Letters of Recommendation
He has consistently been our go-to person and I can always count on him for help and assistance. BRHS Athletic Secretary Robyn Stratton
Chris exhibits high caliber character, and has been a great role model within the athletic department and high school building. Chris has an unquestionable work ethic, and always ensures that tasks are done quickly, efficiently, and at a high quality. - BRHS Athletic Secretary Robyn Stratton
Chris demonstrates several qualities that afford him the potential to become an effective educational leader. He has taken an active role in both building and district committees/processes to support growth and change at BRHS. - BRHS Principal Ron Pincumbe
Chris has demonstrated that he is adept at curriculum development and implementation and is a sound instructional leader. - BRHS Principal Ron Pincumbe
But without a doubt, Chris’ greatest strength is his ability to build positive and productive relationships with students. He has the knack for developing and demanding high expectations while maintaining good relationships. - BRHS Principal Ron Pincumbe
Chris ’approach to the educational process in a positive, productive, and professional demeanor, always keeping “kids first”, makes him a good candidate for an administrative role. He is an asset to Big Rapids Public Schools and will be missed if he chooses to leave. - BRHS Principal Ron Pincumbe
Chris’s work ethic is exceptional. He is always prepared and arrives early to whatever function he is attending. Characteristically, Chris is one of the first teachers to arrive in the morning to the building and one of the last teachers to leave at night. - BRHS Assistant Principal Josh Bull
One of Chris’s strengths includes his ability to relate to students. He builds student relationships with patience, understanding and modeling strong morals. He also connects with students by being very visible in the hallways during the school day and is often is present at school related events that occur outside the school day. - BRHS Assistant Principal Josh Bull
Whether it is filling in as building principal or stepping in to serve as state testing coordinator, Chris successfully executes the needed steps to carry out the necessary responsibilities. Just as his work ethic has led him to excellence in the classroom, Chris strives to develop the same consistent degree of success with the administrative opportunities he is presented with. - SMS Principal Mark Olmstead
Chris puts his whole heart into the effort of providing quality educational experiences for our students. - SMS Principal Mark Olmstead
Chris is driven to become an excellent administrator. - SMS Principal Mark Olmstead
Chris exhibits high caliber character, and has been a great role model within the athletic department and high school building. Chris has an unquestionable work ethic, and always ensures that tasks are done quickly, efficiently, and at a high quality. - BRHS Athletic Secretary Robyn Stratton
Chris demonstrates several qualities that afford him the potential to become an effective educational leader. He has taken an active role in both building and district committees/processes to support growth and change at BRHS. - BRHS Principal Ron Pincumbe
Chris has demonstrated that he is adept at curriculum development and implementation and is a sound instructional leader. - BRHS Principal Ron Pincumbe
But without a doubt, Chris’ greatest strength is his ability to build positive and productive relationships with students. He has the knack for developing and demanding high expectations while maintaining good relationships. - BRHS Principal Ron Pincumbe
Chris ’approach to the educational process in a positive, productive, and professional demeanor, always keeping “kids first”, makes him a good candidate for an administrative role. He is an asset to Big Rapids Public Schools and will be missed if he chooses to leave. - BRHS Principal Ron Pincumbe
Chris’s work ethic is exceptional. He is always prepared and arrives early to whatever function he is attending. Characteristically, Chris is one of the first teachers to arrive in the morning to the building and one of the last teachers to leave at night. - BRHS Assistant Principal Josh Bull
One of Chris’s strengths includes his ability to relate to students. He builds student relationships with patience, understanding and modeling strong morals. He also connects with students by being very visible in the hallways during the school day and is often is present at school related events that occur outside the school day. - BRHS Assistant Principal Josh Bull
Whether it is filling in as building principal or stepping in to serve as state testing coordinator, Chris successfully executes the needed steps to carry out the necessary responsibilities. Just as his work ethic has led him to excellence in the classroom, Chris strives to develop the same consistent degree of success with the administrative opportunities he is presented with. - SMS Principal Mark Olmstead
Chris puts his whole heart into the effort of providing quality educational experiences for our students. - SMS Principal Mark Olmstead
Chris is driven to become an excellent administrator. - SMS Principal Mark Olmstead
Observation Feedback
Observations allow me opportunities to validate teaching practices that I firmly believe in while also allowing for avenues to foster growth in other areas.
