Observation Tools

Video Transcription

Hi, my name is Ashley, and today's lesson's titled Observation Tools. In today's lesson, we'll look at the three types of observation tools that are most commonly used in the K through 12 school setting by instructional coaches. We'll look at the pre-observation form, lesson observation form, and the walk-through observation form. Let's go ahead and begin.

The purpose of the pre-observation form is for the coach to get an idea of what to focus on during the observation. This form will be very similar to the one here. The teacher will provide a description of the class, identify goals for the lesson, explain teaching methods and assessments that will be used, and any other information the teacher wants the observer to focus on.

A lesson observation form is used by the instructional coach during the classroom observation. This form will look similar to what you see here. However, it will include more information and other questions that will be looked at by the observer.

Some questions may include did the teacher mention learning targets? What instructional strategies were used? Where they effective? How did the teacher approach learning difficulties? Did the teacher personalized learning or differentiate?

What was the learning climate like? How did the teacher respond to student feedback? How did the teacher attend to learning difficulties? The coach will make notes as to what occurred in those areas of focus and make comments that they may include in their feedback during the post-observation conference.

Another observation tool that is used is the walk-through observation forum, which will look similar to what you see here. This form is used for brief classroom visits that are less detailed than the lesson observation form. It may be a checklist, like what you see here, or a rating scale with excellent, satisfactory, and needs improvement ratings. Categories you may see on a walk-through observation form may be curriculum alignment, instructional strategies, classroom engagement, classroom management, purposeful discussion, effective use of technology, and assessments, and so on. Walk-throughs are very effective and focus on determining strengths in a particular area.

Let's recap what we have discussed in today's lesson. We reviewed three types of observation tools. First, the pre-observation form is used before the observation occurs, and it provides information as to what the coach should focus on during the observation. The lesson observation form is used during the classroom observation, where the coach will make notes of what occurs during the lesson and comments about what is occurring. Then, the walk-through observation form is used for brief classroom visits to determine strengths and needs of particular areas.

Here's something to think about. Whether you are the teacher or coach, review these forms so that you may become accustomed to what is expected during the observation. For more information on how to apply what you've learned in this video, please view the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation. The additional resources section includes hyperlinks useful for applications of the course material, including a brief description of each resource.