Observation Sheet Questioning Primary school

(Please complete this form for both primary and secondary professional experiences and
place in your ePortfolio)
Graduate Standards - AITSL
Professional Knowledge:
Professional Practice:
learning

1. Know students and how they learn

2. Plan and implement effective teaching and

Question Type

Do you feel your questions

were clearly structured and
readily understood by the
students?

When holding my full class lesson I believed that I structured my

questions to a level of understanding for year ones. This way each
of the students understood what I was asking them to do without
having to elaborate further on the instruction or question.

Did you use a variety of

question types?

After taking the time to step back I have noticed that I only used
close ended questions. This means that the students could only
give me yes/no or one correct answer instead of giving them the
opportunity to explore the topic further. When I did use open ended
questions it was more towards the end of the lesson asking the
students what they had learnt from the text or what the moral of the
text was.

What balances was there

between the various
questions types?

Looking back there was no balance. If my number of questions for

each side was on a set of scales it would look like an elephant
against a cat. I know that this is wrong and with further planning I
could improve the balance of my questions in a class lesson.

Consider both why and

when you made use of the
different question types?

I used closed ended questions it was to get simple answers from

the year ones. This was so I knew that they had understood what I
had read to them and what I had asked them to do. With year ones
sometimes this is the only thing you do because it takes longer to
give detailed instructions. The open ended questions were used to
find out what they learnt from the story. These were only found at
the end of the story and at the end of the lesson. I could have used
these more throughout the story itself to engage the students
further and explained their understanding of the ideas and morals.
Distributing and Directing Questions

Did you recognise any

pattern in the distribution of
your questions amongst the
students? Consider
reasons for this pattern?

I noticed that I would only direct my questions at the students

towards the back. At the time it just seemed like a natural thing to
do but now stepping back to reflect on my lesson that, this was
because these students didnt have their hand up when asking for
responses and they did not pay a lot of attention during the book.
I think I did this purely for the fact that I wanted them to
understand and participate the activity that I and planned for the
whole class.

How have you directed

questions to the group?

As I got the entire class to sit on the mat in front of me I was able
to look around the group of students giving each of them a little bit
of eye contact when asking the question. When I wanted a certain
person to answer the question I would use their name to get their
attention then ask them what I needed to be answered.

Have you used wait time?

I used wait time to see how many hands went up and who was
willing to respond. Its funny to see how many kids try not make
eye contact even at such a young age.

Did you make eye contact

with the group as you
directed your questions?

In every question I asked I would use eye contact. This way I

could tell which students were paying attention and which ones to
single out a question too.

Reactions to Students Responses

How do you deal with
correct responses? Do you
qualify any praise given?

When working with year ones I found that for every correct
response I would smile say that they were correct. Then even
though we are told not to or advised against it I repeat what that
student said so that the rest of the group is able to hear what was
said and what was correct.

How do you deal with

incorrect responses? How
do you deal with students
who stumble and grope for
an answer?

With incorrect responses I would tell them if they were close or not
quiet there and see if someone is able to expand that answer.
When students stumble and are unsure of their answer I would
encourage them to try and say something or lead them into the
correct area without giving them the answer. Something I did do
and dont think I should have was say can anyone help ______?
I found that this embarrassed some student s and wanted to take it
back right away.

What use do you make of

the students responses to
develop the teaching point?
Have you redirected any

When a student brought up a good point I could use that to see if

anyone in the class could extend or expand on the topic and if not
I could do it for them. This was the same when a student asked a
question that had been answered in the information, instructions

questions in order to add to

an initial response?

and activity presented to them. I would ask the group of students if

anybody could answer the question for me. This way I could see if
what I and said was at the correct level for these students or if I
needed to simplify what I do myself.

Are you the only evaluator

of the students answers?

No, even though this is group of year ones, these students still
evaluate and correct one anothers questions and answers. From
my experience this is not a common thing for this age group.

Overall Comments

Observation Sheet Management

Graduate Standards AITSL
Professional Practice:
1. Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
2. Planning for Effective Management

Was your lesson plan

effective for managing the
class?
e.g. How did the students
react to your lesson overall
and to your planned
activities?

