A teaching practice observation textbook.

Mtra. Martha Lorena Obermeier Pérez

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas

México, 2013

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ISBN 978-607-00-7435-6

Edición: Martha Lorena Obermeier Pérez.

Prohibida la reproducción total o parcial de esta obra en cualquier

forma electrónica o mecánica, incluso fotocopia o sistema para

recuperar información sin permiso escrito del editor.

Impreso y hecho en México.

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Contenido

Introduction to observation ........................................................................................................... 4

Unit I The nature of class observation ............................................................................................ 5

1.1 Purposes and uses of observation ............................................................................................ 5

1.2 Observation methods ............................................................................................................. 11

1.3 Roles and ethics in observation .............................................................................................. 14

Unit II Classroom observation instruments ................................................................................... 19

2.1 Observation instruments to measure the use of class elements, skills, grammar, and vocabulary

in a language class ....................................................................................................................... 19

2.2 Observation of language classes (use of video, among peers, teachers) .................................. 23

Unit III Registry of the class observation. ...................................................................................... 26

3.1 Elements of a classroom ......................................................................................................... 26

3.2 Group dynamics: individual work, working in pairs, time distribution, teacher’s and student’s

role .............................................................................................................................................. 33

3.3 Observation of learning, evidence of learning, students’ progress, goal achievement ............. 39

Unit IV Analyzing the class observation ........................................................................................ 42

4.1 Interview and feedback to the teacher ................................................................................... 42

4.2 Evaluating the observations ................................................................................................... 47

4.3 Designing a lesson plan to improve the teaching practice ....................................................... 52

Annex .......................................................................................................................................... 64

References ................................................................................................................................... 76

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Introduction to observation Observation is commonly considered as sitting in a classroom and observe what a

teacher is doing. In fact, classroom observation goes beyond the time spent in the

classroom. Observation needs time to be prepared and decide what aspects are

going to be observed. It also takes time after the class observation to analyze,

discuss and reflect on the whole experience.

Observation can be useful in several situations, as Wajnryb (1992) mentions

observation may be initiated either by the teachers themselves or by the school, as

part of a school-based support programme for teaching staff, or beginning teachers

or newly-employed teachers engaged in an induction period.

In an observation there are several factors that influence the results. First of all,

having an observer may alter the class dynamics in the beginning. An observer

may notice that students and the teacher do not behave in the same way when

observed in several classes. The physical environment conditions may have

influence in the way the students or the teacher behave. Simple facts like weather,

sitting arrangements, light, classroom elements may influence the students’ and

the teacher’s behavior.

This text book was designed for the academic unit Teaching practice observation.

It includes reading materials and activities to develop the observation skills. These

observation skills are one of the competences a language teacher should have.

Observation is used for training, improving and proposing new techniques for the

teaching practice.

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Unit I The nature of class observation

1.1 Purposes and uses of observation Observing a teacher offers a different perspective of what teaching practice

is. When teachers are in front of a class, their main concern is following a lesson

plan to achieve the objectives of the class. Observation provides the opportunity to

watch from a different point of view and have another idea of what is going on in a

classroom. Observation also helps the observer to better understand what is

teaching and to refine the ability to observe, analyze and interpret.

Observation is commonly considered as a menacing practice for a teacher’s

job. Some teacher may perceive observation as a danger to their jobs. They may

feel that if somebody asks permission to observe their classes, is the result of

students’ complains. Observation is a tool for improving the teaching practice,

being observed is not a prediction of somebody losing his job. Observation is a tool

to find out what is not working well and finding solutions to solve it. In fact, the

purposes and uses of observation are others:

1. Trainees being observed as an initial part of their training process.

2. Teachers observing trainees to improve their teaching practice.

3. Teacher developers as part of a support system.

4. Trainee trainers who observe teachers and trainee teachers.

The uses of observation can be to give some guidance or structure to the

process of observation. The main objective in this use is to enhance teacher’s

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professional growth and development. Another use of observation is for

assessment. This is how it is used in pre-service teacher training courses of during

probation periods or for employment-related matters. A teacher being observed

has a trainer’s opinion to improve his teaching practice. In some educational

institutions, teachers have to be observed in order to be employed.

Observing what happens in the classroom can be made from different

theoretical frameworks and with different purposes. A task as complex as the

teacher's professional activity in the classroom, affected by a multitude of factors

and elements of a varied nature, leads to partial and limited analysis and

impossible to cover all the systems involved (institutional, educational system,

social system). However, it is the classroom where curricular approaches is put

into action, offers a well-defined understandable space to analyze teaching

practice.

There are many things going on in a language class, but not everything can

be observed at the same time. It is necessary to previously decide what is going to

be observed. This is called an observation task, once you have decided on what

you are going to observe, you can design an observation sheet which will help you

register the information. In the next units, we are going to read about aspects that

can be observed and some examples of observation sheets are going to be

provided. These observation sheets can be modified according to what the

observation task is. According to Wajnryb (1992), the observation tasks are

designed to give teachers:

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A ‘way in’ to discovering the classroom from a perspective other than that of

the person actually teaching;

A way of observing that provides both focus and clarity;

A means of collecting classroom-based data and information about

teaching;

A meta-language: a language to talk about classrooms and the various

processes related to teaching and learning;

A raised awareness of classroom realities and a reservoir of information and

experience that will serve them in discussing and reflecting on the

classroom;

A greater understanding of teaching and learning to enable their own

classroom decision-making to be more informed and systematic;

Increased skill in interpreting and understanding data;

An understanding of the relationship between theory and practice and a

means of forging personally meaningful links between theoretical knowledge

about learning and experience of the classroom. Sometimes this involves

the top-down application of theory to the classroom; more often perhaps, it

is the bottom-up recognition of theory emanating from practice

(Lindstromberg 1990);

A means towards building relationships with colleagues based on mutual

respect and support;

A respect for the classroom as the laboratory of language learning; a

respect for data-driven, principled approaches to teaching; a healthy

skepticism about unsupported claims.

Purposes and observing strategies

The purpose of the observation may be an exploration of activities,

techniques and materials used by a teacher in order to do further analysis of their

teaching and make alternative strategies for improvement.

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The observation of the state of education in its natural state allows the study

in a contextualized way and to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the

behavior as occurred in the classroom context. The interpretation and evaluation of

the instructional process can be performed on the following dimensions:

a) Supports, aids and adjustment of activities and tasks proposed to students along

the sequence of teaching and learning. In this dimension, several aspects were

analyzed, namely:

i. If the teacher takes into account the characteristics of the students to get

involved and participate in the activities and tasks: skills, learning resources, prior

knowledge, motivations and interests, etc.

ii. The way the teacher explains a concept or procedure and the way he/she

responds to a question or corrects an error. The decisions he/she makes about

what activities and tasks to perform, what kind, in what order, at what length and

pace, with what alternation.

iii. The more open or more closed of the tasks which is proposed to students in

terms of the products that are to be achieved and the ways to do so, the degree of

variation in the types of activities and tasks proposed.

iv. The relative level of difficulty of the task, the greater or lesser possibility of

choice in its implementation by students, how to combine types of activities and

different tasks related to a particular aspect of the content of teaching and learning.

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v. The types of aids offered, the greater or minor dependence of aids and the of

support: present information, give examples, give feedback, return to the error,

rethink how to perform a task, to facilitate the execution of a procedure, etc.

b) Contingency resources and introduction of new information

This dimension examines whether the teacher refers to personal

experiences of the family environment of students or other non-school contexts

related to the content in question. If it exemplifies concepts or new ideas, support

materials or objects in the classroom situation, the slideshow, recovery of school

learning achieved in previous situations.

c) Rules of social participation in group activity between teacher and students.

Refers to how the class is organized by exposure, individual work, team

work, presentations by students, etc. Management rules and participation that

occur in the classroom: whether students may or may not ask during exhibitions,

relevant and personalized assistance from the teacher, guidance or teamwork. If

the development of the activities and tasks are performed under the initiative and

priority control of the teacher, the degree of freedom that students have in the

realization of the tasks and / or how to perform them.

d) Spaces and devices monitoring and verification of shared meanings, information

gathering and assessment of pupil performance. The degree to which the teacher

stops interventions and student questions to check his/her understanding and

modifying the initial plan envisaged when it detects errors or incorrect executions.

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Supervision or not the individual and team work, appropriate and timely

feedback. Detection and repairing of misunderstandings, misconceptions and

ruptures along the sequence of teaching and learning.

e) Motivational factors, relational and emotional that manifest.

