Yes, however, one of or worksheets did have some

Do you feel your

grammar issues and my partner and I should have
questions were clearly gone through it to ensure that all the punctuation was
structured and readily correct.
understood by the
students?

Did you use a variety

of question types?

What balances was

there between the
various questions
types?

Consider both why

and when you made
use of the different
question types?

I used both open and closed questions. I asked the

students why they were doing a particular thing and
why a lot.

Some of my questions were focussed on the

individual whereas others were focussed on asking
the class as a whole.

To check for understanding I used closed questions

but when discussing concepts, I would use open
ended questions and ask students to elaborate on
what they think and know.

Observation Sheet Questioning

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

1. Know students and how they

2. Plan and implement effective

Question Type

Distributing and Directing Questions

Did you recognise any
pattern in the
distribution of your
questions amongst
the students?
Consider reasons for
this pattern?

How have you

directed questions to
the group?

Not particularly. I tried to ensure that each student

had an opportunity to contribute to discussions,
particularly the quiet students who I would typically
ask closed questions because they tended to be quite
shy.

I encouraged students to raise their hands before

saying anything and would then select students at
random. I felt this was the best way to give every
student an opportunity to participate.

Yes. I found wait time quite effective

Have you used wait
time?

I was constantly scanning the classroom as I asked

Did you make eye
questions unless I wanted an answer from a
contact with the group particular student.
as you directed your
questions?

Reactions to Students Responses

How do you deal with
correct responses? Do
you qualify any praise
given?
How do you deal with
incorrect responses?
How do you deal with
students who stumble
and grope for an
answer?

I praised students for correct responses and

acknowledged the work they had done and their
focus on tasks. I also used the I messages to
encourage students and let them know that their
input is valued.
I acknowledged the students response and
enthusiasm before telling them that that was not the
answer I was looking for. Students that stumbled
were prompted and other students were encouraged
to help with responses.

I would ask a closed questions of one student and

What use do you
then ask another student to elaborate on that
make of the students answer.
responses to develop
the teaching point?
Have you redirected
any questions in order
to add to an initial
response?

Are you the only

evaluator of the
students answers?

Overall Comments

Myself and another practicum student would

evaluate the answers provided by the class.

Observation Sheet Management

(Please complete this form for both primary and secondary professional
experiences and place in your e portfolio)
Graduate Standards AITSL
Professional Practice:
1. Create and
maintain
supportive
environments
2. Planning for Effective Management
Was your lesson plan
effective for
managing the class?

and

safe

learning

Yes. Students remained focused throughout the

lesson for the most part. Students responded
enthusiastically to the lessons and activities.

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?

Students did complete some worksheets much faster

than expected and we were not prepared with
extension activities for our whole class lesson.
The activities for my small group lesson were very
varied and ranged from a writing exercise to a
drawing activity.

Were you satisfied

with your timing,
particularly for the
end of the lesson?

No, it was very difficult to conclude our lesson as the

class was at different stages of comprehension in
regards to the worksheets for our maths lesson.

Did you feel you were

able to change things
if needed?

I feel we were able to adapt well as we improvised

some extension activities for early finishers before
allowing them to move on to other tasks.

Were you aware of

classroom procedures
and school
disciplinary policy?
How much did you
know about your
students?
How did your mentor
teacher maintain a
safe learning
environment?

I had a rough understanding of procedures and the

disciplinary procedures but I could have looked
further into it. There was a board in the staff room
about students with medical conditions and allergies
and how to deal with those. In the duty bags there
was also information on dangerous parents and how
to deal with those situations when/if they arose.
My mentor encouraged every student to have a turn
and ensured that others were not excluded. There
was lots of discussion around excursion notes and
ensuring that students understood the importance of
them.

What strategies did

your observe your
mentor teacher using
to maintain this?
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?

Praise was given for correct answers and work done

in an efficient manner and to a high standard.
I smiled and used a light tone of voice while using an
open posture and stance to show the students I was
open to hearing what they had to say.
On the last day, I baked cupcakes for the whole class
and thanked each one of them for allowing us to
come in and work with them as I handed them out.

I feel as though class discussion was a good way to

maintain class focus on the topic. Using a range of
activities in my small group lesson also helped to
keep the students working productively.

e.g. Variety of
activities, class or
group discussion, pace
of lesson, interest at
class level.
At the beginning of my lessons, I ran through what
Did the students know was going to be taught and what I wanted the
what was expected of students to produce.
them?

Were you able to

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

To an extent, yes. Calling on unprepared/distracted

students helped to draw them back in and show
them that I saw that they were not paying attention.
For the most part, the students were kept busy and
worked productively, however, for our whole class
lesson we could have prepared more work for the
class.

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 nonverbal cues? e.g.

Contact, pause,
gesture, movement
toward student/s
concerned.

Overall Comments

I was not as aware as I could have been on the

behaviours in the class as I would have liked. At one
point there were two students misbehaving without
me realising for some time.

I asked those students who were misbehaving what

they were doing and after hearing that they had to
say, I asked them if it was what they should be doing.
This typically made them consider their behaviour
and its effect on the rest of the class and they
participated well for the rest of the session.

I did occasionally tap a student on the shoulder or

use proximity as a means of showing them that they
were being disruptive. I also made use of eye contact
and gave a student the look at one point which
stopped them and I often used the pause if the class
was starting to act up.
I also found clapping was a good way to get the
attention of the class.

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 was at was very middle class with

a very diverse range of students.
It was really well funded ad the students were
very prepared and organised, coming to school
with all the necessary equipment.

What were the roles and

responsibilities of the
teaching staff you
observed?

To educate students and encourage them to

achieve their best in all activities.
To run extra-curricular activities and encourage
students to participate.
Teachers had to act as councillors and were
seen as more parental figure to the younger
students.

After discussion with your

mentor teacher describe
how policies and
processes of government,

administration and
schools have an affect on
the work of the teacher?

What did you observe non-teaching

staff doing to support teaching and
learning in the school?

I didnt really see many support

teachers in the school and when I did
see them, they mostly observed the
class and help with behaviour
management.

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

Students were all treated equally and

encouraged to do their absolute best. No
student was singled out in terms of race or
religion.

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

I was fortunate enough to get to see two

incursions, one of which was run by the water
corporation, the other was supported by the
local library in which they had an author come
out to the school to discuss the importance of
reading to the students.

What do you think the

function of school is?

To educate students and encourage them to do

their best in all they do.
To prepare students for life outside of school as
well as preparing them for high school.
To socialise students and encourage them to
work as a member of a team.