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Theory into Practice
An observation of middle and high school educational settings
Ryann Longley
EDUC 517
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
Professors Craig Sundberg and Susan Moore
December 1, 2014

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Teaching is one of the most sensitive professions in that it embodies the entire societal,
intellectual, and cultural values while educating generations of students from every walk of life.
The practice of teaching is no doubt a subliminal task in which society has entrusted educators
to effectively develop and nurture educated global citizens. As in most professions, an effective
practice must enlist effective strategies and in teaching it is no different. Charlotte Danielson, a
renowned expert in the area of teacher effectiveness, has developed the Framework for
Teaching that categorizes the teaching practice into four domains (Danielson, 2013). These four
domains are used in evaluating an effective classroom practice: planning and preparation, the
classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities.
The purpose of this paper is to apply each of these four domains to a variety of classroom
settings and observe the theory of effective teaching in practice. In order to accomplish this task
I selected to observe the secondary level of education in two suburban school districts within the
metropolitan area of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I chose to observe the secondary education level
because I wanted to see the effective teaching practice in a variety of subjects so that I could
gather a whole approach in the functioning of education versus a singular subject area. Due to
the confidentiality of the subjects and schools in observation, I will use fictional names as
representatives to keep anonymity. In the conclusion of the paper, I will address the realizations
I have gathered from my observations in applying Danielson’s Framework for Teaching theory
to teaching practice.
School District 1
The first school district that I chose to observe in is located in the southwest
metropolitan area of Minneapolis and serves 7,500 students. The economic background in
which the school district serves holds a median family income of $115,000 and the student
demographics are 19% minority status with 9% of students qualifying for free and reduced
lunch. For my observations I had the opportunity to observe both a middle and high school
setting which gave me a better understanding on how students are progressed through the

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education system. The focus of the middle school was in teaching and enforcing good study
habits so that when students entered the high school, they had the necessary skill sets for
academic success.
In the middle school, I observed Mrs. Apple, an AVID and science teacher with fifteen
years of experience for two separate days. The first class I had the pleasure in viewing was her
9th grade AVID class which was exciting to see as an observer since AVID (Advancement Via
Individual Determination) is a relatively new program backed by research that targets students
who demonstrate the potential in enrolling in rigorous courses as well as be on track to attend
any college. Since the AVID program follows a strict curriculum, the planning and preparation
for the class was well laid out. Prior to the start of class, Mrs. Apple was organizing manila file
folders for the students and placing several on each of the tables. She told me that the students
would be emptying their AVID binders in which they organized all their homework and notes in
for every class. Once the bell rang the students entered the classroom and Mrs. Apple greeted
them individually as they came often checking in with “How was your hockey game last night?”
or “How was your birthday this weekend?” She was very lively and light heartedly joked with the
kids. Once the bell rang, it was like she switched into her teacher mode and got down to
business, first informing the students of the class overview. She also introduced me to the class
which I was surprised by and found quite welcoming. She told them that I would be coming
around to ask them questions about their Cornell Notes and be watching their “Point of
Confusion” (POC) presentations.
After the students had filed away their papers from the massive binders they
immediately started moving tables around and forming their groups for the POC presentations.
Mrs. Apple was directing students and even counted down for them as a challenge. Whenthey
were all settled in their seats, she congratulated them sincerity. I was amazed by how down to
earth she was with her students and how in-tune she was. While the students went through their
presentations, Mrs. Apple was hoping from group to group to check in with the students not to

