TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook

Observation Report
Forms for inclusion in the Observation Notebook must be typed

Name of Observer Tomomi Yuma

Date October 11
Observation Environment

Observation # 9
Class Level/Number (Beg./Int./Adv.) Begging (100 level) Teacher Amal Houck

(include URL if the class was online)

Class Skill/Content

Classroom

Grammar

Focus on relevant areas from the What Can Be Observed handout. Notice how the teacher handles these areas during the class. OBJECTIVE OF THE LESSON: Students will identify possessive pronouns. Students will apply rules which they learned before. Notes while observing:

Another paper

(continue on back)

Last Updated: 11/5/2013 7:57 PM

TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook
What did you learn about teaching or learning from this lesson? Discuss your observation focus, and the theory you have studied in your TESOL classes. Consider the three levels of teacher reflection (surface, pedagogical, critical). (100-200 words)

In this grammar lesson, the teacher used a drill which required students to fill in blanks in a sentence with a correct possessive pronoun. Students did not need to understand the meaning of the sentences. They could answer correctly if they knew the gender and number of the subject. This kind of drill which does not need understanding is called a mechanical drill. This drill is used in a grammar lesson to help students learn the forms of the new pattern (Paulston and Bruder, 1976, p. 39). Because mechanical drills are inherently boring, Paulston and Bruder recommend that they should take no more than two minutes (p. 39). The teacher in this class spent about 30 minutes for the mechanical drills. The target structures were introduced in the previous lesson, so some students finished the drills quickly and became bored. However, most of the students still had difficulties in choosing correct possessive pronouns. The teacher checked each student and gave advice. The time was much longer than some researchers recommend for mechanical drills, but clearly the students in the classroom needed more time to struggle with the drills. The teacher chose to spend time in class to ground the students well in the target structures even if some looked bored. Students who cannot complete mechanical drills cannot perform meaningful and communicative drills. It is important for teachers to decide what and how to teach and how much time to spend according to their own students. Teachers need to be flexible enough to adopt and ignore popular teaching theories and techniques.

Last Updated: 11/5/2013 7:57 PM

TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook
What activities/techniques from this class do you want to remember for your own teaching practice? Discuss specific ways in which you could apply the techniques and methods you saw. Discuss your future teaching environment and your students needs and goals. (100-200 words)

I was very surprised that students were highly motivated to perform an activity which required them to correct a mistake in a sentence. They worked on this exercise with other students and talked about English grammar to find a mistake. I thought this kind of activity was boring, but they enjoyed correcting mistakes. In Japan, many researchers recommend teachers not to use this activity because it gives students wrong input. However, if this is used in a group or pairs, the mistakes are corrected immediately. The correction raise students awareness and makes them remember the correct form. The activity could be useful for focus on form. In my future teaching, I want to use this activity to supplement formal instructions. When I have more than 40 students in class, I cannot check each of them or explain the target structures again and again. The activity where students talk about the target structures can provide them with explanation they need.

References Paulston, C., and Bruder, M. (1976) Teaching English as a second language: Techniques and procedure. Cambridge: Winthrop Publishers.

Last Updated: 11/5/2013 7:57 PM