The affective tone of relations between participants, interpersonal conflict

management, order management and discipline.

Extra activity:

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre Ask Ss to answer why, when and where observation is needed. They should also reflect on who can make observations and what aspects of a class can be observed.

While Ss can make a presentation with their answers to present them to rest of the group.

Post Ss will present their answers and explain if their classmates’ presentations were similar or different to what they presented.

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1.2 Observation methods Casual and Scientific observation

An observation with a casual approach involves observing the right thing

at the right place and also at the right time by a matter of chance or by luck

whereas a scientific observation involves the use of the tools of the

measurement, but a very important point to be kept in mind here is that all the

observations are not scientific in nature.

Natural Observation

Natural observation involves observing the behavior in a normal setting

and no efforts are made to bring any type of change in the behavior of the

observed. Improvement in the collection of the information and improvement in

the environment of making an observation can be done with the help of natural

observations.

Subjective and Objective observation

Subjective observation involves the observation of the one’s own

immediate experience whereas the observations involving observer as an entity

apart from the thing being observed, are referred to as the objective

observation. Objective observation is also called as the retrospection. In a

subjective observation, you have the considerations of a person involved in the

phenomena observed. These considerations may be influenced by personal

opinions o r interests, while in objective observation, the observer is stranger to

the situation being observed.

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Direct and Indirect observation

In a direct observation, the observer is physically present in a situation

and monitors what takes place. Indirect method of observation involves studies

of mechanical recording or the recording by some of the other means like

photographic or electronic. Direct observation is relatively straighter forward as

compared to the indirect observation.

Participant and Non Participant observation

Participant observation refers to the participation of the observers with

the various types of operations of the group under study. In participant

observation, the degree of the participation is largely affected by the nature of

the study and it also depends on the type of the situation and also on its

demands. In the non participant type of observation, no participation of the

observer in the activities of the group takes place and also there occurs no

relationship between the researcher and the group.

Structured and Unstructured observation

Structured observation works according to a plan and involves specific

information of the units that are to be observed and also about the information

that is to be recorded. The operations that are to be observed and the various

features that are to be noted or recorded are decided well in advance. Such

observations involve the use of especial instruments for the purpose of data

collection that are also structured in nature.

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In the case of the unstructured observation, its basics are diametrically

against the structured observation. In such observation, observer has the

freedom to note down what he or she feels is correct and relevant to the point

of study and also this approach of observation is very suitable in the case of

exploratory research.

Controlled and None Controlled observation

Controlled observations are the observations made under the influence

of some of the external forces and such observations rarely lead to

improvement in the precision of the research results.

Non controlled observations are made in the natural environment and

reverse to the controlled observation these observations involve no influence or

guidance of any type of external force.

Extra activity

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre Ss will be asked to point out the main differences among the different observation methods.

While Ss will make a comparative chart presenting the advantages, disadvantages and possible scenarios for every method.

Post Ss will present their charts and compare it to the ones the rest of their classmates did.

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1.3 Roles and ethics in observation In the observation process, there are two subjects involved: the observed

and the observer. The observed can be a student in teaching training or a teacher.

The observer can be a peer (in the case of the students), a trainee trainer or an

school authority. The roles and subjects may vary according to the purposes:

Training purposes

During pre -service training courses, trainees may be the observers of

experts at work and may be observed conducting teaching sessions as well. There

is a pre determined focus for observation and a designed observation schedule

Assessment purposes

During an in-service teacher training course, it is usually conducted by

personnel of the Ministry of Education, the Director of the Studies or an external

assessor on the basis “Is the trainee ready to pass this course…?”.

Development purposes

This observation is performed by peers who are usually colleagues. The

post-observation discussions are led by the observed teacher so that he can

develop his ability to notice as well as his pedagogic reasoning.

Research

Observations are carried out for getting useful data. This, in turn, will allow

to create new theories, generate fresh descriptions, provide plausible explanations

of educational phenomena.

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The following chart presented by Wajnryb (1992) presents the roles, the

contexts and purposes for observation:

Context Observer Observee Purpose of observation Samples of observation experiences

Training process

Ongoing development

School-based support

The contexts of in-service and school-based teacher development

1 Teacher Peer teacher

♦ Two teachers observe each other’s teaching as part of a mutual self-development venture or project.

2 Teacher Peer teacher or senior teacher

♦ ♦ A teacher observes another teacher (peer or more experienced) in response to a perceived need to develop in a particular area.

3 Teacher coordinator/ developer

Teacher ♦ ♦ A teacher invites a teacher developer to observe his/her teaching as part of a school-based teacher support

The context

4 Trainee teacher

Teacher ♦ A trainee observes an

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of pre-service training

experienced teacher as part of the experience module of the course

5 Trainee teacher

Teacher trainer

♦ A trainee observes a trainer teaching as a ‘modeling’ experience

6 Trainee teacher

Peer trainee teacher

♦ Two trainees observe each other within the practical teaching component of the course

7 Trainee trainer

Trainee teacher

♦ A trainer observes a trainee for diagnostic and support purposes

8 Trainee trainer

Teacher ♦ ♦ A trainer in-training observes teaching as part of systematic training in identifying and prioritizing teaching behaviours

9 Trainee trainer

Trainee teacher

♦ ♦ A trainer-in-training observes a trainee teacher as part of the

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practical component of a trainer training course

Ethics in observation

When observing a language classroom, the observer should have some

ethic principles in mind. First of all, he should remember that his analysis of the

observation should be aimed at improving the teaching practice and not to make

fun of the mistakes made by the teacher or to show his mistakes in an impolite

way. We should also remember that observation is part of a research process and

should be conducted in a formal way.

The information gathered should be treated professionally and there should

also be interaction with the teacher observed. This interaction is important to

provide positive feedback and also hear the observed teacher’s opinions.

An observer must always avoid invasion of privacy while observing. Some

observers tend to interfere or participate in the class, which would interfere in the

behavior or the subjects involved in the observation.

Information should also be treated carefully to avoid information disclosure.

What happens in a classroom should be observed to improve the teaching

practice, not to make fun of it or to punish the teacher. Information disclosure may

interfere in a negative way the next time you need to observe a teacher.

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Information disclosure may lead to social embarrassment or stigma of a teacher,

which may affect the teacher’s reputation or working situation.

Before observing, the teacher to be observed should be asked to and he

should agree to. An authority does not have the right to get in a classroom to

observe a teacher without previous warning, this may end up in legal difficulties.

As observers, there are some ethical standards that should be followed:

Respect for Persons

Informed consent

Information, comprehension, voluntariness

Beneficence

Risks and benefits must be assessed systematically

Justice

Fair procedures in subject treatment and selection of subjects

Extra activity

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre Ss will brainstorm think of the possible roles in an observation, and what ethical implications of observation might refer to.

While Ss will read the information and check whether or not their guessing was right

Post Ss will work in pairs to role play (or make up a story). They have to choose a role and then either infringe or implement the ethical implications of observation.

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Unit II Classroom observation instruments

2.1 Observation instruments to measure the use of class elements,

skills, grammar, and vocabulary in a language class Class elements

In a language class, you can find several elements; some of them are

physical like the board, the distribution of the chairs, the technology available in the

classroom, the light or the classroom size. Some other elements are not physical,

but they also influence the pace and the development of the class. Some elements

that may determine if the class is successful are the following:

1. Clear goals and objectives for each class

2. A fun and motivating atmosphere

3. A focus on student talking time

4. A clear link between the lesson and everyday life

5. Immediate error correction

6. Integration of cultural knowledge and skills

7. Inspiring and well-traveled teacher

A language teacher should try to include these elements in his class and

use these elements to develop the language skills, teach grammar and vocabulary.

Skills

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There are four skills in language teaching: reading, writing, listening and

speaking. Reading and listening are considered passive skills, while speaking and

writing are active skills. Reading and listening demand the recognition of grammar

structures, vocabulary and syntaxes. Speaking and writing are the skills that ask

the student to apply what they know about grammar and vocabulary. Although

these skills may seem difficult to measure, there are some ways to develop and

evaluate them.

It is important to develop the four skills on the students. The four skills

cannot be developed the four in the same class, this would be very ambitious.

Classes must be designed to develop at least one or two of them.

Grammar

Most teachers and modern language teaching theories may find that

grammar is boring, but grammar is necessary while teaching any foreign language.

Grammar is the structure of the language. Even in textbooks that are designed with

the communicative approach, you can find a grammar section. Grammar involves

rules and memorizing them to use them in certain situations. The grammar of our

fist language is always present and influences the foreign language grammar we

are trying to learn.

