Observation Sheet Primary

Graduate Standards AITSL

Professional Knowledge: 1. Know students and how they learn.
Professional Practice: 2. Plan and implement effective teaching and learning.

Question Type

Do you feel your questions
were clearly structured and
readily understood by the
students?
Not always. I found that I had the ability to restructure my question quickly, if
my initial attempt didnt yield the desired response. My classroom lesson had
a heavy question/answer component, which finished with a short assessment
sheet of four questions. While I was pleased with the results, not all came
back 100% correct. This was disappointing, and my thoughts immediately
turned to whether Id structured/asked the question appropriately or
whether Id been ineffective in content delivery. My mentor teacher re-
assured me that you cant expect 100% all the time.


Did you use a variety of
question types?
Types:
Yes/No
Recall
Relate (to yesterdays class or your personal experience)
We instead of you e.g. Can we see whats happening here?
Multiple choice
True/False
Directional questioning attempting to lead the students to the
answer, that is, giving them some of useful information in the hope
they work the rest our for themselves.


What balances were there
between the various question
types?
This was completely determined by my assumption that the students required
a variety of delivery methods to keep them engaged. In my class lesson
(science), I used short videos, demonstrations (students involved), white
board step-by-step process drawings (getting the students to label/outline
each step) and a short assessment (circle the right answer). This varied nature
of information delivery was my attempt to keep the students engaged and
they were ultimately enthusiastic in answering any question I asked.


Consider both why and when
you made use of the different
question types?
I used different question types to encourage students to develop different
thinking strategies. Problem solving is a valuable life skill where the answers
arent always straight forward.

For example, my topic for the class lesson was cloud formation, and how big
clouds can generate dangerous types of weather. My first question revolved
around whether students had ever looked up at the sky and were interested
by what they saw. My second was to ask the same thing, only to garner how
many students were bored by what they saw. I was immediately trying to
relate the topic to their lives. I stated that the lesson was my attempt to
change the mind of the bored students.

I used true/false questions for the end of the lesson, as the assessment
component. I felt that introducing a totally new and foreign concept, may
have been a lot to take in, so instead of asking for bulky answers, I tried to
simplify. I also pre-planned to switch up the question types to cater for the
assumption that students required a variety of delivery methods to keep
them sustained.


Did you recognise any pattern
in the distribution of your
questions amongst the
students? Consider reasons
for this pattern.
I tried to vary my pattern of questioning for reasons stated earlier. I also left
the most simplified question types for the end of the lesson, as I thought the
students would be most attentive at the start. Id assume they would fatigue
after already absorbing a lot of new information.

How have you directed
questions to the group?
Questions were directed mostly verbally, always trying to maintain eye
contact. I used facial and body expressions that demonstrated my enthusiasm
for what Im teaching, conscious of portraying disinterest or boredom.

Have you used wait time? Inadvertently yes, I wanted to make sure I was absorbing student responses
accurately. If this meant the students had time to absorb each others
responses (when they were required to answer) then great. I was quite
careful not to move too quickly through my lessons, as I wanted to make sure
Id covered everything I planned. I would use a brief pause after each section.

Did you make eye contact
with the group as you
directed your questions?
Yes, I felt it was the only way to portray myself as genuinely interested. It
could be argued that eye contact is a type of behavioural control method too.
Maintaining eye contact shows respect and honesty as opposed to darting
eyes for example.

Reaction to Student Responses

How do you deal with correct
responses? Do you qualify
any praise given?
I tried to maintain a balance. I felt if I praised too highly, any incorrect
responses would have been seen to be too negative in comparison. Calmness
was my main aim, only showing exaggerated enthusiasm for what I was
delivering.

How do you deal with
incorrect responses? How do
you deal with students who
stumble and grope for an
answer?
Like I stated above, I tried to be calm and balanced in my dealings with
student response. I could be a little more patient with one student who
stumbled and groped for an answer. I tried to finish a response for them and
even though I correctly guessed what they were trying to say, it might have
been best to let them finish.

Do you keep eye contact with
the students until they have
completed an answer? Do
you cut students off and go
onto the next point before
they have finished
responding?
Yes, always keep eye contact. No, I didnt move on without at least clarifying
why (running out of time, giving them the option to finish another time, tried
to finish off the same point). I felt I could never move onto the next point too
quickly, wanting to make sure I had absorbed student responses accurately.

What use do you make of the
students responses to
develop the teaching point?
Have you redirected any
questions in order to add an
initial response?
This is tricky, and depends on how closely Im following my lesson plan. If
student responses dont match my expectations, then this can accelerate or
slow the progress of the lesson. However, I tried to stay on course, as I quickly
learnt the massive gap in learning abilities between the students in my class.
As far as redirection goes, I was conscious not to ask the same students for
answers, even though they had their hands up most of the time. This was a
great strength of my mentor teacher.


Are you the only evaluator of
the students answers?
No. The students would be evaluating verbal answers to questions too. A
teacher might share an answer at lunchtime with a fellow teacher in their
department, which could also be viewed as evaluating. Parents may look at
assessed work and evaluate too.

Management
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?

Did anything unexpected
happen?



Did you provide a variety of
activities?

Were you satisfied with your
timing, particularly for the
end of the lesson?





Did you feel you were able to
change things if needed?


Yes, the wide range of delivery methods used (vocal, video, whiteboard,
demonstrations, assessment) engaged the students well.


Very well. My mentor teacher said to me after the lesson, that it was the best
student class lesson hed seen. By my observations, the students showed
great enthusiasm and desire to participate.