Chris
I appreciate the opportunity to observe our Biology B class this past Friday. During the short time I observed your instruction I observed the way you begin your class instruction, you reviewed your classroom norms for learning, and started your lecture on the Evidence of Evolution.
Chris a strength of your practice I observed today was your CEC5 Norms for Learning. You shared through Pivot that you have at least two different ways this week you’ve reviewed with our students your classroom procedures. During the opening moments of instruction you reviewed with an opener an example of your biologs. The topic reviewed was your “rule of ten.” Chris you used several students input and then supported them by summarizing and clarifying the correct response. You also shared that you have a Kahoot that reviews your classroom procedures. Both of these approaches accomplish similar goals, but are more interactive and better received than a “sit and get” approach. With classroom norms in place you are working to develop patterns of interaction that encourage risk-taking, collaboration with not only you, but peers, and respect for one another.
Another area of focus this year in your Growth Plan Chris was P5 Success Criteria. Your learning targets and corresponding success criteria were written on the whiteboard, displayed in the slideshow presentation, and orally explained to the class at the beginning of lecture. You shared that at the end of lecture students were asked to list five supports for the theory of evolution and you moved from table group to table group checking for understanding and supporting struggling students. Chris this lesson was typical of the way you present LT’s and SC’s and have students communicate what they are learning and this has been consistent during the observations. Great job with this indicator this school year Chris.
Chris we have now completed our sixth observation. It is hard to believe, but we are rapidly approaching the end of the school year. Please work in the next 3-4 weeks to complete your pre and post data reflection. I will ask our teachers to submit those reflections near the end of April. My goal is then to start the process to complete your summative evaluation in May. Have a terrific spring break next week and enjoy this spring trimester.
Joshua
I appreciate the opportunity to observe our Biology B class this past Friday. During the short time I observed your instruction I observed the way you begin your class instruction, you reviewed your classroom norms for learning, and started your lecture on the Evidence of Evolution.
Chris a strength of your practice I observed today was your CEC5 Norms for Learning. You shared through Pivot that you have at least two different ways this week you’ve reviewed with our students your classroom procedures. During the opening moments of instruction you reviewed with an opener an example of your biologs. The topic reviewed was your “rule of ten.” Chris you used several students input and then supported them by summarizing and clarifying the correct response. You also shared that you have a Kahoot that reviews your classroom procedures. Both of these approaches accomplish similar goals, but are more interactive and better received than a “sit and get” approach. With classroom norms in place you are working to develop patterns of interaction that encourage risk-taking, collaboration with not only you, but peers, and respect for one another.
Another area of focus this year in your Growth Plan Chris was P5 Success Criteria. Your learning targets and corresponding success criteria were written on the whiteboard, displayed in the slideshow presentation, and orally explained to the class at the beginning of lecture. You shared that at the end of lecture students were asked to list five supports for the theory of evolution and you moved from table group to table group checking for understanding and supporting struggling students. Chris this lesson was typical of the way you present LT’s and SC’s and have students communicate what they are learning and this has been consistent during the observations. Great job with this indicator this school year Chris.
Chris we have now completed our sixth observation. It is hard to believe, but we are rapidly approaching the end of the school year. Please work in the next 3-4 weeks to complete your pre and post data reflection. I will ask our teachers to submit those reflections near the end of April. My goal is then to start the process to complete your summative evaluation in May. Have a terrific spring break next week and enjoy this spring trimester.