For most of students, grammar may be difficult, specially is their first

language and the foreign language grammars are different. Most of the students

respond well to controlled exercises and not so well to free form exercises. What

students may find as the most difficult is writing essays and having a conversation.

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In these two activities, students have to use correctly grammar and vocabulary to

express ideas, most of the times influenced by their first language grammar and

structure.

While observing a language class it is important to check how much

grammar is present in the lesson plan, how is it being introduced and what type of

exercises are being used to practice it.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is an important element in the language class. Not knowing the

vocabulary may difficult the reading and listening comprehension. Vocabulary

involves memorizing and remembering. Vocabulary is normally taught while

teaching the grammar. In most textbooks the structure of a lesson is organized as

follows: vocabulary related to the topic, listening to a conversation where the

structure is used, presenting the grammar structure and controlled exercises and a

final speaking, writing or reading exercise. Vocabulary is presented at the

beginning as an introduction to the topic but also as a tool. Vocabulary allows

expressing ideas using the grammar structure and the appropriate words.

Vocabulary is easy to forget, that is the reason why it should be practice in

language class using games and techniques to remember it.

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Extra activity

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre Brainstorm on observation instruments to measure skills, grammar and vocabulary in a language class.

While Compare your results to the reading. After comparing them, choose only one measuring instrument to write about.

Post Complete the measuring instrument you have chosen by giving pros and cons, remember that they can be designed to measure skills, grammar or vocabulary.

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2.2 Observation of language classes (use of video, among peers,

teachers) Use of video

When observing a language class, it is common to use observation sheets

to take notes. These sheets allow you to observe and write down what is going on,

but sometimes, you may miss important features of the class while writing. Using a

video recorder may be helpful; you can record the class and watch it later alone or

with a college to analyze it. Before recording, you should ask permission to the

teacher and the students. it is tempting to record without telling them to obtain

more valid information, but it is also a matter of ethics.

You can record a peer teacher or record yourself while teaching. If you

record yourself, you are going to realize about things you are doing in class and

didn’t even know it.

Observation among peers

Observation is a good tool for learning, improving and analyzing. Peer

observation can be used for formative and summative purposes. The formative

purpose is related to improving the teaching. The summative purpose is related to

evaluation to verify if the student has developed enough skills to improve his

teaching practice. Apart from improving your teaching practice, observation may

provide you new ideas to use in your language class. Watching what others are

doing or how they are dealing with some situations may help you to use them in

your own classroom.

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Observers should arrive before the class starts, should be introduced to the

class and explain the purpose of the observation. Observers should not interfere in

the class and use an instrument to register the observations. Using a blank sheet

observation is not reliable; it is more reliable to use a check list form to standardize

the observation. The observer should have in mind what aspect he is going to

observe before going to the class, the teacher to be observed should be notified

about the purpose of the observation.

Observation among teachers

Observation among teachers is a common practice in some schools

nowadays. Its main purpose is improving the teaching practice. In some private

schools, teachers are asked to give a public class at the end of the semester. In

this class, the teacher can show his abilities and perform in front of the parents,

authorities and colleagues. The purpose of observation among teachers is not to

criticize each other, but to improve the teaching skills.

Observation is valuable as a professional development technique because it

shows in real contexts how to practice the theory. In most professional

development programs, teachers are asked to be observed and to observe. This

allows them to have a professional opinion about their teaching skills and

sometimes suggestions to improve it.

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Extra activity

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre Write down which of the observation methods you have used and, if you haven’t, which method would you like to use.

While Make a comparative chart about the three methods of observation.

Post Decide what observation method would be more appropriate to different scenarios.

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Unit III Registry of the class observation.

3.1 Elements of a classroom In a common classroom, there are elements that you can find such as

board, chairs, video recorder or cassette player which have influence in the

development of the class. The board is the most common element in any

classroom and offers the opportunity to share information with students. The basic

requisites to use a board are three: start with a clean board, write legibly and use

the right implement. The information that you can share using the board is:

Permanent or reference material.- new vocabulary items, model sentences

and reminders of items students persistently get wrong.

Material for development of the lesson.- material related to the stage of the

lesson you are at, materials students need to copy down, a model sentence,

a picture or an outline of grammar rule.

Impromptu work.- answer to an unpredicted question or an alternative

explanation.

Notes and reminders.- the date to help students learn the numbers and days

of the week or reminders for you to prepare something for the next lesson.

Even if the board is a useful tool, don’t get so dependent on it. If you think

that it is important for students to have some information, write it properly and

make copies for them.

Another element are the chairs, most people may think that something

simple as a chair may not interfere in the class, but this is far from reality. If the

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chairs are not comfortable enough, the students are not going to feel well to pay

attention to the class. The physical environment of a classroom is important; if you

have big windows, your students are more likely to get distracted by the visual

distracters. The same happens with the acoustics in the classroom, they can be

distracted by the external noise.

The sitting arrangement is also important, depending on what kind of group

dynamic you are going to use, you can rearrange the chairs to allow students to

work individually, in pairs or teams.

A textbook could be a great time saver, having a good text book saves you a

lot of time teachers usually use to look for materials. Some textbooks have visual

aids, exercises, video or audio materials, which saves you a lot of time. A textbook

is also designed to follow a sequence of objectives and presents the grammar

structures in an organized order. Textbooks are likely to be designed to cover the

objectives of a program of studies. Using a textbook would give you the opportunity

to focus on your dynamics and how to give good use of it, instead of focusing on

preparing the materials. Some books also have resource materials and teachers’

book, which also saves you time as you have the answers to the exercises.

Textbooks are useful resources and time savers, but how can you know for sure if

the textbook is going to be good for your class purposes? Brown (2001) proposes

a checklist to evaluate a textbook:

1. Goals of the course (Will this textbook help to accomplish your course

goals?)

2. Background of the students (Does the book fit the students’ background?)

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a. age c. educational background

b. native language and culture d. motivation or purpose for learning

English

3. Approach (Does the theoretical approach reflected in the book reflect a

philosophy that you and your institution and your students easily identiry

with?)

a. Theory of learning

b. Theory of language

4. Language skills (Does the book integrate the “four skills”? Is there a

balanced approach toward the skill? Does the textbook emphasize skills

which the curriculum also emphasizes?)

a. listening c. reading

b. speaking d. writing

5. General Content (Does the book reflect what is now known about language

and language learning?)

a. Validity –does the textbook accomplish what it purports to?

b. Authenticity of language

c. Appropriateness and currency of topics, situations, and contexts

d. Proficiency level – is it pitched for the right level?

6. Quality of practice material

a. Exercises –is there a variety from controlled to free?

b. Clarity of directions –are they clear to both students and teacher?

c. Active participation of students –is this encouraged effectively?

d. Grammatical and other linguistic explanation –inductive or deductive’

e. Review material –are there sufficient spiraling and review exercises?

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7. Sequencing (How is the book sequenced?)

a. by grammatical structures c. by situations

b. by skills d. by some combination of the above

8. Vocabulary (Does the book pay sufficient attention to words and word

study?)

a. relevance c. strategies for word analysis

b. frequency

9. General sociolinguistic factors

a. Variety of English –American, British, dialects, or international varieties

b. Cultural content –is there a cultural bias?

10. Format (Is the book attractive, usable, and durable?)

a. Clarity of typesetting

b. Use of special notation (phonetic symbols, stress/intonation marking,

etc)

c. Quality and clarity of illustrations

d. General layout –is it comfortable and not too “busy”?

e. Size of the book and binding

f. Quality of editing

g. Index, table of contents, chapter headings

11. Accompanying materials (Are there useful supplementary materials?)

a. workbook c. posters, flash cards, etc.

b. tapes –audio and/or video d. a set of tests

12. Teacher’s guide (Is it useful?)

a. methodological guidance c. suitability for nonnative speaking

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teacher

b. alternative and supplementary

exercises

d. answer keys

When somebody says technology, people normally think about computers,

but technology goes beyond them. Every time a technology has been discovered, it

has been used in education. This is the case of the board, pencil, movie projector,

radio, television, calculator, computer, ipads, etc.

Some textbooks provide video or audio materials designed to develop

listening skills in the students. if you do not have a textbook that provides these

materials, you can try to produce them or use authentic materials. Some talk

shows, news, tv shows or radio programs can be a good option. Selecting

authentic materials for the classroom can be time consuming, but at the same time

it ads really to your class.

