Lesson Description
In a paragraph or two, describe the lesson you observed. Include where the lesson fits into the overall unit of study. Be sure to include enough detail to provide a context for your ratings of the lesson and also to allow you to recall the details of the lesson when needed in the future.
Purposes of Lesson
- Indicate the major content area(s) of the lesson or activity. This section aims to identify the main concepts within the subject that are addressed by the lesson. For example, a biology lesson on photosynthesis might be listed under “Life Science” with the key words “photosynthesis” and “plant structures.” A mathematics lesson that uses results from a photosynthesis experiment to explore range, mean, median, and mode would be listed under mathematics because the intent is to teach about range, mean, median, and mode, not to teach photosynthesis. If cross-disciplinary content is the focus of the lesson, be sure to indicate all subject areas with specific descriptions.
- Indicate no more than five observed primary purposes of the lesson or activity based on what was observed during the class period. Indicate no more than five intended primary purposes of the lesson or activity based on data collected in the post-observation teacher interview / survey.
Evidence of Lesson Preparation
When observers visit the classroom, they may be provided with or ask to be provided with copies of the teacher’s lesson plan and other planning materials, including handouts, worksheets, formal assessments, etc. This section describes the teacher’s preparation for the lesson by detailing what documents are collected, without making the assumption that all lessons require the same amount of formally written materials. Additional information for this part of the UTOP may be obtained from reviewing the post-observation teacher interview/survey data.
Teaching Methods/Learning Activities
The important focus of this section is what the students are doing for significant periods of time in the lesson. For instance, if the lesson comprised a teacher lecture and individual work on practice problems, then the observer would check WG on “Teacher lecture > content development,” and IND on “Reading/reflection/written communication about mathematics/science > Answered textbook/worksheet questions.”