Teaching · Reading Intervention

Watch for what the teacher asked, and bring numbers to the conversation.

Start from the teacher’s own question, mark the parts of the lesson you see, and tap a counter for each response, praise and correction. The summary turns the tallies into responses per minute and a feedback ratio, and lines up keep and try notes for the talk afterward.

Start an observationWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Reading Intervention toolkit, $49 for 34 items.

The observation notes

One record per observation, keyed by a code. Teachers and students are never named. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Reading Intervention$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
For each observation, lesson parts, tallies, responses per minute, feedback balance and keep and try notes, ready for a short conversation with the teacher.
Who it is for
Reading interventionists, reading specialists and special education teachers observing each other, and professional learning communities that use peer observation.
Format
Browser notes with tap counters. Several saved records; printed with the summary or as a blank observation sheet; CSV with one row per observation; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Reading Intervention toolkit ($49) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Reading Intervention space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
Drawn for this page. Counting how often every student gets to answer is one of the most useful things a colleague can watch for.

How to use it

  1. Agree a focus with the teacher before the lesson.
  2. Start a record with an observation code, the group size and minutes.
  3. Mark each lesson part as seen, partly seen or not seen.
  4. Tap the counters for group and individual responses, praise and corrections.
  5. Write keep and try notes on the focus, then meet the teacher within a day or two.

Start an observation

What the notes are for

Opportunities to respond

How often students actively respond is one of the strongest markers of an effective small-group lesson. Choral responses keep everyone working; individual turns show who has the skill. Counting both, per minute and per student, turns a general impression into something the teacher can act on.

Feedback balance

Specific praise names what a student did well; corrective feedback shows the right response straight away. Both matter in explicit instruction. Corrections running well ahead of praise can wear a group down, so the summary shows the ratio.

Peer, not evaluator

These notes belong to the teacher who invited the observation. They are not an evaluation and should not be shared further without the teacher’s agreement. Records use codes, never names, and stay in this browser.

Sources

  1. Archer, A. L., & Hughes, C. A. (2011). Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching. Guilford Press.
  2. MacSuga-Gage, A. S., & Simonsen, B. (2015). Examining the effects of teacher-directed opportunities to respond on student outcomes: A systematic review of the literature. Education and Treatment of Children, 38(2), 211–239.
  3. Simonsen, B., Fairbanks, S., Briesch, A., Myers, D., & Sugai, G. (2008). Evidence-based practices in classroom management: Considerations for research to practice. Education and Treatment of Children, 31(3), 351–380.
  4. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 CFR Part 99.

The example observation is made up. The notes support a peer conversation; they are not a teacher evaluation. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.