Teaching Observation: Where are the Conditions of Learning? TIMSS Video website

I watched the video on anatomomy, blood and the heart.  I thought the teacher did a great job.  The class was very interactive and the students were enjoying learning.  In fact, at one point, a student asked to take the video quiz on the heart!  I saw a very positive environment, the teacher was respectful and engaging, the students were very responsive, and the teacher gave a lot of feedback.  I saw the same atmosphere and zeal in Steve Reirson's class with the PokeMe anatomy quiz/lesson!

There were many cases of glows and grows.  There was positive feedback for both effort in attempting to get the right answer as well as getting the right answer.  She encouraged approximations and offered several opportunities by having students think about processes and answer them before being taught the actuall processes.

There was a lot of demonstration with big cards the teacher made as well as with a video clip.  Students were asked to respond to each card and at points in the video.  As I said earlier, there was definitely engagement with kids stating and shouting their answers.  They like what they were learning and did not fear giving a wrong answer.  I could see transformation happening as the kids were explaining the process in their own words as well as asking additional questions (you could see they were putting it all together and thinking deeper with deeper questions such as "Why do we bleed if we don't cut an artery or vein?).  The kids had discussions with the teacher and between each other in groups to come up with answers.  I felt they were trying out what they learned by verbalizing it and imagining the structures and processes that were happening in their bodies.  I saw evaluation when they were reflecting on what they were saying or what they had written down as compared to what the teacher and the video explained.

I really enjoyed watching this teacher in her classroom and how she interacted with the students and engaged them.  I liked how she gave them memory devices such as rhyming and mnemonics which were really working for the students.

I thought she did a good job with the glows and grows and really can't think of where she could have inserted another opportunity for a grow in the amount of time that they had (45 min).  I thought the time was used effectively using cards, the book, video, transparencies on overhead, discussion, and group work. I thought she was amazing and fun and was doing what she needed to do to engage students and enable them to really learn.  And they were...

Engagement level = 10