Whether you choose authentic or didactic audio or video materials, you

need to check if the technology works out and if you know how to use it. Before the

class, check the quality of the sound and if you know how to use the controls. You

should also wind the material forward to the beginning of the conversation or video

you are going to use. You should also remember not to play any tape or video

without anticipating the language skills you are going to develop. Do not play a

tape or video without giving an instruction to the topic or a task. Doing so will make

students get bored and lost because they won’t know what they are expected to

do. Let the tap do the work and play it many times as necessary. Repeating what

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the tape is saying won’t help your students improve their listening skills. Most

students get used to your voice and pronunciation and have some trouble

understanding what native speakers say, letting them understand the tape will help

them understand other voices and accents. Remember to stop the tape at difficult

parts to understand or when the tape is too long, this may help students

understand the ideas.

The computer offers many possible uses in the language classroom such as

presenting or searching information, material design and communication.

Collaborative or research projects can be carried out utilizing data available on the

World Wide Web and other information resources. Communication via e-mail with

students is also possible as well as sharing information to peer-editing of

compositions, as some e-mail allows you to share documents.

Some institutions have web pages to offer courses or materials to students.

They not only become acquainted with computer technology in general but utilize

English in doing research on a topic, composing and designing, and collaborating

with other students. These web pages are designed with an academic objective:

offer the appropriate materials as a complement to the contents of the program.

One of the main advantages of using web pages is that students surf the page, do

exercises and have immediate feedback, his activities are registered in the site and

the teacher can monitor them without being present all the time.

Computers offer a great source for the language class, but teachers must be

aware of the distractions that it also offers. Most students use the internet to do

32

research, but sometimes forget what they were looking for in the first place

because of the distracters. Providing a web site to support your teaching, helps

students to focus on what materials can be used, exercises according to their skills

and level and immediate feedback.

Extra activity

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre Ss will be asked what they would do if they had poor conditions in their classroom, or overcrowded facilities, or too many students.

While Ss will read the document and discuss the problems they have to face in their teaching contexts. They will also talk about what they have done to solve these problems.

Post Ss will design two classroom settings: one with good physical environment and good classroom climate, and one with bad conditions. They have to explain how the situations affect the learning process and what they could do to alleviate such problems.

33

3.2 Group dynamics: individual work, working in pairs, time

distribution, teacher’s and student’s role Individual work

Asking students to work individually, allows them to prepare their personal

ideas, views or arguments. If students are given time to prepare an answer rather

than being obliged to provide immediate responses, they are more likely to

produce a considered response and likely to benefit from the time spent working

out an appropriate answer. Individual work may take the form of silent reading

activities, problems or case studies. For example, you might ask students to read

through an article and identify a grammar structure, main ideas, vocabulary, etc.

correcting individual work on a regular basis would let you know about students’

progress and understanding of the topics.

Working in pairs

Students can be asked to work together in pairs or small groups to consider

the answers to specific problems, discuss ideas, prepare for whole-class

discussions, compare their answers or mark each other’s work. Sometimes, you

can ask a strong student to work with a weak student so the weak student can be

helped by the strong one. The objective of asking students to work in pairs or small

groups is to encourage them to learn from each other. Less confident students can

learn from the understanding of more confident students, and students with a

higher level of understanding can consolidate their thinking through explaining

ideas to others. Pairing quiet or less confident students with more outgoing

students can often be beneficial to both parties, whereas putting all the outgoing,

34

confident students into one group may lead to conflict and a less than successful

outcome to the whole activity.

Time distribution

It is really important that teachers use the time they have in class wisely.we

normally have a lot of holidays and other interruptions that diminish the class of

the time. The following list provides tips and ideas to help teachers maximize their

time with students each day.

Punctuality

It is very important that class is started on time if you lose some minutes at

the beginning every day, the sum up a great quantity of time at the end of the

semester. First, make sure that you as a teacher are ready to start right away and

make sure that all required notes and handouts are ready to go. You can also

use daily warm ups to help get students started right away. They can take the form

of either questions or simply notes or an agenda that need to be copied down by

the students before the lesson begins. If you attach a small grade to this activity,

you can further ensure that students will get started right away.

Housekeeping

Every teacher has to deal with taking attendance, collecting student work,

managing resources and materials, grading and assigning grades, along with

additional teacher specific recordkeeping tasks. However, the time can be

minimized by creating efficient systems. Simple measures like enforcing assigned

35

seats and using the same method for assigning homework each day can really

help. Teachers should have systems in place for tasks such as taking roll, handing

out papers, getting books, and more.

Transitions

Similar to housekeeping routines, teachers need to set up transition routines

so that moving from one activity to another takes minimal time. You need to have a

system in place for students to quickly and efficiently retrieve their books. If you

often have classroom activities that require your students to move their desks, ask

students to do it quickly and efficiently, this movement can lead to five minutes or

more of wasted time if you are not careful.

Structured Activities

Students who finish their classwork early can become distracting to other

students. Therefore, it is a good idea to have an ongoing activity that students who

finish early participate in. This can be as simple as having a reading assignment

that the students return to when they have time. You could also consider having

students complete word origin activities, write summaries of newspaper articles, or

even create a classroom newspaper.

Controlled Interruptions

Many interruptions can be managed by the creation of simple classroom

routines. Restroom use or tardy students can make a lot of interruptions to the

class. Another example is dealing with students who do not come prepared for

class, they can also interrupt or distract other students. Having a system for

36

borrowing pens and paper can be key in helping you maximize your time actually

teaching students.

Teacher’s role

In a language class, a teacher should manage three things: the group, the

activities and the learning. The role of the teacher could be as facilitator of learning:

leading discussions, asking open-ended questions, guiding process and task, and

enabling active participation of learners and engagement with ideas. In some other

situations, teachers need to be able to adopt a range of roles and skills to suit

specific situations, often during the same teaching session.

Other roles that may be adopted include that of:

instructor, who imparts information to students

neutral chair

consultant, from whom learners can ask questions

commentator

wanderer, such as in a larger workshop

Effective teachers are essential to ensuring that groups work well. Any teaching

event will be more successful if the teacher:

is enthusiastic

has organised the session well

has a feeling for the subject

can conceptualise the topic

has empathy with the learners

understands how people learn

has skills in teaching and managing learning

37

is alert to context and ‘classroom’ events

is teaching with their preferred teaching style

has a wide range of skills in their teaching repertoire.

Being a facilitator instead of an authoritative teacher is sometimes seen as

diminishing a teacher’s power and authority, but this should not be the case.

Facilitating learning is empowering for both the learner and the teacher.

Student’s role

Traditionally, students’ role has been passive, but modern methodology

suggests that students should be active and involved in their learning process. The

focus on your teacher could be student-centered by providing information for

student, parent, teacher, principal and community decision-making. A teacher must

know how to identify engaged students and those who require assistance in

becoming more engaged. Engaged learners are responsible for their own learning,

are identified as those who are self-regulated and who define their own learning

goals, displaying the ability to evaluate their own achievements and challenges.

They are also identified as engaged students who appear energized by learning.

Students should be encouraged to take an active role in the classroom so that they

are engaging in learning at all of these levels, gaining the expertise on topics to

discuss with others and teach others to maximize retention and understanding.

Students should also be encouraged to take the role of explorer, interaction

with the physical world and with other people allows students to discover concepts

38

and apply skills. Students should be encouraged to consider and reflect upon their

discoveries, placing them also in the role of cognitive apprentice. Apprenticeship

occurs when students observe and apply demonstrated thinking processes.

Extra activity

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre Ss will be presented three or four situations in which their Ss have to perform certain types of activities and they have to discuss whether they have to be carried out individually or in pairs.

While Ss will read the information and brainstorm more activities that can be performed individually or in pairs and how to use class time better. Also, Ss have to specify the roles of the T and the Ss in every stage of the lesson –according to the type of activities.

Post Ss will design a class in which they use class time efficiently and perform individual and paired activities. For every activity being carried out, they have to specify the role of the T and the Ss.

39

3.3 Observation of learning, evidence of learning, students’ progress,

goal achievement

Observation of learning

Teachers use test scores to find a student's academic strengths and

weaknesses, these scores are used to judge the quality of the educational system.

Testing forms represent a commitment to high academic standards. The demands

of the today's academic standards require students learn many skills. Students

need to master higher-order thinking skills and to be able to see the relationships

among seemingly diverse concepts. These abilities -- recall, analysis, comparison,

inference, and evaluation -- will be the skills of a literate twenty-first-century citizen.

