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“What did you gain from your experience in your team member’s classroom that you can bring into your own teaching practice to strengthen learning outcomes for our students?”

From Mr. Leach's classroom experience,

I was impressed with his practice of teaching and re-teaching. He gave his lesson and he also had students watching Khan Academy. This reinforced what he had taught, and seeing the same information from another source helped students with their own transfer in learning.

From Ms. Sachowitz's classroom experience, I was impressed with her class protocols (like the maraca to change groups) the graphic organizer with sentence frames and visuals that supported student understanding and the kinesthetic learning of getting up with music.

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Brian masterfully delivered a presentation to Mr. Lannan's class on Pasaka Dice Divination and the Silk Road parallels. Brian clearly defined the learning objectives for the class: What is syncretism? How did life in 10th Century Dunhuang, China differ from today and what were the religious tolerances? Mr. Thomas presents with an enthusiasm for his material that goes a long way to engage St Mary's students, promoting interactive small group discussions and handouts to facilitation and experiential and engaging participation. Mr. Thomas blended a mix of media presentations with actual pasaka dice for visuals and finished the class with an interactive dice divination project where students created a divination script based on a syncretic strategy and then volunteers were taken to roll the dice for their "orracular response". Mr. Thomas also was able to briefly summarize the session with "take home" questions based on the learning objectives highlighting the origins and spread of Indian pasaka dice as tools of divination that followed the Silk Road routes of India to China and the influence and tolerance of religions in 10th Century Dunhuang, China.

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I observed Mrs. Sachowitz 4th period spanish class. I enjoy the energy and passion that Mrs. Sachowitz brings to her classroom. She gracefully acknowledges each student to ensure engagement and really blends written and spoken spanish skill development with a weekly packet. She also blended aspects of culture by listening to songs of two different genres of latin music and asked that each student provide verbal feedback using cues from the provided weekly packet to create their own unique statement.

The experiential participation with brief moving interactions among the students discussing aspects of vacation, using applicable vocabulary, helps to facilitate community and confidence in language development.

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In the 4th-period Spanish class observed on January 7, 2025, Sachowitz demonstrated masterful teaching through a well-structured and engaging lesson that balanced cultural exploration, language practice, and skill development. The class began with a prayer in Spanish and a review of the date, essential questions, and choice board along with a review of the breakdown of the class grading structure (10% homework/classwork/quizzes, 30% each for interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills). The class then transitioned into "Batalla de la Semana!," where students listened to two songs and expressed their opinions, using a graphic organizer that effectively scaffolded responses for all skill levels. Sachowitz maintained a strong focus on Spanish language use, calling on multiple students who responded in Spanish. A group brainstorming activity followed, centered on vocabulary for vacations, where students collaborated effortlessly, a testament to established class routines. Paired discussions using rotating partners encouraged conversational practice, with a student-led maraca signal keeping transitions smooth. The lesson concluded with a whole-class discussion on cultural differences in vacation experiences, incorporating visuals and sentence frames for support, before distributing a new illustrated vocabulary sheet. Sachowitz’s skillful management, thoughtful scaffolding, and culturally rich activities created a dynamic learning environment from which new teachers could learn.

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I observed a lesson on photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and anaerobic respiration. Coach Leach started class by going over the homework and reviewing the schedule of lessons. They were working on Lab 2 on cellular respiration.

Students actively worked on the worksheet while Coach Leach circled around answering questions. He clarified misunderstandings about the worksheet:

“Each section is referring to the model number and the diagram within it.”

I observed him helping a student think through the substances connected to anaerobic respiration. I also observed students watching a video on Cellular Respiration from Khan Academy from the lesson. The whole class was actively engaged.

I was impressed that Coach Leach has been teaching them not only the science content, but also the standards that he is teaching to. One of the students in the class asked him about the standards on a test.

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I observed a review session before a test on the muscular systems. Coach gave students a little time to complete a worksheet and then followed-up with review session.

1) Coach does a great job rotating around the room and checking-in with students during work time.

2) In review session, Coach asked follow-up questions to build on knowledge (i.e. name the muscle, now where is it located, how do you stretch it, what does it do?) to help them build connections in the knowledge they already have.

3) Use of visuals to help students see the muscles being talked about!

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What did you gain from your experience in your team member's classroom that you can bring into your own teaching practice to strengthen learning outcomes for our students?

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•An instructional strategy

•Classroom culture

•Relationship building

•A feedback strategy

•Use of digital or analog tools

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•Voice recording
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