Joshua
Chris
Thank you for the opportunity to observe our fifth period Aerobics class earlier this week. As I entered class you were reviewing the agenda for the school week and assessing student prior knowledge. I thought you did a thorough job explaining the learning target P1 to our students and the corresponding aligned success criteria P5. These LT’s and SC were also posted on the whiteboard in the multipurpose classroom. Later in the class period you used question and answer to prompt our students as they we working out on the track to communicate what they have learned and clear up any misconceptions they may have had identifying the differences examples of aerobic and anaerobic work outs. Chris your practice of prompting students to communicate what they are learning using success criteria is a proficient practice of purpose based on the 5D+ rubric for instructional growth. This activity was observed informally as I was wrapping up scripting and coding. You intentionally questioned students at various intervals as they ran/walked around the indoor track.
Another area on the 5D+ rubric Chris that I feel compelled to discuss with you that’s not on your Growth Plan is CEC4 Student Status. Chris you demonstrate positive teacher-student relationships that foster students well-being. Your energy and positive attitude make an impact not only in your classroom, but our building. You have shared with me that you rotate your positive statements written on your small whiteboard every day. You explained to me that every student that passes by you has to share that statement aloud with you as they pass by for attendance purposes. This pattern of daily interaction between you and our students indicates they have value and instills the belief in our students that what they do in class is important. There are many benefits to this educational practice Chris. Students in your classroom become comfortable with taking risks, collaboration, and are respectful with not only you, but their classmates. Keep doing what you are doing Chris the influence you have on our students extends well beyond the classroom.
Chris one of your areas of focus this school year was SE1 quality of question. A large part of your lesson delivery was built around questioning. You initially used questioning strategies to check for prior knowledge of cellular respiration. After you reestablished connections to biology and the chemical equation for cellular respiration several students began offering input as your explained the lesson for today. You took a very complex biological process and put it into simple terms that related well to our Aerobics. Your questioning style and use of student input helped clarify with the class the fundamental differences between aerobic and anaerobic workouts and examples of each.
Great job with this lesson Chris. I appreciated the opportunity to sit down with you earlier today and discuss your midyear reflection regarding your progress on your Growth Plan. Let’s plan on our fifth observation to come in February.
Joshua
Thank you for the opportunity to observe our fifth period Aerobics class earlier this week. As I entered class you were reviewing the agenda for the school week and assessing student prior knowledge. I thought you did a thorough job explaining the learning target P1 to our students and the corresponding aligned success criteria P5. These LT’s and SC were also posted on the whiteboard in the multipurpose classroom. Later in the class period you used question and answer to prompt our students as they we working out on the track to communicate what they have learned and clear up any misconceptions they may have had identifying the differences examples of aerobic and anaerobic work outs. Chris your practice of prompting students to communicate what they are learning using success criteria is a proficient practice of purpose based on the 5D+ rubric for instructional growth. This activity was observed informally as I was wrapping up scripting and coding. You intentionally questioned students at various intervals as they ran/walked around the indoor track.
Another area on the 5D+ rubric Chris that I feel compelled to discuss with you that’s not on your Growth Plan is CEC4 Student Status. Chris you demonstrate positive teacher-student relationships that foster students well-being. Your energy and positive attitude make an impact not only in your classroom, but our building. You have shared with me that you rotate your positive statements written on your small whiteboard every day. You explained to me that every student that passes by you has to share that statement aloud with you as they pass by for attendance purposes. This pattern of daily interaction between you and our students indicates they have value and instills the belief in our students that what they do in class is important. There are many benefits to this educational practice Chris. Students in your classroom become comfortable with taking risks, collaboration, and are respectful with not only you, but their classmates. Keep doing what you are doing Chris the influence you have on our students extends well beyond the classroom.
