Name: Giselle Pereira

Date: 11/19/18

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:

Other (describe): Music Theory Class

2. Check the level of the students:

Middle School (6 – 8)

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

50 minutes

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

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:
 The teacher spoke with an animated and energetic tone
 Eye contact was made and loud speaking volume
 The teacher asked questions and joked with students to help them engage
more
 Students begin with a warm up to recap on lesson previously learned
 Students are to identify the quality of triads (major, minor, and
diminished) in treble and bass clef
 Teacher walks around and observes progress with the warm up
 Teacher gives positive reinforcement to the students’ progress
 Students raises hand and asks “Mr. Holcomb, what accidentals are in the key
of E?” Mr. Holcomb responds with “That is a good question.” and assists
student in their question. The teacher praises student for thinking on the right
track.
 The teacher gathers everyone’s attention to start looking at the warm up
together. He chooses a student and asks them of the interval between the F
and A in the F major triad. The student answers that it is a major triad. The
teacher asks how the student found their answer. The student explains that in
the key of F major, A is natural.
 The teacher asks students to sing minor triads (Do-May-So-May-Do), major
triads (Do-Mi-So-Mi-Do), diminish triads(Do-May-Say-May-Do), and
augmented triads (Do-Mi-Si-Mi-Do).
 Students along with intervals are asked to use their ears to identify the quality
of the triads.
 Students are introduced to a 2:35 video speaking of Form and Structure
 Teacher asks the class to think of a song they know that and what form and
structure it has
 A student isn’t paying attention and the teacher asks jokingly “Sarah, would
you like to guide us in it?” Sarah and the rest of the class all start to giggle.
Their attention is now focused.
 The class sings a folk song together, afterwards they identify the form
(ABABABA) and next they try to figure out the structure may be
 The teacher connects learned material to their composition group projects
 The teacher explains how they may want to consider focusing on form and
structure when composing their songs. They must focus on ternary structure.
 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 all engaged because they are working at their tables on the warm
up that is on the board
- Students are raising their hands to ask the teacher questions about answers
they came up with for the warm up
- When the students answers are on the right track, the teacher uses positive
reinforcement
- Students helped and assisted others who seemed to be having trouble with the
material

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 teacher used good pacing and engaged with students to continuously
allow them to exercise their thinking skills without space for interruption
- The teacher asked questions that were only part of the bigger answer. He asks
each question, leading them to another which ultimately leads to the answer.
This teaches students how to use their critical thinking skills in order to
navigate through questions that ultimately lead to the answer. This also helps
them focus on the smaller parts of the answer.

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:
 - The teacher needed basic music theory knowledge in order to help students
figure out the quality of triads and explore form and structure in group
compositions
- The teacher used children’s folk songs to engage and sing with the class in
order to demonstrate form and structure

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 teaching demonstrated a positive and engaging atmosphere for students to use
their critical thinking skills and creativity. The teacher’s energy matched those of the
students and projected well enough. The material was explained thoroughly through
the use of sequential learning. The students engaged by formulating questions and
participating in class discussion of the material. Students demonstrated their
understanding of the material through their group compositions. If I were teaching
this class, I would have incorporated more materials for students to use as
instruments for their group compositions. I would have also given other forms of
demonstrations of form and structure through the use of other musical material.
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.