Class Observation #3

Colegio C.
July 2nd, 2009
Class: 3rd year
Age of learners: 15/16-year-olds
Observer: Yohana Solis

Aims of the lesson:

Materials used:

Instruction-giving skill

signally of beggining of activity

stating of aims

voice

eliciting information from learners

use of examples

eye movement to hold attention

mime, gesture or other body language

repeating instructions in a different way

asking questions to check understanding

use of simple language

management and organization of class

use of visual aids (e.g. board, role cards,

worksheet, pictures, real objects)

signalling of end of activity

No. of learners: 26
Length of lesson: 40 minutes
Teacher observed: GB

Even though the teacher had planned the class in advance, she had to rearrange the plan due to the school break determined
by the goverment as a consequence of the pandemic. More than half of the class was devoted to assigning homework,
however, the teacher managed to get back to the plan at least for the last ten minutes.

board, chalk and book

Circle appropriate number

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear
clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear

clear 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 unclear
 LCB – TTC – Methods2
Tasks for Teacher Education, Taner and Green, Longman, 1999
Unit 5, Task 2 Do as I say - Instruction-giving skills

Level: Intermediate

dvance, she had to rearrange the plan due to the school break determined
. More than half of the class was devoted to assigning homework,
n at least for the last ten minutes.

Comments
The T marks the beginning of an activity with
"So…" followed by the activity and the reason for
doing it.

The T was more than explicit when stating the

aims, not only of the activities carried out in class
but also of the ones assign as homework for the
School break. (Eg: "Next week you need to have
activities compensating classes, so you do these
activities at home and if you have problems, you
send me an email.")
Although her voice was low, it was pretty clear. If
I were her, I would have raised the volume when
students got noisy. Tend to rise or lower the
volume is innate in one's personality.
The T started asking questions about the book
they were reading and the movie they had seen
the previous class, but more than half of the
class was not paying attention and/or did not
consider the questions instructions to follow.
The T used body language especially for class
management (Eg: "shhhh" putting her finger over
her mouth). She didn't use examples when giving
instructions for activities, probably because they
were oral ones.
Eye contact was essential in this T's classroom
management. Discipline and interaction were
mainly handled through eye movement.
T's gestures are innate in her way of speaking.
(Eg: Pointing the book when asking questions
about it) A good deal of miming was present,
considering it was a teen’s class and not a
children's one.
T repeats instruction orally, then she writes on
the board and she shows the book's page and
the exercise.
T asks students to explain and/or summarize the
instructions given.
All the instructions were in English and she uses
simple language. She uses Spanish, only to catch
students' attention if they are misbehaving.
It was a difficult class, it was the last one before
the school break and the students were restless,
which complicated the organization even more. It
took long to calm them down when they first
arrived and she did not devote time to explaining
reasons for the break. I would have let them
express their opinion, they seem to be willing to
speak about the social situation. This would have
helped with the organization.
When assigning activities and homework she
used the book to show the pages. No topic was
delivered, therefore, no visual aids were needed.
When the bell rang, the activity was still going
on. Her explanations went on for some minutes.