Supervisory Post Conference Reflection

During the post conference I felt a bit uncomfortable since it was my first time conducting a full clinical observation as an interning supervisor. I had a difficult time playing the role of supervisor. I have always enjoyed coaching in other facets, but feel as though in this environment it is more difficult since I do not feel expert enough to make professional unbiased judgments as a supervisor. However, I do think that supervision/mentoring will become easier and occur more naturally over time through increased experiences. I specifically wanted to meet in the Mr. B’s classroom since it would be on the teacher’s turf and help to establish a level of comfort for him. We sat face to face in student desks to begin our post observation discussion. Our dialogue began as I asked if he felt as though he met his lesson objectives. Mr. B responded with a yes and began to explain. We then moved onto discussing each component of his lesson, Mr. B. seemed comfortable about discussing his strengths and weaknesses, although he began to fidget in his chair as our discussion continued. I think it was more about the small chair than being emotionally uncomfortable.

The conference began easily, however, I could have been more direct and clear about the lesson observation content. I didn’t believe that my discussion started well since Mr. B. was unsure of which lesson that we were speaking of. I needed to present my observation notes to open our conversation and remind him which lesson that we were currently reviewing. When asked about his objectives, Mr. B. responded with “Which lesson are you referring to?” Once clarification was made, we could then move forward. I found myself reflecting or echoing back to Mr. B. for clarification. I have learned and practiced the skill of reflective listening and try to practice it often. I specifically spent time asking questions about his type of formative assessments and how it was used to analyze student progress. I wanted to find out just how Mr. B. uses it to motivate and push students to self evaluate. He uses ongoing observations to collect data about student progress and learning.
Mr. B. provides students with open ended activities where student creativity and individuality is fostered. He gives students the opportunity to improve upon individual understanding, skills and knowledge. I found this to be one of his biggest strengths.

Throughout the post observation conference, I felt that I provided feedback that was positive, and also made simple suggestions for simple instructional practices that Mr. B. felt as areas of weakness. He stated that he is not the most organized and tries to stay on top of providing his students with daily lesson objectives and desired outcomes, but admitted to not doing such a good job of it. I suggested using planning templates and an area designated in the classroom for the display of goals and objectives. Mr. B. also discussed the uniqueness of CASA and how curriculum design is tricky since there are repeating students and they all remain in the same classrooms. He could potentially see one student for four consecutive years. I found this to be an area for growth and discussed scaffolding the core content and learning activities. I will be giving this instructional/curriculum development challenge more consideration for areas of revision.

The conference was definitely one of a more collaborative feel on my end. I tried to encourage Mr. B. to continue his instructional strategies since they worked to motivate students to work cooperatively to produce specific musical improvisational compositions. In asking more probing type questions, I felt that Mr. B. was able to find solutions for many of his own areas of need. It was my goal to lead him to the possible strategies that he could try in order to evolve and strengthen his weaknesses. I had some ideas as to what could help and suggested them. I will support him in trying to accomplish his goals to be more organized. Some things that we are working on as an entire staff is creating a customized curriculum with student learning map templates. I hope to assist with this during the year. I felt that this conference was more collaborative in nature and it served as a reinforcing or encouraging conversation. Mr. B. seemed very satisfied with my feedback, but I want to be more specific about areas of strength and need. I also think that the conference could have been more concise. I will keep working on how I provide feedback as well as ask probing questions.