Observation of Tom's Class

All-I was able to observe Tom today (10-3-2007). I was excited about what I saw and wanted to share a summary of this observation with all, first because I am very excited about what Tom is doing and second to allow you to offer him insight or suggestions if you have any after reading about what he did. The following is the summary I wrote to his principal:

When I observed Tom’s class today, the objective of the class was to have students identify factors that impact the period of a pendulum. Tom allowed students to investigate this by having them in the gym where he had a bowling ball hanging from the ceiling. He initially had students discuss what they thought impacted the period and then had the whole class testing out the ideas that they had with the pendulum. I though this was an excellent opportunity to allow students to build their own understanding of periods of pendulums. When students asked Tom if there ideas was “right” he continually had them check their ideas again to convince themselves. I observed students engaged in critical discussion of about their own ideas (whether the weight of the bowling ball or the length of the string mattered). In the end I observed two students who had developed an equation to describe the pendulum period. These students, after developing the equation, went about testing it. When the class went back to the classroom, a few students dug into their books to check to see if their ideas were comparable to what was in the text. One student was jumping up and down saying “we got it”. Tom then discussed the students’ findings with them until the class ended.

The things we discussed, which Tom shared before the observation was a concern for engaging all students. I noticed and Tom brought this up in our discussion after the observation, that there were times in the class when not all students were engaged. We discussed ways to make sure that all students are involved such as having students work in groups to develop ideas and ways to test them, sharing them with him before trying the ideas, and having groups present their findings at the end. We also discussed assessments such as rubrics that could be used to assess the students (perhaps also thinking of having them use the rubric to assess themselves). In the end, I was excited to see what Tom is doing with the students and do think that the instruction I observed today was aligned with the National Science Education Standards and not only got at the standards of the Utah Core Curriculum, but perhaps as critical got at the following Core ILO’s:

• Use science process and thinking skills.
• Manifest science interests and attitudes.
• Understand important science concepts and principles.
• Communicate effectively using science language and reasoning.
• Understand the nature of science.

I am pleased with what I observed today and with our identification of areas that he can continue to work on (keeping all students engaged and developing assessments that align with his instruction and objectives for students). I just wanted to provide both of you with this update and reflections from my observations and to remind you to contact me at anytime for whatever you see might be needed to continually support Tom. I am appreciative of the leadership you are providing for Tom as well as your empowering him to enact instruction in the way that he believes will lead to students learning.