Context info and Math Lesson Obversation

1

Field Experience Project Part 1 Context Information and Math Lesson Observation

Primary Goals:

● Communicating and collaborating with school personnel ● Practice reflective/analytic skills involved in instructional decision-making ● Analyze critical aspects of lesson planning and teaching

The focus learner is preferably a student who: has been identified as having specific learning disability (SLD), or struggles with mathematics and receives intervention support (Tier II or Tier III).

Steps:

1. Before observing a math lesson, consult the teacher to investigate the following and include in your report:

a. A focus learner i. Who is the focus learner? (Grade level & age; disability status; existing

math level; areas of struggle; student achievement data; IEP goals)

b. The classroom i. Who are the other students in the class/instructional group? (Grade level;

disability status; math skill levels; needs and strengths) ii. Who are the teachers and paraprofessionals? What are their roles?

c. The lesson

i. Lesson content/skill focus, lesson objective, lesson title, unit title, where the lesson fits in the unit, lesson time frame

ii. The focus of the previous lesson iii. The focus of the next lesson

d. The teacher’s decision-making

i. use of assessments, instructional strategies, and planned supports for diverse learners in the lesson

ii. collaborations with other professionals

2

2. Observe the math lesson. Report on:

a. Essential components of the lesson (math learning standards, opening, instructional materials & strategies, steps, assessments, and closing)

b. The extent to which the above components are aligned to one another to help the focus learner achieve the learning goal and provide the learner with appropriate support and challenge

c. What types of teacher feedback for students were noticeable in this math lesson, and for what purposes were they used? What opportunities existed for the student(s) to apply the teacher feedback? Try to include details for the feedback (e.g., context in the lesson where it was provided, the math problem addressed by the teacher feedback, what the teacher said or did, what the student said or did in response to feedback…). While answering this question, you can refer to the feedback feature guide as well as other learning resources on feedback provided in this course.

d. In what ways did the teacher encourage the students, including your focus learner, to engage in effortful thinking (e.g., analyze, justify, and provide explanations) in the lesson?

e. With teacher permission, take pictures of the math materials relevant for this

lesson to include in the report (e.g., projected lesson objectives, math work on the board, student work samples, math posters on the walls)

3. Reflection

a. What additional insights did you gain from the observation about teaching mathematics to diverse learners?

b. Your critique of the math lesson (strengths of the lesson and areas that can be improved; The Do’s and Don’ts?) in light of what you’ve learned about quality math instruction. Cite theory and/or research sources to support your critique.

c. What did you learn about providing effective teacher feedback to students specific

to mathematics learning? Final products

● Google docs or slides that are structured to address the above questions. ● If using slides, do not squeeze too much text on each slide. Use the speaker notes area

underneath the slides to expand what’s on the slides if necessary.

3

Field Experience Project Part 2 Math Assessments & Instructional Plan

Goals:

● Gain insights into the applications of mathematics assessments.

● Pinpoint individual learner’s strengths and difficulties with mathematics.

● Use data to generate meaningful learning goals and targeted instructional plans.

Steps:

1. Select and administer two assessments from the list below to your focus learner (one of

the assessments should be selected from the list provided in this document).

2. Report the assessments results and your analysis/interpretations.

3. Describe the next logical steps of math instruction/intervention and implications for the

focus learner’s individualized education program goals.

***Note: You will find a list of math assessments on D2L. Using your existing

knowledge about the focus learner, choose assessments that will further your

understanding about the focus learner’s math difficulties and strengths in various

math content/standards domain areas.

Directions:

Step 1: Assess the Focus Learner and Report the Results

1. Administer two assessments

a. Provide the basic information about the two assessments: Source/publisher or

developer, year, length/time demand, format (online vs. paper & pencil); alignment

to the CCSS-M/IL math standards

b. Describe the major features of each assessment

● Math content areas assessed

● Intended purposes and uses

● Accessibility/accommodation features

c. Rationale for choosing the two assessments (how they complement each other)

d. Administer the assessments to the focus learner

● Choose an optimal time and location

● Describe the procedure used for administering & scoring the assessments

● Explain use of any accessibility features/accommodations and the benefits

4

Step 2: Report assessment results and interpretations

a. Assessment results

● Provide a succinct summary of the assessment results.

