Classroom Observation Form Instructor: Course: Observer: Date:
Karen Salvador MUS 380, Introduction to Music Education Chris Heidenreich February 12, 2014
Narrative. (This is the observer’s objective summary of the class session.) 10:01 AM Greeting, and class discussion with a review of reading response 10:22 AM Transition using the class discussion to topic of the day entitled Developing Self-Efficacy 10:26 AM Video presentation 10:28 AM Classroom reading from the Michigan teacher proficiency 10:34 AM Classroom discussion around the individual development of selfefficacy 10:46 AM Review of upcoming assignment 10:49 AM Dismissal Analysis / Evaluation. (In this section, the observer responds to critical questions about the instructor’s performance.) Planning/ Organization
Dr. Salvador began with an open discussion among the class regarding a recent assignment. She had a plan to create a teachable moment by engaging and sharing the teacher candidate’s reactions by creating further reflection on their written responses. This activity and the Powerpoint presentation were designed to scaffold the learning to take the students through the process of building goals toward self-efficacy. Interaction with Students
Dr. Salvador’s use of questioning guided the discussion among the teacher candidates. Frequently, she followed a question with a prompt to encourage the responder to further elaborate as well as clarify their position and thoughts contributing to a higher level of thinking on the teacher candidates’ position. She provided examples from the classroom while engaging the students in talking about their personal experiences. At the same time, she continually brought the discussion back to the reading response. Her genuine enthusiasm for teaching and her role in the teacher candidate’s education is obvious and contributes to the classroom environment. Dr. Salvador has created a friendly environment in the classroom in which teacher candidates seem to genuinely wish to contribute to the conversation.
Command of Subject Matter
The instructor demonstrated the knowledge of teacher characteristics but also has valuable real world classroom experience to back up that knowledge by making the examples meaningful. Dr. Salvador was able to give a “textbook” definition as well as provide a classroom example that made the definition more meaningful to the teacher candidates. She regularly reminded the students about their present roles in the department and how the curriculum goals converge to benefit them as future educators and musicians. Promotion of Critical Thinking
Dr. Salvador’s use of questioning as well as the environment of the classroom allowed students the freedom to feel as contributors to the discussion. To further the discussion, she challenged the teacher candidates to reach beyond the limitations of the article into areas that the article was missing. Furthermore, her overall view of the teacher candidate’s education created both a short-term objective for the day’s lesson as well as an overarching goal of creating a meaningful experience in the undergraduate years.
Suggestions. (In this section, the observer offers advice on improving or enhancing teaching.)
A few of the teacher candidates seemed reluctant to contribute to the conversation, while a few others could have a tendency to monopolize the topic. It might be necessary to specifically call on the candidates to pull them out of their seemingly unwillingness to contribute.