In my lesson plan I should have created an extra activity or been

stricter on my timing so that the students finished around the same
time.
The activities that I did have planned (the story and the arts and
crafts behind it) had engaged that students from the start of the
activity and they were excited to do this said activity.
But as some students were more interested in the activity than
others they all completed the task at different times.

Did anything unexpected

happen?

I did not plan on students having to leave the class at different

times for them to compete an activity for their normal teacher. This
Did you provide a variety of was distracting for some students and did disrupt the class a
activities?
number of times.
Were you satisfied with
your timing, particularly for
the end of the lesson?

With the activity there were 4 parts.

1. Listening to the story and answering questions
2. Write down what you learnt from the story on the stomach
of the dog (art and craft)
Did you feel you were able
3. Colour in the dog (art and craft)
to change things if needed?
4. Cut out the sections of the dog and reassemble it to look
like a pug (art and craft)
These 4 parts of the activity should have given the children plenty
to do in the time frame of 40-60 minutes
I was not happy with the fact that each child did not work in the
allocated time frame and at different times. This did affect the rest

of the lesson layout.

Some students werent happy with the fact that they had to rush so
that we could get the end of the lesson in.

Were you aware of

classroom procedures and
school disciplinary policy?
How much did you know
about your students?

When it came to discipline I was very lucky. The students had had
the same teacher for 2 years so they treated her and whoever she
brought into the classroom with the most respect I have ever seen
from such young children. I did in fact though know the schools
policies just in case.

How did your mentor

teacher maintain a safe
learning environment?
What strategies did your
observe your mentor
teacher using to maintain
this?

By the end of the week I could name half of the class and tell you
at least one thing about each of the students.
As the kids respected her they did not act up at any point. But she
did make sure that her classroom was always clean and tidy, that
there were no trip hazards and everything was organised so that
students knew where things were.

Maintaining a Positive Attitude in the Classroom

How did you demonstrate to
the students that you valued
them, and enjoyed
learning?
e.g. Tone of voice, facial
expression, sense of
humour, introduction to
students and topic.
Which aspects of your
teaching style do you feel
helped you maintain class
attention?
e.g. Variety of activities,
class or group discussion,
pace of lesson, interest at
class level.

It was nice to see that the students in this year one class did have
a sense of humour and understand sarcasm.
When working with the kids throughout the week I got to know
what they liked, what they didnt like, what they found funny and
what they didnt. It was nice because you got to start a relationship
with the kids.
I found that I smiled and laughed a lot more than I do in my
everyday life. I also talked louder and with more confidence.

As the students did not have a seating plan it was good as they
got the responsibility of choosing where they sat and if they were
not working productively I could take that away. The fact that I felt
comfortable to sit down at a lower level helped because I got to
create a comfortable environment for the children to work in.
As there were a number of sections of the activity there was
always something for the student to do.
After the activity there were a number of children who were willing
to take part in discussion on the book but many became distracted
as it was next lunch.

Did the students know what

was expected of them?

Each student was well aware of what I expected them to do in the

activity. When it came to their behaviour I thought they knew that it
was expected of them to have the same behaviour as they would

for their normal teacher but apparently not.

Were you able to redirect

energies of attention
seeking students? Did the
students have enough to
do?

Fortunately in my lesson (both group and class) there were not

any attention seeking students. This helped my class run more
smoothly.
I should have made extra work for the students who do finish their
work quicker and to a high standard.

Dealing with Minor Misbehaviour

Were you aware of what
was happening in all parts
of the classroom? Did you
know what each student
was doing?

Walking around constantly throughout the lesson gave me the

opportunity to see and be aware of what was happening
immediately. I could stop what was happening (that wasnt meant
to be) before it got out of hand.

Did you take any action

when you observed poor
behaviour? Why? Why
not?

I did not observe extremely poor behaviour like throwing things,

name calling, calling out and violence in the classroom or in my
lessons.
When students were getting off task I would mention their name
and bring it to their attention but that was all that was necessary.
This way it stopped other students from following suit.