Typical multiple-choice and short-answer tests aren't the only way, or

necessarily the best way, to gauge a student's knowledge and abilities. Many

schools are incorporating performance-based assessments into their standardized

tests or using student portfolios and presentations as additional measures of

student understanding. These forms of assessment require students to apply what

they're learning to real world tasks. These include standards-based projects and

assignments that require students to apply their knowledge and skills.

These formative and summative types of assessment need to give students

immediate feedback. This also allows a teacher to immediately intervene and

change the course when assessments show that a particular lesson or strategy

isn't working for a student, or to offer new challenges for students who've mastered

a concept or skill.

40

Evidence of learning

To know if your students are learning, you need to gather evidence of it.

You can gather this evidence using exercises or quizzes. The exercises could

be multiple choice or open ended questions, depending on the subjects you are

teaching. There are direct and indirect methods to have evidence of learning.

The indirect methods are: course evaluations, outlines of concepts and skills

covered on tests, grade point averages or course grade distribution. The direct

methods are: exams and quizzes, research projects or class participation.

The direct methods can be used in everyday lessons, while indirect

methods can be used at the end of a semester, in a summative evaluation.

Students’ progress

For language teachers, it is important to track students’ progress. When

teaching languages, the contents are sequenced and you need to be sure that your

students had some progress before continuing with the next content. Teachers can

track students’ progress with the activities in class. Most language textbooks offer

controlled exercises for the practice stage. Using free or semi controlled exercises

in the production stage would be a good way of knowing the students’ progress.

Most evaluation forms only consider what students get on a final or partial

exam. Just considering these evaluations, do not give credit to the work students

do every day. It is common that students have several exams on the final days of

the semester; this can have a bad impact on their performance. Considering

41

students progress may help you evaluate your students on a daily basis. It is also

an evidence of goal achievement.

Goal achievement

Before every class, a teacher should design a lesson plan. This lesson plan

is an opportunity to write down what your students are going to do to achieve a

goal or an objective. Most of the times, goals are settled in your program of study.

The lesson plan is a tool to help students achieve goals. There are some ways to

evaluate if they are achieving the goals, like semi controlled and free activities.

A goal should have the following characteristics:

Specific : The goal is focused, for example, by content area, by learners’ needs.

Measurable : An appropriate instrument / measure is selected to assess the goal.

Appropriate : The goal is within the teacher’s control to effect change.

Realistic : The goal is feasible for the teacher.

Time limited : The goal is contained within a single school year or semester.

Extra activity

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre Ss will mention possible ways of observing and gathering evidence of learning.

While Ss will read the topic information and explain which ways they have used and the results they have had with them.

Post Ss will choose one direct method and one indirect method to gather evidence of learning and develop them –i.e. research project, course evaluation, etc.

42

Unit IV Analyzing the class observation

4.1 Interview and feedback to the teacher Before observing a teacher’ class, you need to ask for his permission to do

so, as well as informing him what you want to observe. This is the first interview

you have with the teacher and it can be informal. After you observe the teacher,

you can have a second interview to understand what the teacher is doing and his

reasons. While you analyze the observations, you may not understand why the

teacher is using some kind of activities or techniques to discipline students. Having

an interview after the observations, will provide you the opportunity to get an

answer to all the questions you may have. This interview should be formal and

prepared in advanced, your questions should be already designed to get more

information about what the teacher is doing in the classroom and you didn’t

understand. In this interview you can ask some of the following questions:

• What and how the teacher is teaching (quality of content and process)

• How well the teacher think he is addressing the needs of the students and

why

• What have been the problems he has had and how he has solved them

• What students are learning and how he has evidence of knowledge and

progress

• What he is doing to help students who are having difficulty as well as support

students who should be further challenged

• How well the class is working toward achieving school goals and expectations

• How well the teacher is meeting standards/expectations for his profession

• What does he need to achieve those standards and expectations

43

Once you have this information, you may have the opportunity to understand

the teacher from his perspective. After the interview, you can provide the feedback,

present and communicate the strengths in the lesson as well as the needed areas

of improvement. Even if you can provide feedback using an email or a letter, there

are a number of advantages to providing face-to-face feedback:

• Teachers are more likely to be open to it because it’s informal and

unwritten

• You can get a sense of whether the teacher is open to critical feedback

and hold off if the teacher does not seem receptive, or the timing is off

• The teacher can supply additional information to put the lesson and unit in

perspective

• The teacher can push back if the observer misunderstood something

• The conversation can segue into a more general talk about how things are

going, questions the teacher might have, opportunities to suggest support or

resources

• There is not paperwork

• It is immediate

When you are holding a conversation with a teacher to provide feedback,

explain why you are holding the conversation and what you expect to be the

outcome. Encourage dialog and give the teacher the opportunity to share his

opinions and reasons for working the way he is doing. Much of what you want the

teacher to do may come directly from comments that the teacher makes. Help the

teacher express his thinking about the lesson and areas of potential improvement.

44

At the end of the conversation, determine with the teacher what next steps

are expected and the time to do these steps. Set a time for the next observation or

a timeline for expected outcomes.

Effective feedback is specific, not general. It’s sincerely and honestly

provided to help. People will know if they are receiving it for any other reason. It

also focuses on the most important pieces of information and suggestions for

improvement. If too much information is given, the person will feel overwhelmed

and will not know what steps he needs to take next. It involves what or how

something was done, not why. Asking why is asking people about their motivation

and that provokes defensiveness. When giving feedback, it is important to make

sure the other person understood what you communicated by using a feedback

loop, such as asking a question or asking them to tell you what it might look like if

done differently next time.

You should communicate to the teacher observed the effect his behavior is

having on his students or in the group. (“When there are not enough copies of the

article to be read, it makes it difficult for all students to participate in the lesson.”).

You should also alert the teacher to an area in which his performance could

improve; it is descriptive and should always be directed to the action. (“The lesson

would be more effective if you had students repeat the directions before they begin

to do the work.” You can also specifically state what you want the person to do in

45

the future. (“When you submit your next unit plan, please include two strategies to

modify the lesson for those students who are not showing mastery of the skill.”)

To avoid negative feedback, pick the time and place carefully- a good

feedback session should not be spur-of-the- moment; it requires privacy and

enough time to do justice to what’s being said. Don’t email your critics. This is not

an appropriate forum for difficult conversations, which require face-to-ace contact

and an opportunity for clarification and interaction. Don’t wait a long time after you

identify the problem. On the other hand, if you’re still emotional yourself, wait until

you’re calm and collected. Vague generalities will not help the teacher, the more

specific you are, the more push-back there may be, but also the more chance there

is for real learning and change on the teacher’s part.

Watch your body language, non-verbal cues can communicate as much as

words. You need to be sure that your eyes, face, and body are giving the same

message as your words.” For a particularly difficult conversation, it may help to role

play with a trusted assistant. The teacher needs to understand why this incident or

behavior is important to you- the implications and the context of your thinking by

providing a rationale.

Praise more of what you criticize, you should start with the positive and

emphasize it before mentioning the negative aspects. If you do it otherwise, the

teacher may feel it like a personal critic. Create a format that honestly lists areas of

strength and the specific areas to grow.

46

Extra activity

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre Reflect on how you would carry out an interview to a teacher you observed and what type of questions you would ask. Think of ways to providing effective feedback to a teacher.

While After reading the information presented, compare your answers to the information you just read and explain the differences and how the reading change the way you think.

Post Take your own ideas and ideas from the text and make an ideal way to carry out an interview and feedback to the teacher. If you exclude certain ideas/opinions from the text, explain why you did not add them to the final list.

47

4.2 Evaluating the observations If you used an observation sheet to register the information or

questionnaires for the students and the teacher, you are now going to use this

information. In the case of the checklists, some of them have numbers to evaluate

how well the teacher performed in the class. This may be helpful to analyze and

evaluate the observations. In the case of open questions and open observations,

you may need some time to classify and analyze the answers.

When designing questionnaires for the students, you could use numbers to

evaluate how well the teacher performed, which will be a time saver. In the case of

the interview for the teacher, it would be better to make open questions, which

would give the teacher the opportunity to express himself and explain his

performance and reasons to do so.

When asking people who were present while something happen, they may

give you a different version or point of view about an event. In classroom

observation, you can find the same case, certain aspects of what is going on are

not clear to the teacher in front of the class but can be noticed by an observer.

Having the opportunity to also interact with students will also give you other points

of view about what really happens in a language classroom.

