Dr. Victoria Pettis
Summer Cohort 2006
EDUL 6019/ Jo Blase, Ph. D.
July 21, 2006
|
EDUL 6019: Techniques for Teacher Observation (1 hour)
|
|
NOTE: The short excerpt below is a report I
wrote after I conducted a clinical trial on two teachers. |
NovaNet: Two Teachers’ Logon to Teaching
It was four years ago that I first heard the name NovaNet linked with student success at Podunk High School (PHS).[1] Over the years, the school district’s alternative school and the Clinehill Performance Learning Center (PLC)[2] began implementing NovaNet as a major method of delivering instruction for core areas such as math, English, and science. In our effort to increase the number of middle school students passing the CRCT in math and reading last school year, my current principal at Podunk Middle School (PMS) seriously considered applying for a site license for NovaNet before he finally settled on two software packages adopted by the school district. During this summer, I was given the opportunity to teach high school courses at the district’s summer school, which would be located for the first time at the PLC. One of the requirements for teaching at the PLC was that teachers implement NovaNet into the curriculum.
I began wondering: How could an online program be a good substitute for teaching? In both my English classes, reading and writing was the major component; NovaNet was only worth 25%. One teacher counted NovaNet 55% in his math class. The English teacher, who taught opposite of me in the afternoon, had NovaNet as her sole requirement for both 9th and 10th grade English. How could this be possible? I thought. What would NovaNet used as major teaching tool look like in a classroom? My determination to find the answers to these questions – among other factors – that led me to the clinical cycle that I conducted with two colleagues at the PLC.
Rationale for Selection of Teachers
Although Dr. John Madly and John Carson graciously opened their classrooms to me, they were not the two teachers I had originally chosen for this project. Their selection came about because of several factors: 1) I was limited in my selection of teachers due to the fact that the regular school year had already ended; and 2) I was unable to secure the participation of two colleagues due to conflicting work schedules.[3] By mid-June, the PLC was the only school in the my school district still operating a summer school, so I turned to my principal Dave Hartman and asked him for recommendations. Coincidentally, Hartman recommended the “two Johns” working at the PLC, because they offered contrasting teaching styles. Hartman described Madly’s style as “easy-going”; Carson was “more militaristic.” Unbeknownst to me at the time, Hartman was not just describing their classroom management styles but the way they approached using NovaNet.
The Pre-conferences
The same day that Hartman gave me his recommendations, I approached both Madly and Carson and talked to each of them about a project I was doing in one of my UGA leadership classes, which required that I observe two teachers and write a report. I told them that during the observation I would be looking for “good teaching practices.” Once they agreed to participate, I scheduled Madly’s preplanning conference and observation for Monday, June 26; Mr. Carson’s was scheduled for the following day simply because I wanted to see how both teachers started the class period.
For the purposes of efficiency, I decided to take notes on both conference meetings and the observations on my laptop instead of writing out the responses. During each pre-conference, I used a set of interview questions I had constructed after reading Roberts and Pruitt’s (2003) chapter on clinical supervision. The interview questions basically covered three areas: teaching experience, teaching strategies, and the observation[4]. I felt these areas were important because it would capture important background about these teachers (who were unfamiliar to me) and provide a context for each observation. Teachers were also asked to describe what I should expect to see in the observation, including the focus and objectives of the lesson and any concerns they had about lesson.
During both observations, I used a technique called the “detached open-ended narrative,” which required that I record word-for-word any actions and conversations that took place between the teachers and their students that caught my attention (Sullivan and Glanz, 2005). I made sure that my verbatim recordings were free of inferences and value judgments (Roberts and Pruitt, 2003). I selected this method because it served as a successful method of collecting objective data in GTEP observations as well as my own dissertation study. At the end of each observation, I analyzed my notes and constructed a list of questions, which represented what I saw going on in the classroom[5]. These questions were presented to each teacher hours before the scheduled post-conference to give them time to think about their responses. I chose to use the “collaborative approach” in the post-conference, because I thought it was important that I share my observations and allow the teachers to share their own interpretation (Glickman, Gordan, and Ross-Gordan, 1998). Madly’s post-conference was scheduled for June 27 at 12:20 p.m. I met with Carson on June 28 at 1 p.m.
