I.

Observation #6
Instruction

II. Grade level and Subject Area

3rd and 4th grade, English Language Arts and Math

III. Setting
Self-contained classroom; Special Education; Elementary school; Urban setting; 1 educator and
2 para-educators; 12 students present

IV. Pre-Observation
Before observing a math lesson, I conducted research revolving around instruction by
having a conversation with my placement teacher in order to gain a greater understanding of her
prepping and planning requirements and styles. To begin, the teacher is required to submit a
week's worth of lesson plans every Monday by nine o’clock in the morning. This keeps
administration up-to-date with what the teachers are teaching and establishes that every teacher
is fulfilling their job duties by being prepared and organized. These lesson plans are brief as a
week's worth of lessons are able to fill a chart that fits on one page. Every lesson plan is required
to contain standards, objectives, lesson outline, assessment, and accommodations and
modifications. The teacher puts a variety of curriculum tools to use during her lesson preparation
process, such as the teacher manual. Due to being a dual-grade, self-contained Special Education
teacher, my teacher personally does not plan her lessons with other teachers as her classroom
differs slightly from the general education classrooms. Although the teacher does a majority of
her lesson planning and prepping on her own, the teacher does keep in close communication with
the same grade level teachers, which are the other third and fourth grade teachers, to ensure that
they all stay relatively on pace with each other and remain on a similar timeline.

V. Data

Math lesson
● To begin the math lesson, the teacher instructs students to find a seat on the carpet. To
ensure that the students are sitting and behaving properly, the teacher says, “I can see
_(number of students ready to learn)_ 5-star listeners ready to learn”. Students who are
not behaving properly begin to copy the students who are being verbally praised.
● The teacher initiates a lesson on a new way to add tens and ones through making models.
The teacher uses and projects a video by Visual Learning Animation Plus on the Smart
board that stops and asks benchmark questions along the way. When the video stops at
the first question, the teacher breaks down rods and cubes by asking, “How much is it”
and “How do you draw it?”. Then, she breaks down the equation, which is 21+7=_, step
by step through counting the rods and cubes together as a class and figuring out what is in
 the ones and tens place by cold-calling students to make sure every student is
understanding the new process and concept. When calling on students, the teacher waits
patiently for an answer and if the student gives the wrong answer, the teacher will help
guide them to the correct answer or ask them to call on a friend for help. When students
become distracted or become too chatty, the teacher uses phrases, such as “Eyes on me”
and “I’m looking for quiet hands”. While the teacher is teaching, she moves around to
keep all students focused and also crouches down to the students level when asking a
question or offering guidance when needed.
● Next, when the video stops at the second question, which is 21+20=_, the teacher asks for
a volunteer to come to the board to complete the question and lots of hands are raised.
The selected student completes the question and counts out loud with the class to check
her work, and then the teacher provides verbal praise. To ensure student comprehension,
she asks for the rest of the students to explain the answer by asking, “Why would we
circle the tens?” A student who is called on answers incorrectly and the teacher responds
understandingly by saying, “I can see what you are saying, but _(offers an
explanation)_”.
● In continuation, the teacher reviews the first two questions on the worksheet. As the
teacher guides students through a series of questions, she asks for more participation by
saying, “I am going to wait for some more hands”. The teacher also continues to help
students if they offer the wrong answer.
● Finally, the teacher breaks students off into groups either with herself, myself, or one of
the teacher’s aides to complete the worksheet. The teacher gives students the option to
utilize the place value block manipulatives as an accommodation.

VI. Analysis
The lesson was differentiated to meet all the students' needs by reiterating questions in
multiple different ways, using visuals and hands-on learning tactics, such as the interactive video
and Smart board, as well as providing manipulatives for students to visualize place value models
before drawing it on paper. Student learning was evident through active student participation
when questions were asked, students either providing correct answers, self-correcting their
wrong answers, or demonstrating understanding after answering incorrectly, and in the
completion and accuracy of the worksheet, which is monitored by a teacher. During my
observation timeline, I was unable to observe many math lessons as the students tend to spend a
few weeks on a similar topic, however, in comparison to the English Language Arts (ELA)
lessons I observed more frequently, they both contained similar means of accommodation and
modification.

VII. Recommendations
In my opinion, I can conclude that my placement teacher did a great job of engaging
students, applying the proper means of accommodation and modification at the correct times,
and maintained a calm, encouraging, and clear voice and demeanor throughout the lesson. To
 help engage all students in wanting and feeling comfortable to participate and answer in group
discussions, I would recommend the teacher to implement modes of nonverbal group responses.
For example, after prompting students with a question, the teacher will give students time to
think about the question individually, then turn to a partner to share and collaborate on ideas, and
finally share findings with the class, “This activity allows students to pause and process what
they have just learned. By giving them this time to process, you enable them to be more engaged
in their learning,” (Hurst, 2022). Instead of expecting answers right away after a question, the
teacher can allow the students to digest the question and formulate a more thought out response
without the pressure of thinking solely on their own or under a time constraint, which can cause a
bit of disarray and less student participation.

VIII. Post Observation

Through my observation of a math lesson and through communicating with my
placement teacher, I learned that teaching and lesson planning is trial and error. While one lesson
may go completely right one day, another one may go completely wrong the next day. It is
extremely important that as a teacher, you take the time to reflect on each lesson that you
conduct and find which areas were well developed and articulated as well as which areas have
room for improvement, additional aid, or more thorough explanation. Just as the students are
learning from the teacher, the teacher is also learning from the students.

IX. Citations

Hurst, S. (2022, November 7). 14 activities that increase student engagement during reading

instruction. Reading Horizons. Retrieved May 1, 2023, from

https://readinghorizons.com/blog/14-classroom-activities-that-increase-student-engageme

nt/

X. Appendix: None used