There are some common forms to register the information, the most simple

is personal recall, this is when you try to remember what you observed and carry

out a reflection on that basis. The second one is document recall, which can

consist on field notes, teaching diaries, observation sheets, etc. Observations can

also be audio or video recorded, which allows you to focus on several aspects

48

while you watch or listen it afterwards. Some observers use the audio recordings

and transcript the dialogues, which is time consuming but helpful if you want to

measure the amount and kind of interaction between the teacher and the students.

Who can interpret the information? There are some candidates to interpret

data and the result may vary according to them. The interpretation may differ if it is

made by a peer student, a supervisor, or a trained teacher. This interpretation may

also vary depending on if it is structured or unstructured. A visitor asked to observe

a class in operation may not have a clear idea what to focus on, but he could have

expectations of what ought to be done in a classroom. In a structured observation,

the observer determines what he is going to focus on and prepares the instruments

to collect the appropriate data.

There are some aspects to consider before evaluating the observations:

1. Approach: system-based observation, ethnographic or ad-hoc.

2. Requiring learning time to develop the approach.

3. Analysis of information: global or specific.

4. Evaluative, formative or research-related.

5. Teacher-focused, learner-focused or neutral in focus.

6. Quantitative or qualitative.

There are system-based observation methods already developed. The

method developed by Bellack and other (1996) consisted on make recordings into

transcripts using a standardised way so the amount of interaction could be

measured by counting lines. The method by Flanders (1970) was intended to be

49

used while the class was actually in progress. This method has ten categories to

classify teacher and pupil talk, which are listed on a checklist. The observer seats

on the back of the class and categorizes the interaction he has just listened in one

of the categories in an observation sheet like this one:

Category

number

Completed tally marks

made by an observer

Total

tallies

Per cent

Teacher

(1) Accepting feelings or attitudes

(2) Praising or encouraging

(3) Accepting or using pupils’

(4) Asking questions

(5) Lecturing

(6) Giving directions, orders, commands

(7) Criticism or justifying authority

III IIII I IIII IIII II IIII IIII IIII IIII II IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII I IIII

3

6

12

22

130

16

4

0.8

2.5

5.0

9.2

54.2

6.7

1.6

Pupils (8) pupil-talk response

(9) pupil-talk initiation IIII IIII IIII IIII II IIII IIII II

22

12

9.2

5.0

Silence (10) Silence or confusion IIII IIII IIII

14 5.8

Total 241 100.0

Some other observation systems measure just how much of the target

language is used while others are multi-dimensional and include:

1.- Topic (civilization, general linguistic notions, etc.)

2.- Language activity (interpretation, drill, exercise, etc.)

3.- Teacher mode: instructing, working with group, etc.

4.- Student mode: listening, speaking, reading, etc.

50

5.- Class organization (whole class, individuals doing the same task, individuals

doing different tasks, etc.)

These multi-dimensional systems may be used to segments of a lesson

because they are flexible units of measurement. These systems have advantages

as well as disadvantages, as presented in the following comparative chart:

Systems Using Fixed

Observation Categories

Advantages Disadvantages

1. The teaching process

provides objective

data which a teacher

and a supervisor can

agree on.

1. Little discussion of

the physical setting.

2. Provide reliable

record: which

demonstrates

agreement.

2. Boundaries between

the categories may

be crude or ill-

defined.

3. Promote self-

awareness in the

teacher.

3. The emphasis on

quantification may

be excessive.

Teaching can

somehow be reduced

to a scalar value.

4. Provide a meta-

language, which

talks about their

profession in a more

appropriate way

using technical

language.

4. Systems use pre-

specified categories.

5. Makes teacher

training more

effective.

5. Social and

pedagogical

assumptions of the

designers are built

into the systems.

6. Systems do not

concern themselves

with the teacher’s

intentions.

7. Time-consuming.

51

If you decide to use an ethnographic approach, the observer participates

during an extended period of time, watches what happens, listens to what is said

and asks questions to collect data about the issue he is observing. For this

approach, it is important to define who is the best suited to conduct this

investigation, how much time would be necessary, what activities would be

necessary, what form of data as well as how it would be collected. Another option

would be the ad-hoc approach which is devised for a specific purpose. It would

give you the freedom to observe phenomena, but you won’t have the reliability of

working with an established system.

The approaches presented above can be useful to evaluate different

aspects of observation: classroom discourse analysis, categorize teacher and

students’ language, use of language or distinguish between mother tongue and

target language. An ethnographic approach is descriptive and flexible; an ad-hoc

approach can use both qualitative and quantitative or whatever is relevant to your

case of study. The decision about the approach to evaluate the observations is the

observer’s choice.

Extra activity

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre There are many ways to evaluate an observation. Some of those ways to evaluate observations are considered to be too precise, too scientific, and some are considered to be just perfect. What criteria do you think would be appropriate to evaluate an observation?

While Choose the criteria that you consider the most convenient for evaluating an observation in the teaching practice job field and explain why they are suitable for the teaching practice.

Post Compare your criteria with the rests of your group.

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4.3 Designing a lesson plan to improve the teaching practice

Designing a lesson plan helps you to reconsider what you are going to teach

and how you are going to do it. The main secret for lesson planning is organization.

The main objective is your students’ learning under the conditions you normally

work. You can find some examples in teachers’ books or in the internet, but you

should better design your own one according to your needs. Lesson plans help

new or inexperienced teachers to organize content, materials, and methods. You

need to include instructional activities regarding specific subject-matter, learning

objectives, instructional procedures, the required materials, and some written

description of how the students will be evaluated.

A lesson plan has three important functions:

1. Set up what you except students to be able to do at the end of the lesson

and think logically how to make it possible through the stages and time you

have available.

2. Keep you on the target of what you should do in the class.

3. A record of what has been done in the course and form the basis for future

lesson plans.

Many experienced teachers often reduce lesson plans to a mental map or

short outline. New teachers, however, usually find detailed lesson plans to be

indispensable. Learn to write good lesson plans - it is a skill that will serve you well

as a teacher. Some authors may present different aspects as the main elements of

a lesson plan. For some authors, the first step is to identify the learning objectives

53

for the class. Then, you can design appropriate learning activities and develop

strategies to obtain feedback on student learning. A successful lesson plan

addresses and integrates these three key components. For others, a lesson plan is

based on the aims, the methods and the materials. If you are going to set the aims,

you need to ask yourself the following questions:

What do you expect the students to be able to do by the end of the time

available?

What will you do in order to make that possible?

How will you break up the time into main stages?

What will be the aim of each main stage?

How will the main stages be linked?

For the methods, you need to consider which overall method will you use

and what series of steps will implement it. The materials are tools to help you

achieve the aim of the class by using a method. Once you have established the

aims, you can design the materials. These materials can be conversations, videos,

visual aids, websites or textbooks. Tv shows, radio programs, brochures,

magazines or books are a great source to find materials or to give you ideas to

design your own.

54

1 Outline learning objectives

Determine what you want students to learn and be able to do at the end of

class. The following questions can help you specify your objectives for student

learning:

What is the topic of the lesson?

What do I want students to learn?

What do I want them to understand and be able to do at the end of

class?

What do I want them to take away from this particular lesson?

Rank them in terms of importance; this will prepare you for managing class

time and accomplishing the more important learning objectives in case you are

pressed for time. Consider the following:

What are the most important concepts, ideas, or skills you want

students to be able to grasp and apply?

Why are they important?

If you ran out of time, which ones could not be omitted?

Which ones could you skip if pressed for time?

2 Develop the introduction

Now, design the specific activities to get students understand and apply

what they have learned. Knowing your students background and ideas can help

55

shape your introduction, learning activities, etc. When you have an idea of the

students’ familiarity with the topic, you will also have a sense of what to focus on.

Develop a creative introduction to the topic to stimulate interest and

encourage thinking. You can use a variety of approaches to engage students (e.g.,

personal anecdote, historical event, thought-provoking dilemma, real-world

example, short video clip, practical application, probing question, etc.). Consider

the following questions when planning your introduction:

How will you check whether students know anything about the topic

or have any preconceived notions about it?

What are some commonly held ideas (or possibly misconceptions)

about this topic that students might be familiar with or might espouse?

What will you do to introduce the topic?

3 Plan the specific learning activities

Prepare several different ways of explaining the material (real-life examples,

analogies, visuals, etc.) to catch the attention of more students and appeal to

different learning styles. Estimate how much time you will spend on each and be

prepared to move on quickly to different applications or problems, and to identify

strategies that check for understanding. These questions would help you design

the learning activities you will use:

What will you do to explain the topic?

What will you do to illustrate the topic in a different way?

56

How can you engage students in the topic?

