gough-teaching evaluation

8/9/2019 GOUGH-Teaching Evaluation

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Jenny Gough

Exit Performance Description

Spring 2010

Michigan State University Teacher Certification Program

Michigan State Universitys (MSU) certification program requires a yearlong internshipin the fifth, post-baccalaureate year of study. The teacher certification program at MSU

has eight standards, which are: 1. Employ a Liberal Education; 2. Working with Students,

3. Creating and Managing a Classroom Learning Community, 4. Organize a Class, 5. Usean Equipped Classroom, 6. Join a Faculty and School, 7. Engage Guardians and

Community, 8. Teacher as Professional and Reflective Learner. As Field Instructor, I

will use standards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8 to assess the interns development over the course of

the school year. Standards 6 and 7 will be assessed by the interns mentor teacher.

Teaching Situation

Jenny Gough completed her undergraduate degree at Michigan State University with a

major in International Studies of Social Sciences and a minor in English. Jenny spent herinternship year teaching at Coopersville High School in Coopersville, Michigan.

Coopersville is comprised of a predominantly Caucasian population coming from avariety of socio-economic backgrounds. Over the course of the school year, Jenny has

primarily been responsible for teaching several sections of a sophomore World History

course. During the second half of the year, Jenny also took on responsibility for teaching

a course in Sociology.

1. Employ a Liberal Education

Jenny continually emphasized to her students the importance of a well-rounded educationin becoming productive and active citizens. She modeled effective communication skills

in her ability to listen to and learn from her mentor, colleagues, and field instructor. Sherecognized the unique character of each of her students as well as the rights andresponsibilities shared by all. Her genuine care and concern for her students was evident

in their open and trusting interactions with her.

Jenny modeled respect for the unique perspectives and experiences each of her students

brought into the classroom and worked to incorporate these experiences into her teaching

of content. In the World History classes she taught, Jenny worked hard to develop

lessons that helped students make connections between the past and the present. In onelesson dealing with the philosophies and legacies of Confucius and Laotzu, Jenny had

the students engage in a mock press conference with a group of students representing

each of the philosophers. The rest of the class was asked to generate questions that dealtwith problems in the contemporary world. The panel representing each thinker answered

the questions based on their respective philosophical perspective. This is only one of

many examples in which Jenny helped students grasp foundational content knowledgeand designed activities that would help them connect this knowledge to important

personal and social issues in the present.


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2. Working with Students

Jenny has strong interpersonal skills. She exhibited a genuine interest in the lives and

perspectives of her students that allowed her to build trusting relationships with themfrom very early in the year. Jenny began nearly every class with a warm-up journal

activity in which students were asked to review material they had previously covered,

make predictions about topics that would be part of upcoming lessons, and/or makeconnections between material covered in class and their own lives.

Jenny was sensitive to differences amongst learners and gave each individual theattention he/she required to grasp subject material. She presented material through a

variety of mediums and encouraged students to use one another as resources for learning.

During each of the lessons I observed, Jenny afforded time to answer students questions

and to clarify any existing confusion. She often moved around the room to speak toindividual students, gauge their understanding, and adjust her instruction accordingly.

3. Creating and Managing a Classroom Learning Community

Jenny set up clear and concise guidelines regarding her expectations for student work,participation, and behavior. Students were aware of what was required of them, the

deadlines for completing work, and the standards by which their work would beevaluated. Jenny created predictable routines while also planning and introducing novel

lessons and activities to keep instruction lively and engaging.

Recognizing that some students were consistently more willing to share and participate inclass, Jenny created opportunities for less vocal students to share their viewpoints. She

encouraged students to ask questions, share opposing viewpoints, and debate intelligently

and respectfully with one another. Because of her strong rapport with students, Jennyrarely encountered major problems with classroom management. We did talk over the

course of the semester about some different ways to approach issues related to classroom

management. Jenny quickly learned that a simple verbal request for the attention of theclass often was insufficient. She gradually learned how to address classroom

management issues centered around individual students as well as issues that involved the

entire class. Students respect for Jenny and one another can largely be attributed to therespect she modeled for them. She created an effective balance between lecture, large

group discussion, and small group work ensuring each student would have a forum in

which to feel comfortable communicating.

4. Organize a Class

Jenny maintained high academic standards and willingly provided extra assistance

outside of class to struggling students. She provided students opportunities to share anddisplay their work. She made sure the same students did not dominate conversation and

she gave everyone a chance to participate. Her planning of units and individual lessons

was thoughtful and consistent with local and state standards and benchmarks.

Jenny implemented instructional activities that engaged students in meaningful inquiry,

problem solving, participation, and cooperation. Jenny often began lesson on particular

periods of World History with questions that engaged higher-order thinking skills. For


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example, Jenny began a lesson on medieval Europe with the question: How does fear

affect people? Students were asked to think about this question in terms of the time of

Charlemagne, the feudal system, and the present. After students discussed three majorgroups that existed during this period, she presented the class with a two-paragraph first-

person narrative on an episode from the lives of a group of Vikings and asked the class to

consider the following questions: Who is the author? What is his/her point-of-view?What could be the authors interests in writing this account? Is this an authentic source

for understanding the Vikings? Is there anything problematic with this as a source?

This was just one of many examples in which Jenny encouraged students to think aboutquestions of authorship, voice, point-of-view, and perspective. This lesson also

illustrated Jennys ability to incorporate individual thinking, small-group collaboration,

and large-group discussion.

5. Use an Equipped Classroom

Jenny was extremely adept at using the technology available in her classroom to make

her teaching and planning more efficient, engaging, and well-organized. She utilized the

smart board and audio equipment in the classroom not only to organize her instructionbut also to make sure all visual and verbal presentation was accessible to all students.

Jenny utilized the World Wide Web to enhance instruction in a number of ways. She

used the web to identify and share with her students contemporary articles and topics that

were related to those being studied in class. In addition to using the web to find resources

to enhance instruction, Jenny also encouraged students to critically engage with materialand mediums found on the web in order to have them think more deeply about the

broader impacts of these technologies. For example, Jenny designed a lesson in which

students were asked to view a set of postings on Twitter and to reflect on a set ofquestions. Students were asked to list the different things they saw on the website, to

think about the way Twitter worked in our society, how Twitter can potentially benefit

society, and the limitations of such technology. She taught this lesson within the contextof teaching the Protestant Reformation and the invention of the printing press. In this

activity, Jenny provided students with a bridge for thinking about the role, function,

limitations, and overall societal impacts of new technologies and how technologiescumulatively build off of other, pre-existing technologies.

8. Teacher as Professional and Reflective Learner

Jenny made a concerted effort to gain exposure to and learn about a variety of subjectswithin the social studies as well as a variety of teachers and teaching styles. Early in the

year, Jenny took on responsibility for planning, implementing, and assessing lessons for

several sections of World History. As the year progressed, Jenny became morecomfortable getting involved in other aspects of the Coopersville school community. She

gained valuable experience communicating and working with parents and administrators.

Jenny exhibited a mature and professional attitude throughout her internship. She

purposively interacted with her mentor, colleagues, and administrators and drew off of

their experience to enhance her practice. She invited feedback and constructive criticism

on her practice from peers and colleagues and worked to incorporate it into her teaching.


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She remained open to suggestions and new ideas from her mentor teacher, colleagues,

field instructor, and MSU course instructors. She consistently assessed her students

level of understanding and engagement and adjusted instruction to meet their needs.Jenny views herself as much as a learner as a teacher. This quality will help her to

continually refine her practice and make her a welcome addition to the school in which

she finds employment.

Kevin Holohan

Field Instructor

Michigan State University

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