Chris one of your areas of focus this school year was SE1 quality of question. A large part of your lesson delivery was built around questioning. You initially used questioning strategies to check for prior knowledge of cellular respiration. After you reestablished connections to biology and the chemical equation for cellular respiration several students began offering input as your explained the lesson for today. You took a very complex biological process and put it into simple terms that related well to our Aerobics. Your questioning style and use of student input helped clarify with the class the fundamental differences between aerobic and anaerobic workouts and examples of each.
Great job with this lesson Chris. I appreciated the opportunity to sit down with you earlier today and discuss your midyear reflection regarding your progress on your Growth Plan. Let’s plan on our fifth observation to come in February.
Joshua
Chris
Thank you for the opportunity to observe our Strength Training class this past Tuesday. The primary learning activity that students were participating in was freeze ball. The targeted heath and skill related fitness terms that were focused on during the activity were agility, coordination, and reaction time. Students accomplished these tasks through ducking, dodging, zigging, zagging, or throwing balls.
Chris during the observation all students were participating in freeze ball. Clearly you reminded our students about the structure and rules of the game. During one of the rounds of competition you noticed that all the students weren’t following the rules Prior to a drink break you addressed the whole class through a series of questions and answers. Your questioning style probed students to explain and think what their interpretation of the rules were. As students answers were offered to you, Chris you supported them by clarifying what were and were not the actual expectations. Doing this review aloud not only reviewed with certain individuals what the expectations are, but the whole class. Chris you shared through your feedback the fourth game from a rules perspective went much better. Likely due to the nature of the game and competitiveness of our students you will need to remind students of rules briefly each time you play this game.
Chris one of your areas of focus this school year that you have selected to be part of your Growth Plan was success criteria. Clearly you had your learning target success criteria posted in your class as they were written on your whiteboard. You also verbally referenced the success criteria for HSRFT’s several times throughout the class period. In addition to this you checked for understanding through intentional questioning with our students. Students were observed being able to communicate what they were learning using the success criteria from the learning targets. Based on the 5D+ rubric Chris your use of success criteria would be considered distinguished.
Chris another aspect of your instruction that I want to note is your usage of formative assessment and the Collins Writing process. On several occasions you made our students aware that you were going to gone on Wednesday working with our science department. Your expectations was that they were going to be asked to reflect on a Collins Type II writing. Implementing the Collins Writing process is not only an example of formative assessment that can be utilized through reflection to modify and make instructional adjustments to future lessons and activities, but supports our building and district school improvement process.
Thank you Chris again for the opportunity to observe your instructional practice. Let’s plan for your fourth observation to follow a similar fashion with me starting the observation near the midway point of the lesson.
Joshua
Thank you for the opportunity to observe our Strength Training class this past Tuesday. The primary learning activity that students were participating in was freeze ball. The targeted heath and skill related fitness terms that were focused on during the activity were agility, coordination, and reaction time. Students accomplished these tasks through ducking, dodging, zigging, zagging, or throwing balls.
Chris during the observation all students were participating in freeze ball. Clearly you reminded our students about the structure and rules of the game. During one of the rounds of competition you noticed that all the students weren’t following the rules Prior to a drink break you addressed the whole class through a series of questions and answers. Your questioning style probed students to explain and think what their interpretation of the rules were. As students answers were offered to you, Chris you supported them by clarifying what were and were not the actual expectations. Doing this review aloud not only reviewed with certain individuals what the expectations are, but the whole class. Chris you shared through your feedback the fourth game from a rules perspective went much better. Likely due to the nature of the game and competitiveness of our students you will need to remind students of rules briefly each time you play this game.
Chris one of your areas of focus this school year that you have selected to be part of your Growth Plan was success criteria. Clearly you had your learning target success criteria posted in your class as they were written on your whiteboard. You also verbally referenced the success criteria for HSRFT’s several times throughout the class period. In addition to this you checked for understanding through intentional questioning with our students. Students were observed being able to communicate what they were learning using the success criteria from the learning targets. Based on the 5D+ rubric Chris your use of success criteria would be considered distinguished.
