Observation Record and Notes

 

MTTC Teacher:  Laquita Barton 
 

Date:                   July 2, 2004

 

Source:               Audio Clip posted to First Class

 

Format:               wma  (Windows Media)

 

Senario:              Laquita conferenced with Misti Necessary on the morning of July 2, 2004, in the mentor’s home. Misti brought samples of the power point presentation, matching game and puzzle to show. Questions were exchanged for about 30 minutes concerning aspects of the lesson on Sounds A-E.

 

Asked Jason Huddleston (Coach) to look for:   

           

 

1.         Repetitions such as "and ugh" or "ok"  that I say..

 

Okay, it was interesting to track the number of times you used “ok” or other similar phrases.  In the course of the conference you used “ok” 45 times.  Since you asked me to track this, you must be concerned about overusing this phrase.  I’ve tried to cut back on the use of “yeah”.  I consciously substitute “exactly”, “interesting”, “excellent”, or “great” instead of “yeah”.  It’s a hard habit to break.  I don’t know if “ok” sounds as bad as “yeah”.

 

2.         Time (seconds) it takes for Misti to respond to my questions.

 

Misiti was very engaged in the discussion.  It took her an average of 1 to 2 seconds to answer your questions.  Most of the time she was already beginning her answer before you were done asking it.  This is probably due to her familiarity with you.  The types of questions you used also gave Misti plenty of range for answers.

 

3. How many times I used her name....          (I don't think I used her name enough)

 

You used Misti’s name 4 times through the course of the conference.  Listening to the conference I can tell that Misti has a high degree of respect for you (she said “yes mam” several times).  You seemed to be very focused on your questions and perhaps that influenced the name element in your conference.  I agree with you that it’s important to keep things personal to make the mentee feel comfortable.  You did a very good job making her feel comfortable.  Using her name more would have helped, but not using it as frequently as you wanted wasn’t a negative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MTTC Teacher:  Jason Huddleston
 

Date:                   July 14, 2004

 

Source:               Video Clip

 

Format:               wmv  (Windows Media)

 

Senario:              Jason conferenced with Monica on the morning of July 14, 2004.

 

Asked Laquita Barton (Coach)    

Here's what I would like for you to look for from my conference:

 

1) Eye contact.  How often did I maintain eye contact with Monica when she was speaking?  You don't have to give me a specific number, but provide an overall evaluation of this important element of communication. 

Your eye contact was very good. This was not a deficiency; you maintained eye contact throughout the video.

 

2) How often did I use words or phrases that had to do with technology?  Did I stay focused or did I wander? Jason, you referred to technology questions over 8 times, bringing it into the discussion repeatedly. You actually were  focused  throughout the video, directing questions to Monica which brought her back to the focus of the lesson. Monica wondered a little, but your questions brought the discussion back to the focus.

 

3) How often did I "mentally stutter" and stumble through a question?  How often did my questions or responses seem fragmented? You stuttered very little: At the beginning of the video, you hesitated a couple of times, but throughout the remainder of the video, your questioning was complete.

 

4) How often did I follow-up Monica's answer to a question with another question?  Did I do a good enough job probing deeper or was I satisfied with her first answer? Jason, you repeatedly followed up Monica’s responses with related questions: at least six times. Most of the time you probed deeper, bringing her responses back to the main topic at hand.