After reviewing the observation, I realized that the location should have been in an office instead of a classroom. An office would have been a more appropriate setting for a person in leadership as the teacher being observed should take the post observation seriously and recognize the authority of the administrator. A classroom was more comfortable for me as I still conduct myself as a teacher and not an administrator. Although my notes were well-organized and thorough, I read them directly from from my observation notes which caused me to look down or at my computer instead giving the teacher eye contact. I gave my results in a structured manner and not in a conversational tone. I gave feedback as if it were a tape recording instead of talking to the teacher. I did however compliment the teacher and I allowed her to provide feedback. I also gave the teacher a copy of the observation tool which caused her to read along with me. In the future I would prepare bullet points on strength areas, challenges, and recommendations. I would pause after each in order to engage the teacher in the discussion and ask questions. I would begin the post observation with compliments and ask the teacher their opinion of how the lesson went.
The teacher integrated the objective throughout the lesson as requested. Instead of working on the skills separately, throughout the lesson she went back to the main objective and. The sight words introduced in the beginning of the lesson were addressed throughout instruction. She used a suggested technique given during a previous post observation. I told her to use "listen-up cards" throughout the lesson. Each student was given a card with a sight word. When the word was mentioned throughout the lesson, the student would stand up and state the word.
The teacher made instruction and assessment plans for each student in her class and was well-versed on her their individual needs. The teacher was well prepared as she had a copy of the previous observations and tried to address her challenge areas. The teacher was able to address questions related to specific students and she did not appear confused. She was more prepared for push back opposed to other post observation discussions.
I used a Directive approach incorporating Presenting, Reinforcing, and Clarifying. I stated the results of the observation by listed strengths, challenges, recommendations, what worked, and student/teacher engagement. Afterward, I gave the teacher specific instructions on how to improve and what should take place in the future. I also allowed the teacher to clarify and explain why she used certain strategies with specific students. I reinforced by stressing the need for implementing best practices while teaching and exposing students with special needs to the VSC regardless of their ability level.
I think I could have also Incorporated Collaborative behaviors in order to give the teacher an opportunity to develop effective strategies and share them. This teacher seems to be dependent upon others for help therefore collaborating would allow her to create instructional tools to share with colleagues and become more confident in her work. She could possibly collaborate with other colleagues as well as an administrator to develop effective instruction tools and work on implementation.
