene Class being taught: At Risk**
 * Your first name: Roxane
 * Positives to share: The group of students were on task the entire period. Several were finishing a math assignment and then moved smoothly to using manipulatives to study for a test the following day. You could see that Marlene has great control over the group.**

First name of whom you observed: Tami Class being taught: music**
 * Your first name: Marlene
 * Positives to share:** **I totally enjoyed observing music. Tami was so enthusiastic, and she made the students feel the same way. They began with a square dance. You could see this was great for coordination ! Then she taught a difficult song. She had a prop to enhance the learning. All of the students were engaged in this activity. It was obvious that lots of "vim and vigor" was needed to teach "Froggy (or is it Froggie) Went A Courtin!"**

First name of whom you observed: Lois Class being taught: 1st grade art**
 * Your first name: Mary
 * Positives to share: Lois was very organized and prepared before the students arrived. She explained what they were to do and modeled the procedures for them. She spoke slowly, clearly and calmly and the students attended well. It was obvious from observing the children and listening to their conversations they love Lois's art class!**

First name of whom you observed: Bob Class being taught:** **5th Grade Band**
 * Your first name: Nicki
 * Positives to share:** **They are getting ready for a Christmas concert. He made sure everyone was listening when giving a direction. He and Mr. Tinder work well together. Mr. Tinder walked around and assisted quietly. Bob made sure to praise the ones who played certain parts well. When a student wasn't resting correctly, he was very patient as they tried it over and over to get it right and then praised him with, "That was exactly right!" when he did get it finally. He called the drummers "gentlemen" when complimenting them.**

First name of whom you observed: Kim Class being taught: 6th Grade Science**
 * Your first name: Sara
 * Positives to share: They are sharing their paragraphs on "My Life as a Drip." A student used the word transpiration wrong in their paper. Mr. Subbert said, "Not to pick on you, but who remembers what transpiration is?" The a few kids remembered what it meant, so he called on a student, who clarified what transpiration was. Then the student who used it incorrectly could see why it was wrong in their paper. Mr. Subbert noted the good examples of transpiration in another student's paper later on. The papers had excellent voice. Before the paper, the students received a rubric on what was expected in the paper. Mr. Subbert gave the students a choice on whether or not they wanted to share their papers. I like giving them a choice on sharing papers.**

First name of whom you observed: Donna Class being taught: Music Technology**
 * Your first name: Jo
 * Positives to share: The students were very positive about the class and seemed proud of their projects they created. The students learned how to use many different computer programs this semester to edit, create, and write down music. they had to use various programs to create their project. I was impressed with all the programs the students got to experiment with and how they got to choose their final project. This observation gave me some good ideas for my computer graphics class.**

First name of whom you observed: Marla Class being taught:** Special Education
 * Your first name: Tammy
 * Positives to share:** At then end of sememster, students are given the choice of what to focus on: Skills Tutor or Kurzweil reading. All the students who came into the room were immediately focused and knew what to do. Marla did some "house keeping" items, and then wandered around making sure they were all properly engaged. One student was working on his current issues, and as she passed by, she praised him for using the green recycled paper to print materials on. When another student tried to meander in from another class to "get caught up", Marla handled the situation excellently by stating this student needed to remain in class and not become further lost, and she explained that a lot of can be learned by listening to today's lesson which would assist in understanding what was missed. Also, it was good to see how she administered her reading probes as we are not doing it the same, therefore, we need to come up with a common method.

First name of whom you observed: Derek Class being taught:** Junior High PE
 * Your first name: Monte
 * Positives to share:** Derek was very organized with his class. The first part of the period was spent in stations for stretching and running. Then the kids split up to play their game. I did find out about a new game they played that I had never heard of before. It was called "scramm ball". The kids all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

First name of whom you observed: Donna Class being taught:** Music Tech
 * Your first name: Lori
 * Positives to share:** Ms. Washburn was a facilitator, not a "teacher" as the students took the information provided and were able to create using those tools and Ms. Washburn's guidance. Awesome to see the finished products and the enthusiasm of the students in the products they created.Very 21st Century skills!

First name of whom you observed: Pete Class being taught:** **Psychology**
 * Your first name: Gina
 * Positives to share:** The room was well organized and had clearly set-up areas for materials. The class was discussing relationships with parents, peers, dating, etc. Students were listening to Mr. Dammel and filling out study guides. Mr. Dammel was lecturing and using the Q & A style to make sure they understood. The instructor was well-prepared with good examples for his lecture, he seemed to relate well to the students, they responded to him. There were no behavior issues, he used humor effectively and explained things well. It was a good class.

First name of whom you observed: Marlene Class being taught: Third Grade Spelling Positives to share: Marlene's class was very attentive and eager to raise their hands to participate. The class played spelling baseball to practice this week's words and review previously taught words. All kids were actively involved in their learning during this activity. Even though only one student was asked to spell a word out loud at a time, others were mouthing the spelling to themselves, showing their active involvement. This activity also promoted a positive classroom climate of teamwork.**
 * Your first name: Crystal

First name of whom you observed: Gina Class being taught: Self Contained Classroom Positives to share:** The learning environment was calm and friendly, the student(s) knew what to do with out much if any additional instruction. If a student needed help they waited until Gina got to them, for the most part the material was online based and the student(s) were familiar with the routine. The room was well planned with materials with easy reach and schedules clearly posted.
 * Your first name: Pete

First name of whom you observed: Nicole Class being taught: 2nd Grade Reading Positives to share:** The students were rereading a story from their book with partners of the same ability levels. The teacher walked around the classroom observing the students as they were reading. I also walked around listening to the students as they read aloud and was very impressed with their fluency. The students all seemed to be on task. After reading, the partners used sentence strips to retell the story. This was a great reading comprehension strategy for the students.
 * Your first name: Julie


 * Your Name:** Nicole
 * First name of whom you observed:** Chris
 * Class Being Taught:** 4th Grade Social Studies
 * Positives to share:** The students were working on their state research. They had just watched a movie over the District of Columbia and Washington D.C. Then they started filling out their research papers together over what they had learned. It was neat to see how the students were able to make connections between the video and their prior knowledge. This helped them quickly fill out their research paper and generated a lot of discussion. The students seemed excited and engaged in completing their research.


 * Your Name:** Lora
 * First name of whom you observed:** Laura
 * Class Being Taught:** K-4 Special Education
 * Positives to share:** I am amazed at all the different levels of students that are in the room and the amount of work that gets done. I think most people are under the impression that the students are getting one-on-one help in the sped room, but spend just a few minutes and you will see teachers and associates multi-tasking to help 2 or 3 students doing different tasks. While observing Mrs. Pross work with one student on one-to-one correspondence she also had another student working on reading. Mrs. Jones was working with 2 boys (one 1st grader and one 3rd grader). Mrs. Klever was working with a kindergartener. All this was going on in one room There were 4 more students in the room next door working independently and with Mrs. Petersen. This is a very productive classroom. The exciting part was observing a student of mine from last year and seeing the progress he has made with their help.

Your Name: Monica First name of whom you observed: Julie Class Being Taught: 4th grade reading Positives to share: Oh my! It was so exciting to see these kids so enthusiastic about reading! There were so many volunteering to read and many anxious to engage in conversation about what they were reading. There is a very disruptive student in the room. Mrs. Nissen did an amazing job of keeping the lesson going. It was a thrill to see what the 4th graders can read. The discussion was so interesting it made me want to read the book!