Running head: PERCEPTIONS THAT SUPPORT TEACHER GROWTH 1

Perceptions That Support Teacher Growth

Shelly Treleaven

EEA 539: Supervision of Instruction

Prepared for: Brian Bieber

M. Ed. in Leadership

City University of Seattle in Canada

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Introduction

As part of the new Leader Quality Standard being implemented in 2019, the principal of

all Alberta schools will be held accountable for the competencies that are outlined in this

document (Alberta, 2018). Of the nine competencies, five of them are directly applicable to

how leaders are expected to work to develop educational capacity in teachers. As part of our

Supervision of Instruction class we have been asked to perform two different observations; one

qualitative and the other quantitative. The instructional observations are to include a coaching

cycle that includes a pre-conference, observation and a post-conference. As I am not in a formal

leadership role I sent out an email to our staff asking if there was anyone that was open to having

me in their class to fulfill this assignment. With twenty staff members I was relieved that four

teachers offered their classrooms. I chose the two teachers that had genuine reason to have me in

their classrooms.

Observation One

Pre-Observation.

This teacher has a split-grade and is in the process of getting evaluated for a continuous

contract. An educational assistant is also in the classroom and the teacher was questioning

whether she was maximizing her skills. Her request was to have me watch her class to see if

there were behaviours that she was missing or if there might be students that were not engaged in

the lesson. She asked for a qualitative observation to offer some guidance on areas that she may

need to address prior to her formal evaluation.

Observation Report.

Analysis.
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As I entered the class it was evident that the teacher had talked about having

someone coming into the class to watch. Students were curious but did not initially ask

any questions of me. The teacher introduced me and then moved right into getting

prepared to begin her instruction. The teacher asked for the students to gather at the

carpet, and students readily obliged. Students appeared to have a number of options on

how they were to either sit or stand for the instruction, but there was one student that

appeared to struggle with the classroom expectations. At this time the educational

assistant stepped in to support this student. The lesson was centered around a writing

goal that the group had already had some instruction and the structure of the lesson

appeared to have a comfortable consistency to it, as the students seemed to recognize the

steps the teacher was going to take. Once the instruction was completed the students

were given a choice between two options for who or where they could work. Not all

students were given the same options, but this also was seen as typical due to the

response of the students. I then circulated for about 5 minutes to see if the students knew

what they were to be doing and I asked if they could tell me about what they were

creating. All students were able to articulate the goal they were working on and what the

expectations during this time were.

Interpretation.

The routines and structures were obviously consistent as students seemed to

understand where they were to be and what the options were at this time. All students

were offered a choice even though they were not all given the same choice which allowed

them to have some say in their work while still following the teacher’s expectations. The
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educational assistant in the room was supportive and assisted students without any

obvious distraction to the other students which allowed the teacher to complete the whole

class instruction in a timely manner.

Summary.

The teacher had developed clear expectations and classroom structures that

students understood. The students were given opportunity for choice within teacher

guidelines and the educational assistant was helpful without being disruptive to the

learning of the larger group. This was a very well organized class where students knew

what they were learning and how they were to be doing their learning.

Post-Observation Reflective Conference

The next morning I met with the teacher to discuss the observation. I indicated to her that

her class ran very smoothly and that it was evident that she had communicated and practiced the

expectations for behaviour that she had in the classroom. I asked the question, “what was the

objective of the writing activity that the students performed?” and she was able to articulate the

learning outcome specifically that they were working towards. She then offered to show a

completed exemplar that she had from a previous year. I then asked if this was a prepared lesson

specifically for the purpose of the observation that I was conducting, and she admitted it was.

She went on to state that she was working on having the students comfortable with having a

variety of adults in the classroom so that it would not alter their ability to attend to the

instruction. I thanked her for the opportunity to join her in her class and indicated that I would

share this paper with her once it was completed.

Observation Two
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Pre-Observation.

The second teacher that I choose is a veteran teacher that has a couple of students in her

class that she is struggling with. As one of the students has attendance issues, we took the time

to discuss two students in case one was not present the day of the observation. The primary

concern is that of a boy student that presents with a number of atypical behaviours which appear

to be impacting his ability to attend and learn in the classroom. The teacher requested that I

complete a quantitative observation where I would record the behaviours observed in a 20

minute lesson. We then discussed a second student that appears to have motor and impulse

control concerns. She asked that if the first student was not present if I would record that

number of times this student was out of their seat, distracting those around him, or blurting out

responses during the same 20 minute lesson.

Observation Report.

Analysis.

This group of students know me and were generally unaware that I was watching

the class. I sat to the side of the class so that I could have a clear visual of the student I

was to be observing. Both students were in attendance this day so I was able to complete

the primary student observation. See Appendix A for the notes on the observation.

Interpretation.

Based on the observations I suggested to the teacher that she recommend that this

student have his vision checked or potentially see if his glasses are fitting him properly.

The boy was significantly distracted by his glasses as he had them either off his head or

he was playing with them for over 8 of the 20 minutes he was observed. He may have
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some sensory needs as he was always using his hands to manipulate the objects he had

available to him.

Summary.

I would recommend a follow up with further observations and a conference with

this child’s caregiver. Considering the amount of what appeared to be ‘off-task’

behaviour the student was mostly aware of the content of the instruction and review that

was taking place during this observation.

Post-Observation Reflective Conference

Later that same day I requested that this teacher and I meet to talk about my observations.

We discussed the sensory needs of this student. We talked about the need for coaching on

appropriate use of sensory tools such as playdough, and that he may also require preferred

placement in the classroom so that his actions are not distracting to those around him. I also

mentioned that his glasses seemed to be the root of a significant amount of distraction to him,

which she found surprising. She indicated that she would contact the parents right away to see if

this was something that could be checked into.

Reflection of Learning

The opportunity to observe in a colleague’s classroom with the expressed goal of

supporting them in whatever way they were wanting, was a fabulous experience. The

pre-conference was interesting as both teachers initially had offered to have me in their

classroom solely for the purpose of helping me complete my assignment. I indicated to them

that while that was awesome, I wanted the observation to be of value to them. Once I explained

the types of behaviours or activities I could be looking for, they both became much more
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comfortable and opened up to the experience. I know as a teacher that having another pair of

eyes in the room can be very helpful as we often just do not see what is right in front of us. Both

teachers indicated that the experience was not what they had initially expected and that the

feedback that I was able to provide was helpful. The first teacher indicated that it calmed her

fears knowing that her efforts in developing structure and routines was evident and the second

teacher was grateful that I was able to pick up on the sensory concerns as well as the potential

concern with the students’ glasses. Overall this was a very positive experience.
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References

Alberta Education. (2018). Leadership quality standards. Retrieved from

https://education.alberta.ca/media/3739621/standardsdoc-lqs-_fa-web-2018-01-17.pdf