Resource Room Document 8.21
Teacher Observation Examples
Community College of Aurora
Liberal Arts Division
Classroom Observation Form
Instructor: UHPRYHGIRUFRQILGHQWLDOLW\
Date of Observation: 5/18/2012
Course: FRE 211
Room: Media Center
Focus of the Class Session Observed:
Students are using the Media Center this morning to do some research about the Louvre. provides the students a list of 18 research questions in French regarding the Louvre and students
must find the answers online and answer the questions in French.
Instructor's Major Strengths as Demonstrated in this Class Session:
speaks the entire time in French and students are understanding. He engages students who
are tired or not focused in order to bring them back on task.
With new words, describes the word in French rather than English, so that students are
working in the target language.
provides students three webpages in French for them to explore, encouraging them to read
and explore in the target language.
He reviews the questions and their meaning before the students begin. He does this by calling
on students and asking them to translate.
Students are all on computers but stay generally on task
circulates to ensure that students are doing their research in French, not English.
Instructor's Area for Improvement:
I enjoyed this class. Students seem engage and are understanding the content well. The only
recommendation I might make is to call on students randomly rather than in order so that the
occasional student who has started to wander is encouraged to stay on task.
Overall Impression of the Class observed:
Students are actively engaged in the learning and are performing tasks in the target language.
Students are reading for meaning in French, developing reading skills like skimming and
scanning, and writing in French in this exercise. They are performing interpretive and
presentational (written) tasks.
has a good rapport with his students and has created a relaxed environment where students
feel comfortable participating and asking questions.
Observer: UHPRYHGIRUFRQILGHQWLDOLW\
Community College of Aurora
Liberal Arts Division
Classroom Observation Form
Instructor: UHPRYHGIRUFRQILGHQWLDOLW\
Date of Observation: 10/24/2012
Course: PHI 111--Intro to Philosophy
Room: UHPRYHGIRUFRQILGHQWLDOLW\
Focus of the Class Session Observed:
Continued discussion of consequential philosophies from yesterday
Discussion of Act and Rule Utilitarianism, their similarities and differences, and the
implications of Utilitarianism generally.
Instructor's Major Strengths as Demonstrated in this Class Session:
has a good rapport with this students. Students call him by his first name and all seem at
home in the classroom.
He started the class with a fun, philosophical question, had students read the scenario and then
write in their journals about what the cavers should do. guides them toward the previously
discussed process of a "thought experiment", allows them to think about it, and lets them know
they will return to it at the end.
Review's the class' daily objectives, useful vocabulary for the day (Consequentialism, Rule, Act),
allowing students time to write; also presented the theorists Stuart Mill and Bentham and their
tendency toward act utilitarianism.
Good contrasts between the Ethical Egoism discussed yesterday and Utilitarianism today (one's
self v. everyone); asked students to recall problems with Ethical Egoism (no moral standard on
which to judge actions)--students who are engaged are writing notes and/or making associations
with other classes or life examples.
Brought the discussion back around to the spelunkers through the use of the Hedonistic Calculus
explanation. After about 10 minutes of lecture, break up into three groups to do a jigsaw
exercise around the textbook with each group focusing on a different topic. Afterwards, the
groups get back together and share out what they have found. This is a good way of introducing
the text but at the same time providing students the resources to collaborate and evaluate the text
as a group.
Instructor's Area for Improvement:
Some students are off topic as others are writing. What are the classroom rules regarding
disruption? Are all students enrolled for CCA credit? If not, how many are not?
The discussion prior to breaking out into three groups was around act utilitarianism for the most
part. Consider a brief intro to rule utilitarianism prior to the students breaking out.
Is the reading from the text? Students were given copies of the reading because the school only
has 20 copies of the text. Consider giving the student the text portion to read as homework the
night before so that they can get started on their group discussions faster. It is a college-level
expectation that students do their homework and come to class prepared.
Overall Impression of the Class observed:
I enjoyed the class. Students seemed engaged, for the most part. I appreciated efforts to
recycle information shared in prior classes as it related to today's topic. looked
comfortable in his role, and his students felt at ease with him and with one another. I enjoyed
seeing inclusion of group discussion and the opportunity for students to create
presentations and report out to the rest of the class, providing students ownership of the
information covered.
Observer: UHPRYHGIRUFRQILGHQWLDOLW\
Date: 10/24/2012