Observation Tips: Using Lumio by SMART for Students to Reflect and Share Their Learning

By: Koralina McKenna, Teacher Specialist - Office of Instructional Technology

The Teaching & Learning Instructional Observation/Evaluation Rubric has 34 criteria in which teachers are rated. Some of the observation stems are straight forward like "Class is neat and organized; arranged for student interactions and reflects current student learning". A teacher should receive a rating of "Effective" if the classroom is organized in a way that promotes student-to-student dialogue (think: groups), the teacher has relevant bulletin boards and student work displayed and the teachers' area is neat. If you can demonstrate that students can independently access materials and make up work; then you jump to "Highly Effective". 

Move further down the rubric and you will find stems that are more complex and require the teacher to think thoughtfully and creatively about how they will demonstrate effectiveness. Observations can be stressful no matter what grade you teach or how long you've been a teacher. Someone once told me: shoot for effective but pick 5-10 stems in which to focus on getting highly effective; just remember not every lesson will demonstrate every stem so don't stress about meeting every one. This was sound advice for my first few years. I also took the time to review my prior years observations before the current year's observation began. It was this practice that revealed I had a definite weak spot. As I moved through my career and began conducting observations, I noticed that my weak spot was shared by many and the pandemic only exacerbated the issue.

Stem 34: "Students reflect and share their learning." 

It asks that students have "Adequate time for clear, concrete tasks requiring self-assessment and reflection". Personally, I used to limit this to the end of my lesson. Unfortunately, I also struggled with pacing early on and frequently never got to these planned reflections. As I look back on it now, I know that I was overthinking and over complicating this task. Virtual instruction made me come to value the importance of reflection and check-ins throughout my lessons, not just at the end. Let's be real, I needed to know if my students were actually on the other side of the screen or not. 

Let's look at some options for quick and clear activities from Lumio by SMART that can be imbedded into any lesson. 

Comprehension Check-ins - This collection features a classic scale for students to rank their current comprehension. It includes an slide option that does not require students to have device. *Note: any of these activities can be printed out; copy as half pages to save paper.

Student Well Being Check-ins - This collect has a variety of check-ins that focus on the how the student is feeling. I particularly like the option that allows the students to rate how included they felt during the lesson. *Note: Any of these activities can be edited and added individually to a Lumio lesson.

Variety of Tasks - The title is self explanatory but it truly has  variety of check-ins suitable for any grade level. As a middle school science teacher I did a lot of group work; naturally I was most drawn to an activity that focus' on "How Did Your Group Do?" This reflection activity is a little longer but I could see using it throughout some of our projects with long timelines.

Productive Talk - This activity provides students with sentence stems to help jot down notes to prepare for a share out or peer-to-peer discussion. this activity is very useful for students who are still learning to process their ideas verbally with other students. *Note: This activity hits stem 18; Planned, tiered questions monitor student understanding at various checkpoints.

For a bonus, many of these activities can also touch on stem 3; Each student sees themselves as a valued member and active participant in the class. If you opt for the digital options you can also check off stem 22; Effective integration of technology supports student learning. To explore the complete collection of Lumio's ready made resources click here.