How to Rock Your Observation with Eureka Math

I know we all dread our classroom observations. 

It isn’t that we do not do a good job teaching everyday, but when someone is watching, it can be so nerve wracking. 

​Just think about this though, when you have been working on your Eureka Math routine consistently, you have nothing to worry about!  
 
Let this be your time to SHINE!
 
Think of it this way, when you use Eureka Math, all of the components that make up a great observation lesson are already embedded in what you do each day.  The way you feel about your teaching also shines through to your observer while you are conducting your lesson.
 

If your school district uses an evaluation system such as the Danielson rubric, the heart of the evaluation is student engagement.  This is the same for other evaluation processes as well.  The first and foremost step is to have the students engaged in the content.  Once this is happening, everything else will fall into place.
 
Here are some areas the Eureka Math program will boost you up to be your best self and rock those teacher evaluations!

Student Engagement
 
There are many opportunities for student engagement.  Each lesson begins with a fluency portion.  During this time, you are moving at a quick pace.  This part of the lesson grabs the students’ attention and draws them in.  Some activities that you may do are using ten frame cards and having students say the amount missing to make ten or twenty, completing a story problem as a class, or quick review in place value.  These activities are short and direct.  The students keep engaged to show what they know!

Student Speaking and Listening
 
In each lesson, you have opportunities for partner work to promote speaking and listening skills.  During the lesson content, you can use partner work as the active engagement section of your lesson.  After you model a problem, give students a problem to solve on white boards with dry erase markers.  Students can turn to a partner and explain how they solved the problem and explain the answers.  If students used different strategies or arrived at different answers, it gives great opportunities for conversation between students.  As the teacher, you can jump in and provide feedback and encourage productive ways of problem solving.

Differentiation
 
The Eureka Math program provides many opportunities for differentiation.  One great resource is the Sprint!  Set a timer for the students to complete one of the fluency pages.  When the time is up, students circle the last problem they were able to complete.  This will be different for all of the students.  The activity naturally levels the students by showing how many facts they can complete.  Have students flip the page to side B and try to beat the amount of examples they completed on side A.  
 
Knowledge of Content
 
You will display your knowledge of content and planning skills by how clean and organized the lesson is presented.  Since the Eureka Math program sets up such a predictable lesson structure, you are able to follow the parts of the lesson in a cohesive manner.  The flow of the lesson and ease between each portion of the lesson provides many different objective opportunities in one lesson session.
 
Assessment
 
Each lesson provides an Exit Ticket for immediate assessment of what has been taught.  This is a valuable resource for you to know if the students have learned what you have taught them.  After you assess the exit tickets, you can determine if students are ready for the next lesson or need some reteaching.  You can also use this data to create small intervention groups on the skills that have been taught.
 
Classroom Management
 
This is another very important part of your evaluation.  With the Eureka Math lesson structure provided, it sets up great building blocks for strong classroom management.  Each day, practice with your students how to transition from fluency to content development.  This may mean putting away the white boards and pulling out the Learn Workbook.  Each day as you move through the different parts of the lesson, be sure to practice how these movements look and sound.  When the class does a great job, be sure to give a lot of praise!  When it does not go well, stop the class and try it again.  These small details each day during your lessons will create smooth transitions that will build in much needed instructional time for you and your students.  Students need a lot of support with managing materials at first, be patient with it.  It may take time in the beginning, but will pay off later.
 
When you are using the Eureka Math program each day, you have nothing to worry about when the time comes for your administrator to evaluate you.  Each and every day you are  pushing your students to the highest level.  You are embedding many skills into one lesson and assessing each one that is taught immediately.  With this type of teaching happening, it is exciting to have visitors pop into the classroom to give you an opportunity to talk about all of the great math learning going on each day.