OBSERVATION TASK Focus: The Teacher

Conditions for learning

Task: As you observe this lesson, consider the following questions:

What is there about the classroom, the activities, the teacher and the students that helps create
conditions for effective learning? What aspects of the lesson might hinder learning?
There may be questions that you yourself would like to ask the teacher about the various
decisions taken before and during the lesson. Make a note of these for post-lesson discussion.

Positive factors Negative factors

The classroom The classroom
Good light Small place for 35 students
Data projector was working Not enough chairs
Speakers with a good volume The class was too early
Whiteboard was clean

The activities The activities

They went from the easier to the Those activities which required
hardest movement were harsh to
They were meaningful manage due to two factors;
They all had context firstly the lack of space, and
secondly they took time.

The teacher The teacher

She knew all her students names
Clear explanation
Gabe opportunities to all the
students to participate
Use of CCQs
The students
They like to participate.
They work in each activity.
Good level of English
Problems on making students
quite
The students
Get distracted easily.
Some of they arrive late, so
they interrupt the class.

Note down what you would like to steal from your mentor to incorporate into your
own teaching. This could include personal qualities, teaching skills and techniques,
activities, the way the teacher creates a good classroom atmosphere, etc

I would like to incorporate the atmosphere that the teacher creates for learning a
language. She is concerned of her students, especially when someone is missing.
As well, she inspires confidence and students trust her. Moreover, I would like
include some of the strategies that she uses for making the students participate
during the class.
OBSERVATION TASK Focus: The Teacher

Giving instructions

Task: Observe the instructions the teacher gives during the lesson and complete the table. For
each skill decide how successfully it was achieved, and write your questions for post-lesson
consultation in the right-hand column of the table.

Clear?
Instruction-giving skills Not very clear? Discussion points
Unclear?

Signalling start of activity Not very clear How can we make Ss be quite
(creating a silence) without asking them directly?
Use of simple language Clear
Use of short sentences Clear
Logic and clarity Clear
Use of target language Clear
Voice quality Clear
Eye-contact Clear
Mime, gesture, body language Clear
Repeating instruction in a Clear
different way
Not stating the obvious Clear
Use of visual aids Not very clear Do you think that visual aids
are useful for your students of
this section?
Demonstration rather than Clear
explanation
Checking understanding Clear
Signalling end of activity Clear Did you plan how to end a
lesson?

Evaluate the instruction-giving that you observed.

Please use the empty space on the previous page to answer the following questions:

In your opinion, which the elements made it successful?

From my point of view, what made the giving-instructions process successful is logic and
clarity, checking understanding and the use of simple language. Those elements are important
to give instruction following a sequence and made it clear in order that students could
understand easily what they have to do.
OBSERVATION TASK Focus: The Teacher

which elements made it less successful?

All the previous elements are relevant in the process of giving-instructions. However, in
the lesson that I observed what made it less successful was signaling start of activity. One of the
problems to start giving-instructions was to have the attention of all the students.

What are the most important factors for you personally when giving instructions?

Personally, the most important factor when you are giving-instructions are the use of
simple language, body language, repeating instructions in a different way, and the use of visual
aids. I think that all those factors helps you to deliver the task easily to the students without
misunderstanding.

What will you incorporate into your own teaching after doing this observation task?

After doing this observation task, I will incorporate into my own teaching, how the
teacher meets the needs of her students by using different technologies, also the confidence
that she inspired to the students. In the aspect of giving-instructions, I will incorporate the
elements that she used in the lesson, such as the used of CCQs, to check if the students
understand the instructions.

Adapted from Tanner, R. and Green,C. 1998. Task for Teaching Education, Longman
OBSERVATION TASK Focus: The Teacher

The use of the mother tongue

A considerable amount of class time is spent organizing and preparing learners for language
activities. The teacher must give instructions and explanations, check understanding and so on.
In these instances you can tell whether English is the established mode of communication within
a particular classroom.
Where is the use of the mother tongue justified, do you think?

Task: Use the chart to help you record data about the use of the mother tongue. Ask your
mentor his or her views on the issue.

Teachers mother tongue utterances Students utterances in the mother

The teacher did not use Spanish during
the whole class. In addition, when
students asked her for a definition or
translation of any word or expression,
she used a simpler English to explain, or
she asked another classmate to explain,
in English, what the expression means.
tongue
They explain the instructions to other
classmates in Spanish.
When they ask for vocabulary translation
how can you say x?
No entiendo Qu debemos hacer?
Qu significa X palabra?

Draw up guidelines for yourself about the use of the mother tongue in the language
classroom.

I noticed that students use their L1 many time during the lesson. Furthermore, I
should point out that the teacher must create a good environment, in that way all the
students will feel welcome, and not expose and embarrassed to use English in front
of the class.
OBSERVATION TASK Focus: The Teacher

Blackboard work

The blackboard is the teachers most traditional resource. Organised blackboard work is a basic
skill which helps students learn and organise their own work.
Task: At two points during the lesson copy the boards contents in the tables below:

The teacher did not use the whiteboard in the class. However, the teacher used the
data projector to use a PPT.

Not used

What did the teacher use the board for?

During the class the teacher did not use the board, consequently she used the data
projector with a PPT to teach the vocabulary with images and videos.

Did he or she use it effectively?

Although the blackboard is the most traditional resource, it is not necessary to use it in
all the lesson. Therefore, it was effective due to the reason that she incorporated technology to
engage the students with the class.

How did he or she organizes her work ?

On the board there was not work; however she organized her work using a PPT, in
which each slide was clear and well distributed the information.

What were the students doing while the teacher was writing on the board?

The moments when the teacher used the PPT, the students were paying attention and
taking notes. Additionally, I could infer that they were very motivated because they were
participating.
OBSERVATION TASK Focus: The Teacher

What have you learnt from this observation?

From this observation I have learnt that is not necessary to used the blackboard,
because there are others materials. such as PPT, videos, webpages, etc. That are
more interesting for students that the board. Nevertheless, the blackboard is useful
at the moment of point out something that is not in the PPT; for example, the
phonetic transcription or a grammatical structure.

Source: Wajnryb, R. 1992. Classroom Observation. CUP