The pre-conference
scheduled for Monday, June 26, with Madly lasted 23 minutes. I learned that he
had been a scientist for 35 years, and that he had just finished his second
year teaching at the PLC where he was responsible for teaching algebra and
biology. In my observation of his biology/anatomy class, Madly explained that
his main objective was to review the different body systems and their functions.
This short review
References
Acheson, K.A., & Gall, M.D. (1992). Techniques in the clinical supervision of teachers: Preservice and inservice applications (3rd ed.). New York: Longman Publishing Group.
Glickman, C.D., Gordon, S.P., & Ross-Gordon, J.M. (1998). Supervision of instruction: A developmental approach (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
NovaNet (n.d.) Retrieved June 30, 2006,
from http://www.pearsondigital.com/novanet/
Roberts, S.M. & Pruitt, E.Z. (2003). Schools as professional learning communities: Collaborative activities and strategies for professional development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Sullivan, S. & Glanz, J. (2005). Supervision that improves teaching: Strategies and techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Appendix A
Clinical Cycle Pre-Conference Interview Questions
Teacher
information
1. What is your name?
2. How many years of experience in teaching do you have?
3. What subject and grade level(s) do you teach during regular school year?
4. What subject and grade level(s) do you teach here at the PLC for this summer school session?
Teaching style
5. Do you have a set routine for this class in the four and a half hours that you are here? If yes, what is it?
6. What adjustments have you had to make to adjust to 4 ½ hour schedule here at summer school?
The Observation
1. What do you plan to teach during this observation?
2. What aspects of the lesson would you want me pay close attention to?
3. Are there any concerns that you have with this lesson?
4. What do you hope to accomplish with students during the lesson?
5. Are there any questions about the observation I am about to do?
Appendix B
Post Conference Questions for Dr. John Madly
1. I noticed that you started class at exactly 1:15. Is starting class on time important to you?
2. I noticed you talking to students about some NovaNet lessons that you thought were particularly difficult and that you gave students an opportunity to redo the module. How does this act play into philosophy about kids and learning?
3. I noticed that you had a starter (science question) to begin your class. How does the starter connect with your philosophy on teaching, learning, and classroom management?
4. I noticed that several students came in late and you chose to not confront the students about their lateness but to quietly direct them to the task at hand. What are your feelings about students who are tardy? What are your consequences?
5. I noticed that you gave students a self-test that they or you could grade to see how much they know. What did the self-test reveal? How do they help you? The students?
6. What did you like about the lesson?
7. What do you think could be improved?
Appendix C
Post Conference Questions for John Carson
1. Do you have a set routine for this class in the four and a half hours that you are here? If yes, what is it?
2. What adjustments have you had to make teaching at summer school:
3. How long have you been teaching using NovaNet?
4. Has NovaNet improved or changed your teaching? How?
5. What are most students working on in NovaNet?
6. Are there any concerns that you have with NovaNet?
7. How does NovaNet help students?
8. What type of students is successful using NovaNet? Unsuccessful?
9. I noticed that you started class at 30 minutes before class started and you stated that they could then leave at 5 p.m. Has this been your routine since the beginning?
10. I noticed that you had students who had problems understanding concepts to come to your desk for you to work with them individually. How effective is working one-on-one with students?
11. I noticed that you worked the problem on your yellow pad rather than have them work it. Tell me how you have found this teaching strategy to be effective with students.
12. Do you have occasion where you ask the students to work the problems?
13. Tell me about NovaNet and how you use teaching strategies to students who have problems with the concept.
14. With the use of NovaNet, in what instances do you work with a group of students or a whole class?
15. Classroom management: How do you approach off task behavior such as sleeping or talking?
16. Do you allow students to listen to music as they do NovaNet? Why or why not?
[1]
Pseudonyms will be used in this report when referring to
names of people, schools, and school districts. Note: NovaNet is a
comprehensive, online courseware system designed for grades 6-12. It is
currently used in over 2,000 schools nationwide
(http://www.pearsondigital.com/novanet/).
[2]Note: The district’s alternative school is a separate school used to temporarily house students, who have demonstrated chronic behavior problems at their own school. Once they serve their time at the alternative school, they return to their own elementary, middle, or high school. The Clinehill PLC was established four years ago as the district’s first non-traditional high school.
[3] By conflicting work schedules, I mean that they were also teaching summer school at another site and worked the same hours that I did. I tried multiple times to schedule observations of both teachers on Fridays (the only day I had off) but every date proved inconvenient.
[4] See Appendix A.
[5] See Appendices B and C.