Chris another aspect of your instruction that I want to note is your usage of formative assessment and the Collins Writing process. On several occasions you made our students aware that you were going to gone on Wednesday working with our science department. Your expectations was that they were going to be asked to reflect on a Collins Type II writing. Implementing the Collins Writing process is not only an example of formative assessment that can be utilized through reflection to modify and make instructional adjustments to future lessons and activities, but supports our building and district school improvement process.
Thank you Chris again for the opportunity to observe your instructional practice. Let’s plan for your fourth observation to follow a similar fashion with me starting the observation near the midway point of the lesson.
Joshua
Chris
Thank you for the opportunity to observe your Biology IA course last week. The initial portion of the lesson I observed was primarily a review of previously learned material. With both you and Mrs. Acker missing the previous day of instruction it was important to see where our students were at in the learning process. The class started with a simple Type I writing assignment. You shared through your feedback that typically you look over students’ shoulders at their writing responses. This allows you to review their responses or simply use the writing assignment as a classroom discussion starter. Both are excellent uses of resources and time. During this opening three minutes while students worked on their Type I’s it was observed you took attendance and reminded students whom may have been absent about your expectations. Chris in these opening moments you were effective at utilizing classroom instructional time and made smooth transitions between activities as you moved into explaining genotypes and phenotypes.
A couple of your areas you have included Chris this school year on your Growth Plan are success criteria and teacher use of formative assessment. As part of your action steps to implement success criteria into your practice Chris planned to have success criteria written on the board and you would communicate the success criteria to our students verbally. Both were implemented during your observation. You shared with me through feedback that you check for understanding of the learning targets success criteria through the use of a self-check formative assessment. Once you and Amanda identify students that are struggling you seek them out and support their needs. This is very sound educational practice. This practice takes trust from students and that trusting relationship is built over time. These intentional opportunities you implement for students to assess their own learning has been proven to deepen student understanding progress towards the targets.
Another strength I took away from your lesson was engagement. You created opportunities and supported students in participating during lecture. These opportunities led to students taking ownership for their learning. There definitely weren’t a shortage of volunteers to list their Punnet Square crossings on the whiteboard. After table discussions had taken place Chris you also called on a variety of volunteers and non-volunteers to answer your questions when checking for understanding of the key instructional concepts. Through this style of questioning most students have the opportunity engage in classroom discussion or at the very least add input.
Solid lesson Chris. You have done a nice job early on this school year at implementing all four areas of your Growth Plan into your instructional practice.
Joshua
Thank you for the opportunity to observe your Biology IA course last week. The initial portion of the lesson I observed was primarily a review of previously learned material. With both you and Mrs. Acker missing the previous day of instruction it was important to see where our students were at in the learning process. The class started with a simple Type I writing assignment. You shared through your feedback that typically you look over students’ shoulders at their writing responses. This allows you to review their responses or simply use the writing assignment as a classroom discussion starter. Both are excellent uses of resources and time. During this opening three minutes while students worked on their Type I’s it was observed you took attendance and reminded students whom may have been absent about your expectations. Chris in these opening moments you were effective at utilizing classroom instructional time and made smooth transitions between activities as you moved into explaining genotypes and phenotypes.
A couple of your areas you have included Chris this school year on your Growth Plan are success criteria and teacher use of formative assessment. As part of your action steps to implement success criteria into your practice Chris planned to have success criteria written on the board and you would communicate the success criteria to our students verbally. Both were implemented during your observation. You shared with me through feedback that you check for understanding of the learning targets success criteria through the use of a self-check formative assessment. Once you and Amanda identify students that are struggling you seek them out and support their needs. This is very sound educational practice. This practice takes trust from students and that trusting relationship is built over time. These intentional opportunities you implement for students to assess their own learning has been proven to deepen student understanding progress towards the targets.