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just make sure they were on task but to help them reach their answers. I was just amazed by how
she worked the room and how on task everyone was. She had a loud voice but there was a
friendliness to it. In regards to the domains, she excelled in the areas of instruction and the
classroom environment because of her positive attitude and competent teaching demeanor. I
observed both her 9th and 8th grade AVID block classes and was impressed by the flow and
articulation of the classroom. The students knew what was expected of them and had respect for
Mrs. Apple often checking in with her to make sure they were on top of their homework. Whena
student needed redirection, Mrs. Apple never called the student out in front of the class she
would just quietly address the issue one-on-one.
At the conclusion of her classes, I got to ask her a few questions in regards to how she
incorporated the students’ personal devices so that they added to the classroom environment
rather than being a distraction. She stressed that today’s students need to learn how to properly
use their device because they will never know a world without it. “By taking away the devices, it
only causes more problems and disengages the students. Therefore she allowed students to use
their personal devices when needed, but when she asked for students to put away their devices
they did so willingly. I also asked how in touch she was with the parents, and she said she keeps
a close communication with parents through email and phone calls home with the majority of
them being positive remarks. She said it’s integral for middle school students to have their
parents involved at a higher level especially in sixth grade until independence is gained. She said
by the time students enter the high school, their academic success is placed solely on them with
the teacher serving merely as a guide.
In the later part of the day, I went over to the high school to observe a 10th grade
Enriched Chemistry class for three periods. The setting of the high school was very different in
that the students had more control over their academic studies. The teacher Mr. Orange like
Mrs. Apple greeted and joked with his students as they entered into the classroom. Even
students that were not in the class stopped by to speak with him so it was clear that he was a

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favorite among students. Since the class periods were on the same track, the instruction differed
only slightly. I noticed that as the day went on, the class periods grew louder and more
rambunctious so it was interesting to see how Mr. Orange adapted to this increasing
commotion. His style of teaching remained the same however instead of shouting over the
rowdy class; he softened his voice almost into a whisper so that those who heard him say, “Ifyou
can hear my voice, at the end of work time turn in your molecule packet and you can leave class
five minutes early.” Those who did not hear it missed out on the reward. During the three
periods, I observed a lecture style layout where Mr. Orange was at the front of the classroom
using the smartboard to interact with his students. Being a native of Scotland, his sense of
humor and accent added an entertainment piece to his teaching style. The kids would laugh
when he called out a group of students who were not listening in the back “jack-clowns.” After a
ten minute lecture, the students were placed in groups to work on converting molecule mass
into molecular moles on white boards. Mr. Orange would give students a problem and they
would have to work together in pairs to convert it. Mr. Orange would walk around and help
those groups that were struggling while offering praise to those that finished. Afterwards he gave
them enough time to finish up on their molecule packets. Many students at this point chose to
work solo on their packets while a few chose to remain in pairs. Mr. Orange possessed the same
enthusiasm as Mrs. Apple did when interacting with her students, but he was a little less
involved which forced students to take their learning into their own hands. The domain in
instruction differed quite differently in the high school compared to the middle school because
there was more time devoted to individual work versus group work in the middle school.
Students were encouraged to think more for themselves and have less of a facilitated discussion
then what would be carried out in the middle school. I saw that Mrs. Apple was more of the lead
facilitator whereas Mr. Orange chose to let students take on the leadership role in asking
questions.

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At the end of the day I spoke to Mr. Orange about finding how he communicates with
students and if parents are involved as much as the middle school parents. He responded that
within the high school students are expected to take their own responsibility so parents are only
contacted for behavior problems or excessive missing work however he said it was up to the
teacher’s discretion. Being very tech savy, Mr. Orange sends out email updates and progress
reports for each student but he said that he focuses his communication directly with the
students. The domains in professional responsibilities and instruction vary between the middle
and the high school because as students progress through the educational system the parents
become less involved (not in a negative way) and more responsibility is placed on the student.
Overall my experience with this school district was very positive and welcoming. I found that the
population and economic background of the students the school district served played a large
role in the involvement of community members as well as ample monetary funds for things such
as chromebooks for every student.
School District 2
The second school district that I chose to observe in is located in the southeast
metropolitan area of Saint Paul and serves 28,000 students making it the fourth largest district
in Minnesota. The economic background in which the school district serves holds a median
family income of $75,000 and the student demographics are 28% minority status with 26% of
students qualifying for free and reduced lunch. For my observations I had the opportunity to
spend the entire day in a STEM middle school observing various classrooms. The focus of the
school being that every student participates in a curriculum of science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics.

