Running head: MR.
ROTH 1
Case Study: Mr. Roth
Betty Graham Young
Grand Canyon University: EAD 530
July 8, 2020
Running head: MR. ROTH 2
Case Study: Mr. Roth
Mr. Roth is an 11th Grade, United States History teacher with four years of experience in
the profession. I arrived at Mr. Roth’s classroom a few minutes early to see how he began and
ended his class. It is ideal that a formal observation includes all aspects of the instructional
experience as it prevents erroneous judgements and paints a clear picture of the functionality of
the class period as a whole. It was refreshing to see the positive rapport Mr. Roth had built with
his students. He greeted each student by name and even engaged in small talk with some of them
as they entered the classroom. Mr. Roth has obviously created a climate in his classroom that
was orderly and safe for students to share. Moreover, the soft skills that were displayed amongst
the students further proved how confident he made them feel.
When one thinks of soft skills, they think of social competency, individual qualities,
language or communication skills, and personal morals and ethics. The manner in which the
class transitioned so smoothly from one task to the next with minimal distractions was
remarkable and demonstrated how organized the students were. There was no need for a posting
of class expectations as students demonstrated them on their own in various ways throughout the
class period. Effective soft skills must be demonstrated for manageability and positive
cooperation within collaborative exercises. The level of peer-to-peer respect shown amongst
students within the small groups was a perfect demonstration of operative soft skills. These skills
will transfer into adulthood and be a major contributor to student success in the real world.
Therefore, the increased complexity of today’s work environment has created the need for soft
skills, such as teamwork, communication, leadership and problem solving, more salient than
ever (Ritter, Small, Mortimer & Doll, 2018). As such, soft skills have been proven to predict
outcomes in school and in life (Mulcahy-Dunn, King & Lee, 2018).
Running head: MR. ROTH 3
Higher order or critical thinking is an important skill that should be taught across the
content in order to produce globally competent and competitive students. Mr. Roth instructed
students to skim through and pullout key terms in a summary he had given them on Marbury v.
Madison (1789). Students used the terms to make predictions on what the case was about and
how it related to the power given to the Supreme Court. After answering guided questions within
their groups, students had an opportunity to share their answers in a whole group format. They
also had a chance to defend or to refute an answer. This activity promoted discourse between
students and Mr. Roth with dialog encompassing questioning and answering. Questioning is an
essential element of efficacious teaching (Hannel, 2009). Teachers and students will both benefit
from questions that are purposefully designed (Peterson & Taylor, 2012) as students will acquire
the ability to make connections to prior learning as well as make meaning of the world around
them.
The outcome of Mr. Roth’s observation included high marks. The classroom
management, clear objectives, and the promotion of critical thinking amongst students made him
distinguished in those key areas of teacher efficacy. However, there was no evidence of
differentiation. Some teachers find it very difficult to differentiate instruction; nevertheless, it
must be done to ensure that every student has access to the curriculum. My advice to him would
be to obtain a learning profile of all students, paying particular attention to students’ individual
educational plan (IEP). An effective strategy for a History class is to consider students’ interest
and make the lesson relevant to it. This could possibly promote an ease of comprehension.
Recognizing different levels of student interest is another way to promote individual learning
opportunity. These are less tangible differences, but nevertheless they strongly affect student
learning (Smets, 2019). Lastly, I would advise Mr. Roth of the importance of the integration of
Running head: MR. ROTH 4
technology in the lesson as I did not observe the use of any. PowerPoint is an excellent tool for
use in instruction. Not only is it easy to use, it also gives students visuals to accompany the text,
which makes the lesson more comprehensible.
Running head: MR. ROTH 5
Reference
Ahmad, A., Chew, F., Zulnaidi, H., Sobri, K., Alfitri. (2019). International Journal of Instruction,
v12 n2 p259-274 Apr 2019. 16 pp. Influence of School Culture and Classroom
Environment in Improving Soft Skills amongst Secondary Schoolers. Retrieved from:
[Link]
Nappi, J. (2017). Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin. 2017, Vol. 84 Issue 1, p30-41. 12p. The
Importance of Questioning in Developing Critical Thinking Skills. Retrieved from
[Link]
Smets, W. (2019). Agora. 2019, Vol. 54 Issue 2, p22-26. 5p. Challenges and Checklists:
Implementing Differentiation: Pedagogy provides a solid rationale for differentiated
instruction in the History classroom, but this is not always an easy skill for teachers to
acquire. Retrieved from [Link]