What are some relevant real-life examples, analogies, or situations

that can help students understand the topic?

What will students need to do to help them understand the topic

better?

4 Plan to check for understanding

In this stage you need to check for student understanding – how will you

know that students are learning? Think about specific questions you can ask

students in order to check for understanding, write them down, and then

paraphrase them so that you are prepared to ask the questions in different ways.

Try to predict the answers your questions will generate. Decide on whether you

want students to respond orally or in writing. To help you generate some ideas and

you can also ask yourself these questions:

What questions will you ask students to check for understanding?

What will you have students do to demonstrate that they are

following?

Going back to your list of learning objectives, what activity can you

have students do to check whether each of those has been accomplished?

5 Develop a conclusion and a preview

Go over the material covered in class by summarizing the main points of the

lesson. You can state the main points yourself or ask a student to help you

summarize them, or you can even ask all students to write down on a piece of

57

paper what they think were the main points of the lesson. You can review the

students’ answers to gauge their understanding of the topic and then explain

anything unclear the following class. Conclude the lesson not only by summarizing

the main points, but also by previewing the next lesson. How does the topic relate

to the one that’s coming? This preview will spur students’ interest and help them

connect the different ideas within a larger context.

6 Create a realistic timeline

Narrow down your list of objectives to the two or three key concepts, ideas,

or skills you want students to learn. Teachers often need to adjust their lesson plan

during class depending on what the students need. Your list of prioritized learning

objectives will help you make decisions on the moment and adjust your lesson plan

as needed. Having additional examples or alternative activities will also allow you

to be flexible. Here are some strategies for creating a realistic timeline:

Estimate how much time each of the activities will take, then plan

some extra time for each

When you prepare your lesson plan, next to each activity indicate

how much time you expect it will take

Plan a few minutes at the end of class to answer any remaining

questions and to sum up key points

Plan an extra activity or discussion question in case you have time

left

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Be flexible – be ready to adjust your lesson plan to students’ needs

and focus on what seems to be more productive rather than sticking to your

original plan

Any lesson plan should be divided or organized into five stages.

Warm up

This stage is composed with a simple activity to introduce the topic of the

class. This activity could consist on a game or questions to the students to set

them in the mood of the class and introduce the topic. In the warm up you can also

present the vocabulary related to the topic or grammar structure or something

related to the culture of the language you are teaching.

Presentation stage

This stage gives you the opportunity to explain the topic of the class to the

students; you can use the materials from a textbook or write on the board what the

topic is going to be. It consists on helping students understand the grammar,

syntax or pronunciation. The length depends on the level of the group, the aims of

the lesson, the long-term aims of the students and their ability to acquire

understanding for themselves.

Practice stage

This stage, as its name says it, gives students the opportunity to practice the

topic. In a grammar focused class, this is the time students spend answering

59

exercises with the grammar structure presented. In this stage, you can use

controlled or semi-controlled exercises. They may help students feel comfortable

with the degree of complexity. This stage takes more time than the presentation

because students have far more to do. It can start with repetition of the language

modeled by you, another student or a tape. Repetition helps students memorize

the form and the word order, get the right pronunciation and consolidate the

meaning of the item. Repetition helps to develop habits, which is part of learning to

communicate in a foreign language. After repetition, students will need to set the

structure in other contexts and have the opportunity to use it naturally.

Production stage

When teaching a grammar structure, you need students to practice it before

they produce their own sentences. In this stage, you can design free activities to

give students the opportunity to produce the structure presented. These activities

can consist on writing a composition or having a discussion about a topic that will

lead them to use the structured presented in the class.

Feedback or homework

This stage offers continuity to the class. You may have noticed that students

do not remember what they worked with in previous classes. Giving them

homework or feedback activities allows them to have the opportunity to continue

practicing the structure after the class, which contributes to remembering and

learning.

60

A lesson plan may not work as well as you expected due to a number of

external circumstances. You should not get discouraged – it happens to even the

most experienced teachers! Take a few minutes after each class to reflect on what

worked well and why, and what you could have done differently. Identifying

successful and less successful organization of class time and activities would

make it easier to adjust to the contingencies of the classroom. For additional

feedback on planning and managing class time, you can use the following

resources: student feedback, peer observation, viewing a videotape of your

teaching, and consultation with a staff member.

To be effective, the lesson plan does not have to be a long and detailed

document that describes each and every possible classroom scenario. Nor does it

have to anticipate each and every student’s response or question. It should only

provide you with a general outline of your teaching goals, learning objectives, and

means to accomplish them. It is a reminder of what you want to do and how you

want to do it. A productive lesson is not one in which everything goes exactly as

planned, but one in which both students and instructor learn from each other.

What is included in a lesson plan is frequently decided by the syllabus or the

course book. If the item you are going to present is completely new to the students,

you need to concentrate on its form, meaning and use, which mean spending more

time on the presentation stage. If your students are already familiar with it, you can

decide if you omit this stage and go directly into practice. The approach of your

61

class will depend on your students’ level, depending if they are advanced or

beginners.

If you do not speak the students’ mother tongue, you can’t explain them

much, so they will have to learn how the form operates and its meaning from

examples. This is called the inductive approach. If you decide to use this approach,

you need to set the context through a dialogue, visual aids, mime, sound

sequences, a song, a text or a mixture of these. Verbs can better be presented

with mime, nouns with visual aids and structures by embedding them in a dialogue

or text. In this approach the teacher is the center of the class and should avoid

dominating it unnecessarily, to do so it is important to use eye contact and gesture.

Even during the presentation stage, the students’ participation is important to

activate what they know and realize if they are following you and at what pace you

should precede.

In contrast, in the deductive approach you explain the structure to your

students and then give them some time to practice it. In the deductive approach

you can explain students the associations between the two languages, the

problems they may encounter and how it is used. However, in this approach

students may tend to translate, which is dangerous. In many occasions, structures

may seem equivalent, but they are used differently in the other cultural context.

The continuous use of the mother tongue can inhibit students from thinking in

English and speaking it fluently in the future.

You can include the language you intend to present, the activities that

students will be involved in and reminders of what you need to do in every stage of

62

the class. Depending on what you are going to present, you need to preview if you

are going to need to refer to some materials. In the case of grammar, you may

need to consult a grammar book. For the functions, you may need to review what

the language actually does in terms of communication and for the vocabulary a

monolingual dictionary may be useful.

Some teachers prefer to write their lesson plans in a notebook, they have

one notebook for each class, and this allows them to have a sequence of what they

are doing in any course. Some others write them in separate sheets and then file

them. The sheets are easier to handle, but the risk of losing them or not filing them

in order is greater. To avoid confusion, you should write on the top the date, the

level, the course book and the size of the class; this information may help you if

next year you are going to teach the same topic, you can reuse the lesson plan. In

some cases, at the end of the class, you can add notes for next time. Some

teachers even include the seating arrangements needed for the activities, if they

have some problems with language or discipline.

63

Extra activity

STAGE PROCEDURE

Pre For every class that is given, one should have a lesson plan, but in some cases, classes are given without a lesson plan. Answer the following questions. Are lesson plans mandatory in every class you give? Do you have to follow everything that a lesson plan has? If things do not happen according to the lesson plan, what has happened? Have you ever given a class without a lesson plan and if so, what was the result?

While Choose a topic for a class you are giving and design a lesson plan, you can use one of the samples at the end of this book and adapt it to your needs.

Post Present your lesson plan to your classmates and ask them to analyze it. Use their comments to make adjustments or improvements; the purpose of doing this is to improve the teaching practice by designing a lesson plan.

64

Annex Observer: _________________________

Time/date: _____________________________________________

Teacher: _____________________________________________

1. How much time was devoted to each of the following?

Teacher talk: _____________________________________________

Exercises: _____________________________________________

Questions and answers: _____________________________________

2. Did the teacher

Yes Somehow No

Know the subject matter

_____ _____ _____

Implement feedback activities

_____ _____ _____

Monitor students’ activity

_____ _____ _____

Correct students _____ _____ _____

Take notes on students performance

_____

_____

_____

Participate in the activities implemented

_____

_____

_____

3. Did the students

Yes Somehow No

Listen attentively

_____ _____ _____

Work alone

_____ _____ _____

Work in trios, pairs or teams

_____ _____ _____

Deliver an evidence of learning collaboratively

_____ _____ _____

Make physical movements

_____ _____ _____

Classroom Observation Form

65

Open Ended – (Form A)

Faculty________________________

Date of observation________________

Peer Observer__________________

1. Development of learning objectives:

Are objectives for the class given verbally, written, or not at all?

