Reflections of Self

I really enjoyed the opportunity to complete a full clinical observation cycle, as it gave me the chance to take a deep look at the process and at myself. I worked with a first year kindergarten teacher and we both learned a lot during the process.

In my opinion, the post conference went well for both of us. I was able to share some information that the teacher agreed was helpful and she was able to give feedback about how I handled the observation process.


Reflections on Environment
The environment for the post-observation conference was the teacher's classroom. This location was selected because it allowed me to refer to the areas in the room during the discussion and would be comfortable for the teacher. I sat on the left of the teacher for our discussion, which meant we were often face to face, but there was nothing between us, like a desk or table.

After watching the video recording of the post-observation conference, I noticed that there was constant eye contact between the teacher and myself. I am known for facial expressions when speaking, so that is something I worked hard to keep under control. I often used a head nod to show agreement as well as comments such as 'right' and 'yes'. I discovered that the transition words I used during the conference were words such as okay and alright.

The observation was focused on three (3) particular students, and in my recounting of events during the post-observation conference, I had difficulty being sure I was matching the correct information with the correct student name. The teacher and I worked it out, but this would be important to pay more attention to during future interactions.

Reflections on Strategies to Improve Instruction
To open the post-observation conference, I referenced our pre-conference and shared the pre-conference documentation. In addition, the teacher and I had discussed a word assistance poster that I had seen in another classroom. During the post-observation conference, I provided a copy of the document for the teacher to duplicate for use with her students during kid writing activities. The teacher and I reviewed a behavior tracking form from the observation and we discussed the behavior of the three targeted students based on this documentation.

I allowed the teacher to share her reactions and reflections for the observed lesson and then shared my information after clarifying her thoughts. We discussed her opening activity and I provided some suggestions for keeping the targeted students focused in a whole group setting. The teacher received this input well and it seemed she would attempt to implement some of the suggestions. Keeping track of student names (all three began with J!) so as not to confuse behaviors between students is very important. In the future, I would try to have a picture of the student in advance, so that later reference to a given student would be surely be accurate. Once we clarified the students during the opening of the post-observation conference, I feel confident about the accuracy of my comments. I did suggest that a change in grouping of students might be a way to keep the targeted students more on task and the teacher was receptive to this, commenting that now that she knows the students better, one of the groups did need adjusting.

One thing I had noticed during the classroom observation was that the teacher speaks really quickly. I was nervous to bring this up, because it seems very personal. However, when working with younger students, a teacher's tone of voice and pacing can really affect student behavior. I suggested she consider slowing down and to monitor how that affected the students. She took this 'criticism' in stride and seemed eager to make adjustments. After reviewing the post-observation video and closely watching her facial reactions and body language, I could see that she was not insulted at all and I was glad about that. I did note in the video that I said the teacher should try to slow down and lower her voice. In the future, I would choose my words more carefully and say something like, 'Have you considered slowing your voice down? or "One thing that might have an effect on students is a slower pace." The use of the word should seemed very directive.

The teacher commented that she is frequently watching the time because there is so much to get done. My suggestion here (as a victim of over planning, myself) was to try planning 3 days worth of activities that actually last 5 days. That way, she can focus more on the quality of the work getting done, over the quantity of work to be done.

Having never taught kindergarten, I questioned the teacher about her activities to be sure I was clear on the expectations and goals for student learning. I had prepared notes in advance covering the different areas of the lesson, so as the teacher shared her thoughts I was able to provide suggestions along the way. The teacher was disappointed (and had expressed concern) about the amount of students she could see during her rotating groups. Since the initial observation, she had restructured the group work and reported that she is now seeing more students. I had some suggestions for this, but held them back since she had improved this on her own.

Conference Behaviors
Prior to the post-observation conference, I planned to use the collaborative approach with this new teacher. I had sketched out the following flow of conversation: clarifying (t), listening (s), reflecting (s), presenting (s), clarifying (t), problem solving (s+t), encouraging (s), negotiating (s+t), standardizing (s+t), reflecting/summarizing.

It was difficult to refer to the plan during the post-observation conference, but after analyzing the video, I found I had been able to stick to the plan pretty well. The areas that could have been more deliberate were clarifying (t), problem solving (s+t), negotiating (s+t), and summarizing (s+t) at the close of the conference. I tend to think these areas were not comfortable for me due to the fact that I am not the teacher's actual supervisor. I do not have the ability to hold the teacher to any plan we develop and therefore probably shied away from the activities that would seem evaluative.

All in all, the entire cycle went well! I would think that with more experience and practice, it would become second nature to identify the correct approach for different teachers and apply the matching continuum of behaviors during the cycle.

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