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The first classroom I observed was a 6th grade Literacy Collaborative which aimed at
getting low performing students to be at grade level in reading through the positive integration
of strong performing students. It is composed of only twelve students so there was a sense of
inclusion and community. The teacher Mrs. Grape greeted the students as they came in the door
and I was surprised to find out that she was conversing with some students in English and some
in Spanish. She would later explain to me that many students were English Learners and to
make them feel comfortable she would casually converse in Spanish with them. The group began
by sitting in a circle on the floor similar to what you would see in an elementary classroom
where Mrs. Grape sat on a chair and read a Thanksgiving themed story to them. She would ask
the students questions about what kind of genre the book was and if they could make
predictions about what was to happen next. One student was designated as the “word keeper”
who would record down new words on the whiteboard while another student held a dictionary
to look up the meanings. These roles would be passed around so that everyone would have a
chance to try it out. Once Mrs. Grape was done reading to them, the students had the chance to
read for enjoyment. They were given strict instructions to continue reading on their choice book
and to report their page progress at the conclusion of the period. Overall I think the students
enjoyed Mrs. Grape’s class especially the English Learners. There were some instances where
personal devices became a distraction but students put them away with Mrs. Grape’s
redirection.
The next classroom I observed was an 8th grade Fabrication Lab or as the students called
it “Fab Lab,” which fulfilled the engineering component all students were required to take. The
agenda for the class was more student centered learning with the teacher, Mr. Lime, acting more
as a facilitator. The students were given the task to build a robotic arm using water pressure to
pick up an object and place it in a bin. I was observing the final day in which students were
completing last minute tweaks to their robotic arms for testing the following week. The layout of
the lab was very open with work tables, laser engravers, and the first of its kind four 3D printers

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so it was very exciting to see cutting edge technology to be at the students’ fingertips. Mr. Lime
spent the majority of the time bouncing from table to table checking in with students so he never
was placed in the front of the classroom. This created a closer sense in relationship between
teacher and student so that one was never the inferior of the two.
I spent the remaining part of the day sitting in on a variety of classes but because it was
the final day before Thanksgiving Break there was not much to observe teacher content wise.
The domains in instruction and classroom environment varied the most I felt between the two
middle schools in that the more emphasis was placed on getting students college bound in
School District 1 versus getting students to be successful in the grade level they were currently in
as School District 2. Title 1 and ESL services were heavily used within School District 2 to help
accommodate for their growing diverse student population in comparison to School District 1.
Overall my experience in School District 2 was just as welcoming as the first and I was excited to
see how the STEM model was applied in a variety of classroom learning.
In conclusion, I saw how the four domains of planning and preparation, the classroom
environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities played a large role in a teacher’s
practice. I was amazed by how a single teacher canbalance and achieve so much in his or her
classroom in just a single class period. While some teachers may excel in one domain more than
the other I feel like my classroom observations conveyed a great mix of all four. My first
realization that I gained from the experience was how teachers were able to forge and sustain a
personal connection to each of their students. I saw this quite frequently with Mrs. Apple’s
interaction with her students. Another realization that I gained was it is important to be on the
same team as students and not try to work against them. I saw this in the majority of the
classrooms that I observed in that the teacher worked side by side with the student and checking
in with them not only in school aspects but in their personal lives as well. The last realization I
gained in my observations was that I can minimize student resistance by being explicit about the
reasons behind my teaching choices. Mrs. Apple and Mr. Orange’s classrooms exemplified the

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positiveness of this realization by allowing students to use technology but for a greater good and
not as a distraction. Students who are given clear expectations will often have great follow
through when they know there is no leeway in between for them to resist.
References
Danielson, C. (2013). Danielson Group » Charlotte Danielson. Retrieved December
1, 2014, from http://danielsongroup.org/charlotte-danielson/