Course: Practicum 1a

Code: EPC 1403

Observation Task 5: Different

learning styles and differentiation

Prepared by: Hend Saeed Alyammahi

ID: H00357629
Prepared to: Ms. Hamada Al-awadi
Date of submission: Thursday June 21, 2018
 Observation Task 5: Different learning styles and
differentiation
Focus: On a lower-level learner
Objective: For student teachers to gain an initial understanding of how learners are different.
Procedure:
1. For this observation, you will begin by observing the class for 1 hour.
• What do you notice? Does the class have any strengths or weaknesses?
• Are there learners who finish activities quickly? What do they do when
they have finished?
• Are there learners who do not finish a task(s)? How does the teacher
deal with them?
• Are there any learners with special needs? How does the teacher meet
their needs?
• How does the teacher manage learners with different levels/abilities?
2. When you have made your notes, ask the teacher to help you choose a lower-
level learner in the class.
3. Observe the learners for the rest of the day and make notes on a schedule (see
below).
4. After the observation answer:
• How many different activities did the learner do?
• Every day level two students work on two different activities of vocabulary. They
vary from finding the definitions of the new words, puzzles, matching the words
to finally put the words in the correct sentence.
• How did s/he interact with the other learners throughout the day?
• The learner that I observed “Maryam” was involved in all of the activates either
she worked individually or with a partner.
• What was the longest period of time the learner spent focusing on one
activity?
• Maryam needed more time than the other students to complete some of the
tasks. So, if the other students take 10 minutes to find the definition for five
words. She would need 10 more minutes.
• What did the learner do during the break times?
• The break time for level two start right after my MST Class. Most of the students
go down stairs to the canteen to have their lunch. Few of them (also Maryam)
stay in the classroom and play with their phones or shat with each other.
• What did the learner’s attention span / interest during activities seem
like?
 • Maryam gets very excited when there is a game that involves two teams or
competition between the individuals. She always keeps her attention with the
teacher to hear the questions and she tries her best to solve them.
• What did the learner seem to like doing the most / least during the day?
• I noticed that Maryam likes Kahoot game. Where the teacher displays the
questions on the board and the students have to answer them individually on
their phones or laptops. Most of Kahoot questions are filling in the blank.

Here is an example of notes from observation of lower-level child:

Time Activity (what is the Notes (what happens during the activity?)
learner doing?)
9.30 Teacher gives out a Alya is working on the activity but is asking her
reading activity to do in friend for the answers. She is finding it difficult…..
groups.
9.50 Teacher plays a game Alya is joining in with her friends and is playing the
with the whole class. game.
Observation Task 5: Record sheet- A day in the life of a lower level learner
Follow a learner for a day and write down the activities and movements in the table
below.
Name: Maryam Adnan Age: 19 years old Level: 2 of foundation

Date of observation: June 10, 2018 to June 12, 2018

Time Activity / Notes / comments

Movement
10 mins Crossword Maryam is trying to solve the crossword but she is
struggling with some words. So, she copied some of the
answer from her friend Salam by the end of the time.

20 mins Finding the Maryam seems good in this game. She didn’t ask for help
words in the grid and she finished before time.
10 mins unscrambling Maryam took out her vocab list and started to figure out
words the words. She could do only 4 out of 20. The time is up
and she is now waiting for the answers from the teacher.

10 mins Finding the Maryam took out her cellphone and started to find the
definition in meaning of the words in Arabic. She didn’t ask for help
Arabic from her friend and she almost done on time.
12 mins Matching the Maryam did only six out of twenty then she quit and start
words to the to play with her phone. Then she copied the answer from
definition the board.

Reflection
The following question may guide your response:
 What have you noticed about learners from this observation?
 What did you notice that relates to the theories we have been discussing?
 What interested or surprised you?
 Differentiation (law achievers)

In general, most of level two students of foundation have a law level of understanding
and using the English language. I noticed that many of them struggle with pronunciation,
reading, part of speech and forming accurate sentences. However, some of them are very
good in memorizing and learning the new vocabulary. The reason for this, is that the
teacher provides them with many opportunities to practice the new words. So, they spend
a whole week learning a set of words, they start by finding the definitions, meaning in
Arabic, identifying the part of speech and then using them in sentences.

Since all the students of this group are at the same level of learning. The teacher
doesn’t use the strategy of differentiation a lot because, as we know we only provide
different activities for different abilities or learning levels. Nevertheless, she always gets
extra worksheets for some of the students who finish early. In my opinion, I think it is
good to have students at the same level in one class. This helps the teacher and the
students at the same time. The teacher doesn’t have to create variety of activities for the
students to meet their needs because, their needs is almost the same. Another point is that
all the students are going to grow and learn in the same speed. Here where the chance of
been disturbed by students who finish very quickly will minimize.

Regardless of all the effort that my MST apply with this group they are not trying
their best most of the time. They are always seeming tired and board and they don’t want
to do the work. However, they are very compatible and they like to play games between
two teams. Sometimes it gets very challenging and everybody wants to win but, the
teacher tries to control the situation. Additionally, I really liked their team spirit
whenever they have a group work they help and support each other. Finally, I think with
some effort form the students and with my MST guidance, their English will develop
very fast and they will be able to move to the next level and enter the majors they like.