Another strength I took away from your lesson was engagement. You created opportunities and supported students in participating during lecture. These opportunities led to students taking ownership for their learning. There definitely weren’t a shortage of volunteers to list their Punnet Square crossings on the whiteboard. After table discussions had taken place Chris you also called on a variety of volunteers and non-volunteers to answer your questions when checking for understanding of the key instructional concepts. Through this style of questioning most students have the opportunity engage in classroom discussion or at the very least add input.
Solid lesson Chris. You have done a nice job early on this school year at implementing all four areas of your Growth Plan into your instructional practice.
Joshua
Chris
Thank you for the opportunity to observe your strength training course last week. Upon entering your classroom students clearly understood the classroom norms for learning, where to look for instructional information, and it was common for our students to take the initiative to start participating even before your began your direct instruction. Instructional time was observed to be maximized and that was evident with smooth and efficient transitions.
One of your classroom areas of focus this school year was success criteria. Clearly you verbalized your success criteria for the day and posted them on the whiteboard. With prompting you were able to check and see if student understood how to use the one rep max chart provided to them. To further clarify the student understanding of the chart you extended the question asking them to explain how much weight they would need to add to the bar to complete a ten repetition workout. When students are able to use success criteria to communicate what they are learning consistently in the classroom that is a distinguished characteristic of classroom instruction. One key to this dimension of the five dimensions of teaching and learning model is to create intentional opportunities for students to communicate their understanding of what they are learning and be able to explain why they are learning it.
Another area of focus you have chosen for your Growth Plan was teacher use of formative assessment. You described through your feedback a number of ways you are currently implementing formative assessment into your instruction to modify your lessons, make future decisions on instruction, and make adjustments based on student feedback. An example of this practice was when you explained how you challenge your students to use what they have learned in regards to flexibility to explain what stretches are most appropriate to address soreness.
Chris I think you do a great job relating to our students. You constantly look to build relationships with our students, challenge them, and encourage them. This was a solid lesson. Plan on me making another observationthis trimester.
Joshua
Thank you for the opportunity to observe your strength training course last week. Upon entering your classroom students clearly understood the classroom norms for learning, where to look for instructional information, and it was common for our students to take the initiative to start participating even before your began your direct instruction. Instructional time was observed to be maximized and that was evident with smooth and efficient transitions.
One of your classroom areas of focus this school year was success criteria. Clearly you verbalized your success criteria for the day and posted them on the whiteboard. With prompting you were able to check and see if student understood how to use the one rep max chart provided to them. To further clarify the student understanding of the chart you extended the question asking them to explain how much weight they would need to add to the bar to complete a ten repetition workout. When students are able to use success criteria to communicate what they are learning consistently in the classroom that is a distinguished characteristic of classroom instruction. One key to this dimension of the five dimensions of teaching and learning model is to create intentional opportunities for students to communicate their understanding of what they are learning and be able to explain why they are learning it.
Another area of focus you have chosen for your Growth Plan was teacher use of formative assessment. You described through your feedback a number of ways you are currently implementing formative assessment into your instruction to modify your lessons, make future decisions on instruction, and make adjustments based on student feedback. An example of this practice was when you explained how you challenge your students to use what they have learned in regards to flexibility to explain what stretches are most appropriate to address soreness.
Chris I think you do a great job relating to our students. You constantly look to build relationships with our students, challenge them, and encourage them. This was a solid lesson. Plan on me making another observationthis trimester.
Joshua
Chris
Thank you for the opportunity to observe your Anatomy and Physiology class this week. On this day I observed you introduce a new unit with the primary mode of instruction being lecture. You commented through Pivotthat in the closing few minutes of the class period you assessed students formatively. Teacher use of formative assessment was one of your areas of focus this school year in regards to professional growth. You gave students in small groups at their tables fifteen seconds to arrange the correct organization of the body from smallest to largest or vice versa. You commented that all the groups met your expectation. Another important follow up to this formative assessment is that students were going to formative reflect on the body’s organization the next day in their biology. This individual assessment will afford you several pieces of valuable information. One, do I need to reteach or review a specific element of the lesson? Two, based on their feedback how well they actually understand the bodies organization. By reviewing these lesson elements again it will place the information into their working memory, as well as, into their long term memory.