● Accompany results with visual display of data whenever helpful (use table

or charts for enhancement)

● Describe your observations of student behavior during the assessments

b. Assessment Interpretations

● How do these assessments provide you with a better understanding of the

focus learner’s strengths and needs? What evidence clearly indicates what

the student knows, understands and can do?

● What area of mathematics needs further investigation?

● In what ways do the results match your observations of the student’s

learning and participation in the math lesson?

Step 3: Instructional Planning with Individualized Goals & Objectives

Using the assessment results and teacher-provided student achievement data, develop two IEP

goals or revise the existing goals for the focus learner, and lay out the next logical steps for

mathematical instruction.

1. Revise two existing math learning goals set for the focus learner or create two new

annual IEP math goals for the focus learner with three corresponding short-term

benchmark objectives for each goal. The goals should reflect the Illinois Learning

Standards: (https://www.isbe.net/Documents/Math_common_core_standards.pdf).

2. Lay out a plan that represents the focus of the next logical step math

instruction/intervention that should be provided for the focus learner.

a. What are some of the particular skill areas to prioritize for math instruction and

intervention? How would you sequence them for instruction?

b. What research-based math intervention programs and instruction strategy(ies)

would be beneficial to the focus learner? Why? Provide references and citations

for support. (Resources are available on D2L.)

c. What planned supports (accommodations, assistive & instructional technologies,

UDL solutions, etc.) would promote math learning for the chosen focus learner?

d. In what instructional setting(s) should this instruction be delivered? Who would be

responsible? What might the professional collaboration look like?

5

Field Experience Project Part 3 Math Lesson Plan

Goals/Rationale:

● Apply knowledge about curriculum and research-based math instruction to develop math

lessons based on the focus learner’s needs.

● Design accessible and differentiated math instruction.

Steps:

1. The lesson plan

a. You will create a math lesson plan with the focus learner’s needs in mind.

b. Use what you’ve done and learned in part 1 and 2 of the field experience to help

you identify an appropriate lesson focus.

c. The lesson goal should be clearly aligned with the focus learner’s areas of struggle

in math, as well as the learner’s abilities and strengths.

d. Complete your lesson plan (use the lesson plan template that is posted in D2L).

2. The lesson commentary

Answer the following questions about your lesson plan:

a. What would have been the focus of a previous-day lesson plan? What about the

focus of the lesson the day after your lesson? What is the decision based upon?

b. How do the lesson objective(s), learning tasks, materials, and/or planned supports

aligned to provide appropriate challenge and support to your focus learner?

c. Describe the key math instructional strategy used in your lesson. Explain why it is

appropriate for the identified needs of the focus learner. Provide justification for the

choice with principles from research and/or theory.

d. How do you plan to provide ongoing feedback to your focus learner in the lesson?

Where in your lesson do you anticipate giving feedback and for what purposes?

Cite feedback readings in this course to support your statements.

e. What misconceptions about the math content in the lesson do you anticipate your

focus learner would exhibit? How would you address them?

Final Products:

● The completed lesson plan and attachments of all key instructional materials to be used

in the lesson

● Lesson commentary narrative

6

Math Lesson Plan Presentation & Micro-Teaching

Goals/Rationale:

● Communicate clearly what you’ve learned with peers.

● Practice teaching a segment of the plan (in class).

● Apply knowledge about effective teacher feedback by practicing feedback in the lesson.

Description:

● Introduce your focus learner and math lesson plan.

● Teach a segment of your lesson.

● Your peers will act as the target students. One of them will be the focus learner.

● Be sure to practice giving student feedback in the teaching.

Procedures:

● Roundtable (small groups of 3-4) in different rooms.

● Join the small-group breakout rooms on Zoom.

● Designate a person to record the teaching videos in the room.

● Within the small group, take turns to present and teach.

● Receive and provide peer and self-feedback.

● When Zoom meeting is over, the person in charge of recording the small group’s

teaching will wait for the video to be converted, saved on local computer, and share the

video with the instructor and the small group.