Name: Giselle Pereira

Date: 10/21/18

Iceberg Observation Sequence

Directions:
 Complete the first box describing the type of lesson you are observing. Right
click the boxes to check.
 For each layer of the IOS, watch the video or live lesson, take notes, and make a
brief summary statement within the Notes box. The box will expand as you type.

1. Check the type of class being observed:

Instrumental Ensemble
Choral Ensemble
General Music Class
Small Group or Individual Lesson
Other (describe):

2. Check the level of the students:

Pre-school
Elementary (K – 5)
Middle School (6 – 8)
High School (9 – 12)
College Level
Other (describe):

3. Indicate time/length of the lesson being observed:

4. Indicate if the observation is a video or live:

Video
Live

5. Include any other description of the lesson, students, and teacher you are
observing that would help to situate the observation:
 1) The Tip of the Iceberg - Focus on the Teacher
a. Voice level, clarity of speech, articulation of words
i. Is the teacher’s voice clear and are they easily understood?
ii. Do they vary their pitch and speak expressively?
iii. How does this affect the instructional delivery and the learning
environment?

b. Posture and body language

i. What does the teacher’s posture and body language convey?
ii. How does this affect the instructional delivery and the learning
environment?

c. Eye contact with the students and visual focus

i. Where is the teacher’s visual focus?
ii. Do they scan the room? Focus on one spot or student?
iii. Is eye contact used to direct or instruct students, and if so, how?
iv. What is the teacher trying to convey in their visual focus?
v. How often does the teacher’s visual focus shift or change?

d. Energy level, intensity, magnitude in front of the classroom

i. Describe the teacher’s energy level in front of the class.
ii. Is the teacher interesting to watch?
iii. Does the energy level change at all over the course of the class?
iv. If so, can you ascertain why it changes, if it was intentional on the
part of the teacher, and the effect on the classroom environment?

e. Pacing
i. Write down each change in activity and note the time, i.e. 10:00 –
teacher calls the class to attention; 10:03 students begin singing
“Row Row Your Boat” etc. What do you learn from doing this?
ii. Is the lesson moving forward at a pace that is keeping the students
engaged?
iii. Compare the amount of time the teacher is talking to the amount
of time the students are doing something. How does this ratio
contribute to/detract from the pace of instruction?

f. Use of physical space

i. Where is the teacher physically positioned in the classroom in
relation to the students?
ii. Does the teacher move around the classroom, and if so, why? If
not, why not?
iii. How do these choices affect the classroom dynamic and learning
environment?

Notes:
• Standing in front of ensemble conducting
• Uses space to speak to students of their intonation
• Good projection and clarity
• Scans the entire ensemble to see how students are trying to tune/fix intonation
• Explains intonation very well by demonstrating examples of embouchure and
readjustment of instrument and how that can help with intonation
• Asks students to repeat the section they were playing while being cautious of their
intonation
Fast pacing that doesn’t allow any space for students to take in side chatter
 2) Sea Level - Focus on the Students
a. Describe the students’ behavior.
b. Do the students look engaged? How do you know?
c. What can be learned about the instruction from observing the students’
behavior?
d. How do the students respond to the physical environment of the
classroom? E.g. Are they in groups, at desks, spread out, etc. and how
does this change their behavior/attitude/focus?
e. Does the instruction require the students to utilize different spaces or
move around in the classroom? If so, how is this tied to instruction and
learning? If not, what are the reasons?
f. Student behavior
i. What behavior questions arise? How did the teacher respond?
ii. What student behaviors did the teacher miss or choose to ignore?
iii. If ignored, can you tell why the teacher chose to ignore the
behavior?
iv. How did the students respond to cues from the teacher?
v. What in the students’ behavior tells you that the lesson was
successful? Unsuccessful? How do you know?

Notes:
• Students are paying close attention to what the conductor is saying
• When he asks them if they know they’re out of tune, they all raise their hands
• Students are silent and focused
• Students are in an ensemble setting
When students are asked to repeat the section, they are being focused and cautious
with their intonation. There is improvement.

3) Just under the surface – Focus on the teaching sequence and instruction
a. Was the lesson sequenced in a way that led to student success? How do
you know?
b. What procedures contributed to/detracted from student learning? Why?
How do you know?
c. Did the choices of activities, materials, resources, etc. successfully and
sequentially lead to student learning? Did they match the age and
development of the students? What made these choices successful or not,
and how do you know?
d. Did the teacher depart from the lesson plan, and if so, why? Did this
decision seem necessary, and if so, why? How do you know?
e. How do you know the students met the objectives/outcomes of the class?
How did the teacher assess their learning formatively? Summatively?
 f. In what ways did the teacher differentiate for different types of learners?
What applications of Universal Design or other inclusive practices were
used?
g. How did the teacher use questioning? How did the teacher encourage
critical thinking?

Notes:
• The conductor focuses on one activity and uses repetition
• The conductor uses critical thinking when asking students if they think they are in
tune or out of tune
• The conductor uses critical thinking when asking students if they can hear the
difference
Teaches independent musicianship when explaining that he cannot always assist with
their intonation and how at this point they must work on that themselves.

4) 10 feet under – Focus on content and pedagogical content knowledge

a. How did the teacher apply his/her musicianship in this class?
b. What content knowledge did the teacher need for this class?
c. What performance skills did the teacher use in this class?
d. Did the teacher detect musical errors when they occurred, diagnose the
problem, and help the students solve the problem? How? If not, can you
tell why not?
e. How did musicianship and performance skills add to/detract from the
success of the class?
f. What non-verbal teacher actions were utilized for musical
communication and instruction? Was the conducting gesture used as
non-verbal instruction, and if so, how?
g. Was questioning used to elicit musically performed answers? If so, was
this effective, and how do you know?
h. Was musical modeling used, and if so, how? Was it a successful
instructional choice? Why?
i. What instructional strategies did the teacher use that you might see only
in a music class?
j. What musicianship skills were required to teach the particular class you
observed? What does this tell you about what is required to become a
music teacher, and why it might be important to continue to develop and
maintain your own musicianship skills?

Notes:
• Not clear with conducting. No clear sense of ictus for students.
• Uses demonstrations of how students can fix their intonation by demonstrating
change in embouchure and readjustment of instrument
Successful with giving students an idea of how to change intonation
 5) The base of the Iceberg - Summarize and comment broadly on the
lesson
a. In general, how successful was the lesson?
b. Reflect on the above reviews focusing on different aspects of the teaching
process. What evidence supports the degree of success of the lesson,
based on your observations? (This is the “why was the lesson
successful/not successful” question, the evidence.)
c. Do you see aspects of teaching and learning that you have been studying
in class being applied in this lesson? If so, what are they, and how are
they being applied?
d. Do you see aspects of teaching and learning that are very different than
what you have been studying in class, or perhaps, even counter to what
you have been studying in class? If so, what are they, and what is your
understanding of those aspects in the context of the particular class you
observed?
e. If you were teaching this lesson, what might you do differently?

Summary statement:
The lesson was very successful because it brought the concept of intonation to the
students attention so that they could consciously make the effort to improve on it. The
teacher uses critical thinking, good public speaking, helps the students become
engaged and understanding of the concept. Positive reinforcement is applied once
they teacher hears improvement. If I were to do this lesson, I would conduct more
clearly for students.

Hirokawa 2013, revised 2016

Incorporating ideas from:
The Chicago Excellence in Teaching Project
Snyder, D.W. (2011). “Preparing for Teaching through Reflection.” Music Educator’s Journal, Vol.
97 No. 3, March 2011.
Hirokawa, J. O. (2013). Evaluating Music Teachers. Dissertation.