Are specific instructional outcomes used?

Are objectives discussed at the end of class?

2. Selection and use of instructional materials:

Do films, websites, and other audiovisual materials have a clear purpose?

Are handouts appropriate in number and subject?

Since the text may be pre-selected, does instructor give help with reading or using the text, if necessary?

3. Educational climate for learning:

Are students AND teacher interested and enthusiastic?

Does the instructor use student names?

Is humor used appropriately?

Does instructor not embarrass or belittle students in any way?

Is the atmosphere of the classroom participative?

Did the instructor have eye contact with students?

4. Variety of instructional activities:

Does timing of classroom activities consider attention spans?

Does instructor involve students in deciding what issues to discuss?

5. Preparation for class session:

Provide examples that show preparation by instructor.

Do students know what preparation (reading or other assignments) they should have completed prior to class?

6. Instructional methods:

List instructor activities.

Did the opening gain the class’s attention? Did it establish rapport?

Did the opening outline the topic and purpose of the lecture?

Is the delivery paced to students’ needs?

66

Does the instructor introduce topic, state goals, present material or activity effectively, summarize, and give assignment or suggest an idea to consider before the next class?

Could the instructor be seen and heard?

Were key points emphasized?

Were explanations clear to students?

Were examples, metaphors, and analogies appropriate?

Was the lecture stimulating and thought provoking?

7. Opportunity for student participation:

List students’ activities.

Does instructor encourage students to summarize and add to other’ summaries?

Does instructor help quieter students interact with others?

8. Individualization of instruction:

Are the emotional, physical, and intellectual needs of students met?

Does the instructor prompt awareness of students’ prior learning and experiences?

Does the instructor offer “real world” application?

Is the instructor available before or after class?

Does the instructor relate class to course goals, students’ personal goals, or societal concerns?

9. Responsiveness to student feedback:

Is the instructor paying attention to cues of boredom and confusion?

Does the instructor encourage or discourage questions (dissension)?

Does the instructor provide students opportunity to mention problems/concerns with the class, either verbally or in writing?

10. Learning difficulties:

Does a student need assistance for a temporary or permanent disability?

Are one or more students not motivated or unable to follow the class?

Does the instructor show favoritism?

Are students able to see visual aids?

Does one group dominate discussion and hinder others’ participation?

Taken from: Classroom observation instruments. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2013, from University of

Minnesota website: http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/resources/peer/instruments/

Classroom Observation Form

67

Scale — (Form C)

Faculty_________________________ Date of Observation_________________

Peer Observer___________________

Development of learning objectives:

Are objectives for the class given verbally, written, or not at all?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Are specific instructional outcomes used?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Are objectives discussed at the end of class?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Selection and use of instructional materials:

Do films, websites, and other audiovisual materials have a clear purpose?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Are handouts appropriate in number and subject?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Since the text may be pre-selected, does instructor give help with reading or using the text if

necessary?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Educational climate for learning:

Are students AND teacher interested and enthusiastic?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Does the instructor use student names?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Is humor used appropriately?

68

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Does instructor not embarrass or belittle students in any way?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Is the atmosphere of the classroom participative?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Did the instructor have eye contact with students?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Variety of instructional activities:

Does timing of classroom activities consider attention spans?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Does instructor involve students in deciding what issues to discuss?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Preparation for class session:

Provide examples that show preparation by instructor:

Do students know what preparation (reading or other assignments they should have completed

prior to class?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Instructional methods:

List instructor activities:

Did the opening gain the class’ attention? Did it establish rapport?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Did the opening outline the topic and purpose of the lecture?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Is the delivery paced to students’ needs?

69

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Does the instructor introduce topic, state goals, present material or activity effectively, summarize,

and give assignment or suggest an idea to consider before next class?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Could the instructor be seen and heard?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Were key points emphasized?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Were explanations clear to students?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Were examples, metaphors, and analogies appropriate?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Was the lecture stimulating and thought provoking?

Not Demonstrated Needs Improvement Satisfactory Outstanding N/A

Opportunity for student participation:

List students’ activities:

Taken from: Classroom observation instruments. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2013, from University of

Minnesota website: http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/resources/peer/instruments/

Check List and Report on Teaching Practice

70

Teacher to be Observed

Place of Examination Primary Secondary Further

Level of Class Elementary Intermediate Advanced

Average Age Number of years of study of English

Number in Class Date Time

Any further relevant information about type, size, etc., of class and local conditions, e.g., aids and materials available.

Aim of Lesson

Personal Qualities *Grade Comments

Personality – ‘Presence’ general style

Ability to establish rapport

Voice-Audibility, ability to project

Command of Language *Grade Comments

Correctness of Structure Vocabulary Register

General Intelligibility including adequacy of pronunciation

Fluency

Sensitivity to pupils’ level of language

Preparation *Grade Comments

Lesson plan, balance and variety of activities, Timing

Clarity, limitation and specification of aim

Suitability of materials and methods for level and type of class

Execution *Grade Comments

Techniques of class management

Progress through the lesson, changes in activity, pace, etc.

Presentation of materials; Meaningful, motivated, contextualized, appropriately staged

Questioning: graded, directed appropriate

Controlled practice: choral-individual

Ability to foster genuine language use

71

Awareness and correction of errors

Use of blackboard or equivalent

Use of other aids

Maintenance of interest

Involvement and encouragement of learners

Checking of learning

Achievement of aims

Ability to adapts and extemporize (if necessary)

Structure and handling of: Understanding Lexis Phonology

Handling of text, dialogue, etc., if presented

Summarizing Comments

Overall Assessment (Write A, B, C, or D)*

Examiner´s signature and name Name:

Signed: Date:

Taken from: Wallace, Michael. (1991). Training Foreign Language Teachers. A reflective approach.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Teacher to be observed: ___________________________________

72

Place of examination – School:

______________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________

Date: ____________________________ Time:____________________________

SECTION 1

Using the notes provided by the candidate comment below on his/her preparation with reference to:

S* Comments

a) the relevance to the school

curriculum and to the social/

cultural needs of the learners

b) the degree of integration with

ongoing work

c) the analysis of the learning

demands of the lesson

d) the learning objectives for

this lesson

e) the analysis of the English

language demands of the lesson

f) the linguistic objectives for

this lesson and their relevance

to the linguistic level of

English language competence and

needs of individual learners/

groups of learners

g) the appropriateness of the

selection of materials

h) the appropriateness of

planning of activities

i) the appropriateness of

the organisation of the class

j) an overall anti-racist perspective

73

SECTION 2

Comment on the candidate´s ability to support the English language development of bilingual

learners by providing: S* Comments

a) clear instructions and models

of English language usage

b) effective teacher/pupil interaction

c) effective organisation and

management of the whole class

d) a variety of activities

e) effective materials

f) support for understanding

g) opportunities for learners to

apply their existing skills

and knowledge

h) opportunities for developing

English language use

i) opportunities for peer group

interaction

j) effective monitoring of learning

k) a sensitive environment for

individual learners and their

communicative needs

Taken from: Wallace, Michael. (1991). Training Foreign Language Teachers. A reflective approach.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

74

Trainee´s name: _________________________ Class: _______________________

Observer’s name: ________________________ School: ______________________

Date: ________________________

Time: ________________________

Summary grades

Outs

tandin

g

Com

pete

nt

Inadequate

Insuff

icie

nt

info

rmation

Trainee´s familiarity with class:

FURTHER COMMENT

PERSONAL QUALITIES

1. Presence/style

2. Voice

3. Rapport

PLANNING

4. Shape and balance of activities

5. Aims and objectives: specification

6. Aids/materials/methods: suitability

7. Anticipation of difficulties

IMPLEMENTATION

8. General class management

9. Introduction and Presentation techniques

10. Questioning techniques

11. Language skills development

12. Teaching aids

13. Teaching materials

14. Awareness/treatment of error

15. Smoothness of flow

16. Ability to adapt/extemporise

17. T´s language: model/level

18. Achievement of aims/objectives

EVALUATION

19. Ability to evaluate own performance

20. Ability to respond constructively to evaluation from others

OVERALL GRADE (D/P/F)

Taken from: Wallace, Michael. (1991). Training Foreign Language Teachers. A reflective approach.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

75

Example of a lesson plan format

Date: Grade Level:

Unit: Lesson:

Ressources and materials:

Stages Learning objectives and activities Strategies

Warm up

Presentation

Practice

Production

Feedback

Forms of assessment:

76

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