Another area of focus this school year was CEC3 use of student learning time. Once again this lesson you worked very efficiently moving from one activity to the next and keeping the class on time. Your classroom management expectations I believe are clear and students understand what you know out of them.
The third area of focus this year was SE5 or student talk. Several times throughout the class period you created instances where partner and table talk was evident. Although, the lesson delivery was lecture based clearly you make it a point to make connections to past lessons, tap prior knowledge, and use student feedback to guide a portion of the lecture. This type of delivery style is engaging and keeps student interest and focus because their thinking and ideas are challenged. You emphasize the why and force students to think about their responses after they give them. This is important and develops a classroom culture where students have to provide evidence to support their thinking.
Thank you again Chris for the opportunity to observe your instruction. I need you to tabulate your pre and post test day going back to third trimester last year through the second trimester this year and send that data to me electronically. In addition to your pre and post test data I will need your reflection worksheet. Please work to get me those things so I can begin to complete your summative evaluation.
Joshua
Thank you for the opportunity to observe your Anatomy and Physiology class this week. On this day I observed you introduce a new unit with the primary mode of instruction being lecture. You commented through Pivotthat in the closing few minutes of the class period you assessed students formatively. Teacher use of formative assessment was one of your areas of focus this school year in regards to professional growth. You gave students in small groups at their tables fifteen seconds to arrange the correct organization of the body from smallest to largest or vice versa. You commented that all the groups met your expectation. Another important follow up to this formative assessment is that students were going to formative reflect on the body’s organization the next day in their biology. This individual assessment will afford you several pieces of valuable information. One, do I need to reteach or review a specific element of the lesson? Two, based on their feedback how well they actually understand the bodies organization. By reviewing these lesson elements again it will place the information into their working memory, as well as, into their long term memory.
Another area of focus this school year was CEC3 use of student learning time. Once again this lesson you worked very efficiently moving from one activity to the next and keeping the class on time. Your classroom management expectations I believe are clear and students understand what you know out of them.
The third area of focus this year was SE5 or student talk. Several times throughout the class period you created instances where partner and table talk was evident. Although, the lesson delivery was lecture based clearly you make it a point to make connections to past lessons, tap prior knowledge, and use student feedback to guide a portion of the lecture. This type of delivery style is engaging and keeps student interest and focus because their thinking and ideas are challenged. You emphasize the why and force students to think about their responses after they give them. This is important and develops a classroom culture where students have to provide evidence to support their thinking.
Thank you again Chris for the opportunity to observe your instruction. I need you to tabulate your pre and post test day going back to third trimester last year through the second trimester this year and send that data to me electronically. In addition to your pre and post test data I will need your reflection worksheet. Please work to get me those things so I can begin to complete your summative evaluation.
Joshua
Chris
Thank you for the opportunity to observe your strength and conditioning class this week. It was my first occasion to observe you instructing a physical education class. Three specific areas on your growth plan were focus areas this year: Student talk SE5, student status CEC3, and teacher use of formative assessment A4.
Throughout the observation it was evident that intentional and otherwise natural opportunities for student talk were utilized throughout the lesson delivery. After completing the classroom routine procedures such as role, warm up jog, and dynamic stretching you called the class to the whiteboard. There in front of class you reviewed classroom expectations through question and response, had a student model both familiar and unfamiliar exercises, and checked for the learning target understanding. It was also observed that as students worked their way through the circuit, certain teachable moments developed. During the circuit, your strengths as a physical education instructor were evident through your questioning. Students could have peer to peer discussions and student to teacher feedback explaining specific movements, safety, and even definite muscle groups that were being targeted during the exercises. These student dialogs are examples of higher levels of understanding.