In my group lesson, one student asked to go to the toilet, immediately
followed by another who wanted to get a drink. It was really unexpected, and
I was left with a half group, not knowing for sure whether to go on or wait for
two to get back.

At every opportunity.


Yes, for both the group and class lessons. Observations of my mentor teacher
demonstrated how well he was prepared. It wasnt a problem to finish
anything early, because he had plenty to go on with (e.g. dot painting,
reading, word bank). It was only a lesson that went long that posed a
problem, as it set everything else back in the day, and the week I guess. This is
where I learnt to be on the safe side in developing timing structures for lesson
plans.

This depended on my knowledge of content. I chose a class lesson in a field of
choice, so it was easier to move around within the lesson plan. I could see
how problems could arise if my content knowledge was limited.

Was your organisation of
materials and resources
efficient and effective?

E.g. Did you and the students
have everything you needed?
Effectiveness was great, I was surprised by the high level of enthusiasm the
students showed. There was one demonstration of a glass jar, two-thirds filled
with water, where I would squeeze detergent into it, shake it circularly, and a
tornado like vortex would form inside. There wasnt enough time or
equipment to give every student a go at this and that was poor preparation
on my part.

Did you plan how and when
you would distribute and
collect materials?


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

Yes, the assessment forms were given out just before the students had to
complete them, not before. I asked the students to bring the completed
assessment sheets back to me to be marked. All materials were setup up prior
to the start of the class.

Having worked full time in local government in recent years, I was well aware
of how important a safe working environment was. I had one demonstration
that involved pouring boiling water into a glass jar, and although I was
criticised by my mentor teacher for not letting a student do that, I felt I did
the right thing in not involving them. The water was boiling hot.

A safe learning environment can also be interpreted as a place where respect,
listening and turn taking take place, adhering to class values. I felt I was
relatively successful in promoting this type of learning environment.

I knew the students had the ability to be over-excited and talk even when
silence was required. I observed how my mentor teacher disciplined this,
though it wasnt something I needed to deal with in my class or group lesson.

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.

Did the students know what
was expected of them?


Were you able to redirect
energies of attention seeking
students? Did the students
have enough to do?
Through eye contact, facial/body expressions and general enthusiasm, I felt I
conveyed appreciation for the students and their contributions. I really tried
to relate my lessons to their everyday lives or something their mentor teacher
had previously taught, as a way of demonstrating that Id been paying close
attention during the early part of the week.




Variety of activities was one of my biggest strengths during the class lesson.
Also relating it back to their everyday lives. I also felt I never dwelt on
anything too long. These three factors maintained interest at class level.






Yes. The aims of the lesson were stated clearly at the start of the lesson, and
the main learning points were established and recalled repetitively, before
being assessed. I was pleased with the results.

I didnt really encounter attention seeking students. Only students who were
eager to answer all questions, however they were sometimes ignored to
maintain a balance in participation. Those students were also told that we
need to involve everyone.



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?

Did you take any action when
you observed poor
behaviour? Why? Why not?


Did you use non-verbal cues?
E.g. Contact, pause, gesture,
movement toward student/s
concerned.
For both my group and class lesson, all students were quite close and central
to me, the whiteboard/screen and the various demonstrations. It was only
when students went back to their desk for assessment, were they spread far
enough that it was harder to keep an eye on them, however I was satisfied
that they were on task.

Only to keep excitement/noise levels down. This was during the passing
around of a tornado in a jar demonstration. I felt the students needed to calm
down a little bit so I told them that spinning the jar so close to others was
unsafe, and they could have a go later.

Yes, moving towards the students fussing over the jar. Asking for quiet and
politely explaining why we had to move on.


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)
I spent time in both a standard classroom and IEC class. In the standard class,
when parents dropped their children off, they looked middle aged (no teen or
young parents). When they would speak and say goodbye to their children, I
never noticed anything but an Australian accent/appearance. I observed a
mid SES.

In the IEC class, students were Chinese, Malaysian, Philipine and Vietnamese.
English did not come easy to everyone. I never met the parents.

Both classrooms I spent time in had adequate technology, resource materials
for activities and Education Assistant (EA) teachers. Contrary to my own
primary school experience, I never knew students got so much one on one
attention like these students did. I viewed this as an asset to the school.

What were the roles and
responsibilities of the
teaching staff you observed?










What did you observe non-
teaching staff doing to
support teaching and learning
in the school?
To be prepared
Facilitator of information
Behaviour control
To be resourced
Effective communicator (to other teachers, to students and parents)
Investigator
Observer
Content knowledge
Punctual/effective time manager
Safety (hats for phys ed, where to walk/not run, general advisor)
To be approachable


A number of Education Assistants would pull students out of class individually,
and help them with subjects like reading, writing or maths.

Students

You will have observed the
diverse nature of your
classes. How was this
diversity supported?
Diversity was supported by visit frequencies of EA teachers. During any
question/answer times, not one student was favoured. Respect for others
was a core value adhered and referred back to by the mentor teacher. Any
smaller group activity was a chance to put students together with others of
similar ability.

Also, the mentor teacher was constantly aware (and spoke) of the diverse
nature of the class and he factored this into his planning and delivery.

Function of Schools

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




What do you think the
function of school is?
News time was a chance for students to tell of their adventures/interests
outside of school. A toy kangaroo was given to a student each week, which
was their chance to spend a weekend with it and report back on any
adventures. The school itself allowing pre-service teachers into it was another
good initiative. The school participated in National Science Week and a veggie
garden was used to grow potatoes.


To develop each individual into the best version of themselves. Whether it is
academically or socially. Fun and enjoyment is promoted along the way.