Did you use non-verbal

cues? e.g. Contact, pause,
gesture, movement toward
student/s concerned.

In my lesson this was not necessary but when the normal teacher
was taking the class I did find that I would walk around the class
and stand behind or near students who were off task or talking to
cue to them that they need to fix their behaviour.

Overall Comments

Schools as text looking at the whole school

Describe the school in terms of
its demographics, appearance
and resources (be general here
and do not name the school).

The school I did my primary school practical assessment at

was a public government school located in a middle class
area of Rockingham. This school is not completely new but
was built in 1996 so all classrooms are in a fantastic
condition.

This school was clean and tidy and could afford a number
of resources that were in good condition.
All the staff seemed happy to be there and all students had
a clean uniform each day.
What were the roles and
responsibilities of the teaching
staff you observed?

The teaching staff were all responsible of their class of 2028 students.
In this they were expected to write lesson plans, create
activities, collect resources and make sure they teach
everything required.
At lunch the teachers were expected to supervise their
class for 10 minutes eating time then required to be on duty
3-4 times a week.
Every 2 weeks all teachers need to attend a teacher and
staff meeting. This way they are aware of what is
happening in the school and can discuss any issues they
find necessary.

After discussion with your

mentor teacher describe how
policies and processes of
government, administration and
schools have an effect on the
work of the teacher?

After many discussions with my mentor teacher throughout

the week she believes that no polices of the government
and administration staff of the school affect her work in the
classroom.
In her 20 years of teaching she believes she has more
control over what happens in her lessons than she did 5
years ago.

What did you observe non-teaching

staff doing to support teaching and
learning in the school?

In the time that I was at the primary school I did not once
see the principle in the office or around the school.
The administration staff at the reception desk were
always very helpful in answering any questions that
members of the community had and helped use the
resources in the school a number of time.
Everyday 10 minutes after the bell had gone there was
always a cleaner tidying and organising the classroom.
They would vacuum, dust, mop and clean all surfaces
every afternoon. Without these members of staff I would
not imagine what the room would look like or how it
would run by the end of the week.

Students
You will have observed the
diverse nature of your classes.
How was this diversity
supported?

Diversity came in a number of forms in this particular year

1 classroom. Each student had a different family set up at
home, with some students getting more support and
attention from their parents than others.
As the teacher had had the same students for 2 years she
knew what the family life of most students was. Harvey
one child in the class was dropped of at school and picked
up by a child care centre, due to this his mother was not
able to attend the school each morning so the teacher had
her number and regularly messaged or called to let her
know what was happening in the classroom.
In both reading and comprehension, to cater for the
different levels in each, the teacher had broken the
children off into 4 groups. This way they each ad the level
that they could work towards comfortably without each
student failing in that part of the class.
For spelling each child was tested at the start of the year
on the oxford word list. Each student started off with the
same list of words but as some progressed through the list
and moved onto harder more complexed words others did
not. To allow for this each student had their own words
and were individually tested. This meant that they had
their own goals and were not rushed.

Function of Schools
Did you observe the connection
of your schools with the broader
community? How did this
happen?

I did not observe a large connection between the school

and the broader community around it.
This particular school had some association with the naval
base located off the coast of Rockingham beach. With this
they had named their 4 factions after 4 submarines used in
Western Australia and the naval base had provided them
with 4 banners with each submarines crest printed on it for
display in the school.
In the time I was there I never heard of any community
events or P&C meetings. This did worry me a bit about how
little involvement there was of the community in the school.
But this did not surprise me either. In the same area as this
school there are 3 other primary schools in walking
distance and 2 high schools.

What do you think the function

of school is?

This schools main function is to provide an education to a

number of students in the Rockingham area. These
teachers are passionate about what they do and nothing
compromises their work on a day to day bases.
In some aspects this school helps students create a sense
of community and teaches them how to be an active
member in society but it also does not assist in their
communication to older peers as the school is very
segregated on what year groups associate with one
another due to separate assemblies for upper and lower
schools, no school sport and no buddy program.