Observation Sheet Questioning

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

1. Know students and how they learn

2. Plan and implement effective teaching and

Question Type

Do you feel your questions

were clearly structured and
readily understood by the
students?

Did you use a variety of

question types?

What balances was there

between the various
questions types?

Consider both why and

when you made use of the
different question types?

-Students understood most of the questions, and responded well to

them. When students seemed uncertain, I would rephrase the
question so they could better understand it. As it was a subject I
was not familiar with, using the correct terminology when asking
my questions was sometimes difficult, however the students
seemed to understand what I was referring to.
I used a mix of open, convergent, divergent, and evaluative
questions, prompting students when necessary, attempting to
make the discussion as engaging as possible, and to explore all the
different aspects of the topic. I used a slideshow as part of the
lesson, and for most of the images I would not immediately explain
to students what they were seeing, and instead I would encourage
them to explore the possibilities.

I used mainly divergent and open style questions during the bulk
of the lesson, as I wanted students to explore all the possibilities of
each part of the discussion before moving on. Convergent
questions where students where students mainly recall
information they already know were used slightly less, and were
mainly used to as a sort of warm up to get conversation going.
I used convergent questions to introduce the lesson and get
conversation going, and to gauge what students already know
about the topic. I used open and divergent questions mainly
during the middle part of the lesson to stimulate more complex
discussion and encourage students to critically think. Evaluative
questions were used at the end of the lesson as a conclusion, to
discuss the topic more broadly and to see what new perspectives
they may have gained.

Distributing and Directing Questions

Did you recognise any

pattern in the distribution of
your questions amongst the
students? Consider
reasons for this pattern?

How have you directed

questions to the group?

Have you used wait time?

Did you make eye contact

with the group as you
directed your questions?

-I noticed about halfway into the lesson that the students near the
sides and back of the room did not participate in the discussion as
much as others, so I asked some of these students direct questions
in order to get some input from them in the discussion.
The students at the front of the room seemed to answer more
questions than others as well, however this may be because these
were generally the more vocal students in the class, and may not
have to do with where they were sitting.
-I had a PowerPoint with a series of images, and as each image
appeared I would ask the group questions like what do you think
the purpose of that machine would be? and how do you think it
functions? before revealing what each machine is called, what it
does, and how it works. I addressed some students directly when
it appeared as if they werent fully engaged in the discussion.
-I used wait time when students required more time to think
before coming up with an answer to a question, and I waited even
after a question has been answered so that I could hear more
students responses and opinions.
-Yes, when I seemed that a certain part of the room was not
responding to questions enough, I would make eye contact with
people in that group to encourage a response from them.

Reactions to Students Responses

How do you deal with
correct responses? Do you
qualify any praise given?

How do you deal with

incorrect responses? How
do you deal with students
who stumble and grope for
an answer?

-Yes, I praised students for giving good answers, and

sometimes developed further questions from a particular
answer, to encourage students to continue participating.
-With incorrect responses I would sometimes rephrase or
clarify the question to see if they can come to a different
conclusion. I would praise them for their input into the
discussion, so that they would continue to participate.

What use do you make of

the students responses to
develop the teaching point?
Have you redirected any
questions in order to add to
an initial response?

Are you the only evaluator

of the students answers?

Overall Comments

-I formulated questions in a way that would allow me to use the

responses that students give in order to further develop discussion
on each part of the topic. The point of the discussion was for
students to gain some insight into the widespread use of robotics,
so the more detailed the discussion was, the more students would
engage with the purpose of the lesson.
-Often when student answer the question correctly but do not
necessarily give a detailed answer, I would ask another question
related to their answer to get a more in-depth response.
-Other students also learn from the answers given by their peers,
particularly if more than one answer can be given for a question,
as it gives them more insight into the different elements of the
topic and different points of view.
-The mentor teacher would also listen to students answers, to
ensure that they are engaging well with the questions and the
topic.

