Observation Report Components
Educational Psychology, Psychology 231
Fall, 2010
01. Introduction Professionalism of the school and teacher
a. Name of School(s)
b. Grade level(s) and subject discipline observed
c. Teacher's name(s)
d. Length of class period.
e. Starting with beginning, how long did it take before the students were task
focused.
f. Percentage of students’ time on task in first 15 minutes of class. Briefly explain the
sequence of events.
g. Note the composition of the class: Race, sex, student accommodations for
learning.
h. Sketch how the students, teachers, and computers are arranged physically.
i. Describe the dress code for the teacher and the student, according to school. (At
least, describe how you inquired.)
j. Ask about the teacher handbook and the student handbook; append to your
report if they are available electronically. At least, in each case, read and summarize
the contents of each.
k. Briefly interview the teacher and ask him/her what he/she does for professional
development.
02. Initial Introductions and Impressions. Background.
a. Were the introductions between you and the teacher(s) warm and cordial?
Explain.
b. Did the participating teacher(s) provide his/her expectations for you? Explain.
c. Did the teacher visit with you about special student concerns? Explain.
03. What were your first impressions of the classroom “climate and culture”? Testing your
Analytical or Thinking Skills
a. Was there an atmosphere of warmth; was it appealing? Explain descriptively in
at least 100 words.
b. What were the items of interest in the classroom? Explain descriptively in at
least 100 words.
c. Do you feel as though the classroom promoted a learning environment?
Elaborate.
04. As you observed the teacher, which style do you feel best fit the teacher? Describe and
Explain. Why? Thinking Skills; Methodology/Technology; Professionalism, Leadership of
the teacher. (These terms have specific meaning educationally; look them up before you
plunge into the deep end. What teacher behaviors would we from each type? To begin your
answer, define each term.)
a.
b.
c.
d.
Authoritarian,
Authoritative,
Permissive,
Indulgent
05. Discuss each item below about the developmental readiness of the students. Provide
one example for each of the following items: Assessment; Thinking Skills; Human
Relations/Diversity; Professionalism
a. Academic Readiness
b. Physical Readiness
c. Social Readiness
06. Discuss each the following items concerning the exceptional students that you
observed: Assessment; Thinking Skills; Human Relations/Diversity; Professionalism
a. Academic readiness
b. Physical readiness
c. Social Readiness
07. What did the teacher do to address the various learning or cognitive styles of the
students in your observation? Explain. Assessment; Thinking Skills; Human
Relations/Diversity; Professionalism
a. What are the major learning styles? Name and define each.
b. How do you know what learning style the student is using?
c. Now, describe one specific case where the teacher is accommodating a specific
student’s learning style?
08. Briefly discuss what activities, etc. were provided to accommodate students for each of
the learning modalities: Explain how the specific teaching strategies accommodated each
learning modality. Assessment; Thinking Skills; Human Relations/Diversity;
Professionalism
a. Visual
b. Auditory
c. Kinesthetic
09. How does the participating teacher handle work that was past due for completion and
submission? Explain. Methodology/Technology; Professionalism; Assessment
10. What was the physical arrangement of the classroom computers and other technology
in relationship to the seating format? Explain. Methodology/Technology
11. Did the participating teacher relate instructional objectives, goals, and advanced
organizers to the lesson? Explain. Methodology/Technology
12 When class discussions were held, how did the teacher vary his/her questioning
process? Explain. Assessment; Methodology/Technology; Communication.
13. Was sufficient time provided for student response when a question and answer period
was in progress? If more time had been provided for student responses, what would have
been the result? Explain your response. Assessment; Methodology/Technology;
Communication.
14. At the end of class discussion or teacher presentation, did the teacher give time to
students to summarize the material covered? Explain your response.
Methodology/Technology; Communication.
15. Did you observe 'teachable moments'? Describe. This is the time given to a topic or
subject that is brought up by students or teacher that is not included in the main body of
objectives. Explain. Leadership; Communication; Thinking Skills
16. What approach was employed by the participating teacher to accommodate individuals
from various cultures or promote a discussion about various cultures? Explain. Human
Relations/Diversity; Communication; Thinking Skills; Leadership
17. What method(s) was/were employed by the participating teacher to develop an
awareness of contemporary issues in the following areas: Explain. Leadership;
Professionalism; Thinking Skills; Communication; Methodology/Technology; Human
Relations/Diversity.
a. Community
b. Statewide
c. Nationally
d. Worldwide
18. How did the participating teacher(s) incorporate technology in the classroom? Explain.
Methodology/Technology; Assessment.
19. Were students encouraged to construct their own knowledge base through the use of
electronic media? Explain. Methodology/Technology; Assessment; Leadership.
20. Describe how the participating teacher(s) incorporated research into the lessons using
the following resources. Methodology/Technology; Assessment; Leadership.
a. Technology
b. Library
c. Current publications, including newspapers
d. Hand held digital devices
21. Define the social constructivist approach to education and visit with your participating
teacher about its meaning to the education of students in the 21st century. Discuss and
describe what she/he felt about the approach, describe your own viewpoint of Social
constructivism. Assessment; Leadership; Communication; Professionalism
a. Define the social constructivist approach to education.
b. Briefly interview the teacher and ask how he/she used social constructivism.
c. Explain how social constructivism could be incorporated into your teaching.
22. What did the participating teacher do to employ cooperative learning in the
classroom? Explain and describe how they employed each of the following strategies. If the
teacher did not employ a particular strategy, define it.Assessment; Leadership;
Communication; Professionalism
a. Reciprocal student questioning
b. Jigsaw
c. Structured controversies
23. To what extent did your participating teacher depend upon transmission styles of
teaching? Explain and describe. Assessment; Leadership; Communication; Professionalism
24. First, describe who the individual is and what the term(s) mean, Then, describe how
the following theorists’ points of view relate to your classroom observation. Be specific.
Assessment; Communication; Professionalism
a. Jean Piaget’s four periods of cognitive development
b. Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development
c. Bloom’s taxonomy
d. Gagne’s task analysis
e. Augubel’s advanced organizer
f. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model
g. Chomsky’s surface and deep language structure
h. Skinner’s reinforcement approach to behavioral shaping
i. Torrance’s approach to creativity
j. Bandura’s observational learning.
k. J. Anderson’s information processing approach to learning
25. What took place in the classroom that you expected to occur? Why? Describe and
Explain. Assessment; Leadership; Professionalism; Thinking Skills; Communication
26. What took place in the classroom that you did not expect to occur? Why? Describe and
Explain. Assessment; Leadership; Professionalism; Thinking Skills; Communication
27. Summarize one specific event that took place involving an individual classroom
student; how did this event relate to Educational Psychology? Why? Describe and Explain.
Assessment; Leadership; Professionalism; Thinking Skills; Communication
28. In 100 words or more, summarize your over all experience of your school observation.
Include in this summary your communication with the participating teacher about
“teaching to the test” to meet today's State and National testing requirements. What are
your beliefs about this issue? What are the beliefs of your cooperating teacher on this
issue? Explain and describe. (This response may also be graded for grammar, spelling, and
punctuation.) Assessment; Leadership; Professionalism; Thinking Skills; Communication;
Methodology/Technology; Human Relations/Diversity