Another area of focus CEC3 was evident in your instruction. Due to the nature of your classroom structure transitions between activities, exercises, and stations were very efficient. From the time students have to change, class role, length of physical activity, to cool down periods very little learning time was observed to be squandered. As a product of your structure classroom student behavioral management is minimized.
I am compelled to note one other aspect of your classroom instruction. You do a great job of modeling your expectations for classroom through effort and energy. Your upbeat persona, constant positive chatter, and visible enjoyment for the class translates to your students. They appeared to buy into what you are selling and worked hard through the process.
Thank you again for the opportunity to observe your teaching Chris.
Joshua
Thank you for the opportunity to observe your strength and conditioning class this week. It was my first occasion to observe you instructing a physical education class. Three specific areas on your growth plan were focus areas this year: Student talk SE5, student status CEC3, and teacher use of formative assessment A4.
Throughout the observation it was evident that intentional and otherwise natural opportunities for student talk were utilized throughout the lesson delivery. After completing the classroom routine procedures such as role, warm up jog, and dynamic stretching you called the class to the whiteboard. There in front of class you reviewed classroom expectations through question and response, had a student model both familiar and unfamiliar exercises, and checked for the learning target understanding. It was also observed that as students worked their way through the circuit, certain teachable moments developed. During the circuit, your strengths as a physical education instructor were evident through your questioning. Students could have peer to peer discussions and student to teacher feedback explaining specific movements, safety, and even definite muscle groups that were being targeted during the exercises. These student dialogs are examples of higher levels of understanding.
Another area of focus CEC3 was evident in your instruction. Due to the nature of your classroom structure transitions between activities, exercises, and stations were very efficient. From the time students have to change, class role, length of physical activity, to cool down periods very little learning time was observed to be squandered. As a product of your structure classroom student behavioral management is minimized.
I am compelled to note one other aspect of your classroom instruction. You do a great job of modeling your expectations for classroom through effort and energy. Your upbeat persona, constant positive chatter, and visible enjoyment for the class translates to your students. They appeared to buy into what you are selling and worked hard through the process.
Thank you again for the opportunity to observe your teaching Chris.
Joshua
Chris
Thank you for the opportunity to observe your Freshmen Focus class yesterday. This was my first opportunity to observing you teaching this course. Your enthusiasm for the subject matter that you were teaching was evident, likewise was that idea that you believe in the concepts that you are teaching. Starting each class emphasizing with the students that they are “somebody” and reciting the narrative over and over, day after day, reaffirms those positive self-concepts that they are important, can be successful, and have purpose. Another observation I can take away from your lesson is you are organized, make efficient use of instructional time, and your classroom is structured to maximize student opportunities.
I encourage you to take the time at the beginning or ending of the week or possibly unit and give your students an opportunity to share some their writing or activities. In a small class, like the class that you are teaching, rich discussions have the potential to spawn, as well as, furthering classroom culture. Based on what you stated the writing topics do come back up in a whole group and on an individual basis creating value with your students.
Thank you again for the opportunity to observe your first hour yesterday Chris.
Joshua
Thank you for the opportunity to observe your Freshmen Focus class yesterday. This was my first opportunity to observing you teaching this course. Your enthusiasm for the subject matter that you were teaching was evident, likewise was that idea that you believe in the concepts that you are teaching. Starting each class emphasizing with the students that they are “somebody” and reciting the narrative over and over, day after day, reaffirms those positive self-concepts that they are important, can be successful, and have purpose. Another observation I can take away from your lesson is you are organized, make efficient use of instructional time, and your classroom is structured to maximize student opportunities.
I encourage you to take the time at the beginning or ending of the week or possibly unit and give your students an opportunity to share some their writing or activities. In a small class, like the class that you are teaching, rich discussions have the potential to spawn, as well as, furthering classroom culture. Based on what you stated the writing topics do come back up in a whole group and on an individual basis creating value with your students.
Thank you again for the opportunity to observe your first hour yesterday Chris.
Joshua