Observation Sheet Management

(Please complete this form for both primary and secondary professional experiences and
place in your e portfolio)
Graduate Standards AITSL
Professional Practice:
1. Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
2. Planning for Effective Management

-Yes, students were well behaved and the transitions between

activities, including collecting materials, were not too disruptive or
disorderly. I did have to make some small adjustments to the
lesson while executing it to make sure it runs more smoothly.
e.g. How did the students
-Students reacted well to the lesson, and they seemed to enjoy the
react to your lesson overall
activities. They all finished the set tasks by the end of the lesson,
and to your planned
which pleasantly surprised me, as I was not sure before starting
activities?
the lesson if all students would participate. Some students wanted
to do some work on their other class project, which I allowed them
Did anything unexpected
to do once they completed the set activities.
happen?
-One student got frustrated because they kept making small rips in
Did you provide a variety of the paper, and almost gave up the activity altogether. I explained
activities?
to them that the towers would later be aimed at with catapults
anyway, so the appearance did not have to be perfect as long as
Were you satisfied with
they met the prerequisites. The student then decided to complete
your timing, particularly for
the activity after all.
the end of the lesson?
-Yes, the students all finished their towers at least five minutes
before the end of the lesson, which allowed plenty of time for
Did you feel you were able
to change things if needed? students to pack up all their work and clean their workstations.
-Yes, I did have to make some small changes in how the resources
were going to be distributed to make it happen in a more orderly
fashion. I also had to specify the order in which students
completed different parts of their tower, as some students were
attempting to cut out the windows before completing other more
important elements, thus I told students that the windows had to
be done last.
-The actual school disciplinary policy was difficult to get a copy of,
Were you aware of
and was in the process of being re-worked. I did however know
classroom procedures and some of the ways that the school disciplined students who
school disciplinary policy?
misbehaved, such as the buddy class system, where disruptive
How much did you know
students were sent to do their work in an upper school class if they
about your students?
were too disruptive to the lesson in their own class. I also knew
the basic rules of what is allowed and not allowed in the
classroom. I had a general idea of the culture of each class, and
Was your lesson plan
effective for managing the
class?

How did your mentor

teacher maintain a safe
learning environment?
What strategies did your
observe your mentor
teacher using to maintain
this?

some of the more vocal students, but with the amount of classes
and the short time span, it was difficult to get to know each
student.

-The mentor teacher maintained a safe learning environment by

ensuring that students did not use hazardous tools unsupervised,
and that students knew how to use the tools safely. They also
regularly checked on students to ensure that they were doing the
right thing.

Maintaining a Positive Attitude in the Classroom

How did you demonstrate to
the students that you valued
them, and enjoyed
learning?
e.g. Tone of voice, facial
expression, sense of
humour, introduction to
students and topic.

Which aspects of your

teaching style do you feel
helped you maintain class
attention?
e.g. Variety of activities,
class or group discussion,
pace of lesson, interest at
class level.

Did the students know what

was expected of them?

- For both the secondary classes, I ensured that my lessons were at

least somewhat relevant to their current topics. I discussed realworld applications of robotics with the year 11 class, as they were
building robots, and castle sieges for the year 9 class, as they
building catapults. This meant that students would not feel as if
their learning is being disrupted. I used a respectful tone to speak
to students at all times, and I tried to make the activities as
relevant and interesting as possible.

I think walking around the classroom and checking on progress,

especially with students who get distracted easily, helped to keep
the class on task. In most cases, I also waited for all students to be
quiet before giving them more instructions. I planned the lesson
so that the lesson did not just involve doing the activity. I gave
students some background information on castle sieges and
catapults, as well as an explanation on the smartboard with
pictures and diagrams of how castle sieges usually work, so that
students had some context for the activity I had them do, which
was to make a castle tower that they can stick in the ground and
aim at with their catapult.
-Students behaved rather well, and listened when I gave them
instructions. Students knew to return things they used after they
were done with them, and knew how to safely use equipment.
They did need some of the instructions repeated, but they were
able to follow them, and all students completed the tasks.
-Some students appeared to be slightly unruly, but checking up on

Were you able to redirect

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

them regularly and asking them questions about their work

helped to keep them focused on the activity. Giving students the
opportunity to be as creative as they wanted with things such as
the amount of windows and turrets for their tower helped to keep
them interested in the activity, and some very creative final
products were the result.

Dealing with Minor Misbehaviour

Were you aware of what
was happening in all parts
of the classroom? Did you
know what each student
was doing?

-Walking around and helping students with their work helped me

get an idea of what each student was doing and at what stage of
the activity they were at. As the classroom itself was so large, and
there were seats along the walls as well as in the centre, it was
sometimes difficult to know what was happening at all times.
Students mostly sat in friendship groups, which made it easier to
keep track of the class, as I could see the work of a few students at
a time as I helped students with any problems they had. If a
group appeared to be disruptive, it was easy enough to move
towards them and see what they were up to.

Did you take any action

when you observed poor
behaviour? Why? Why
not?

-When student misbehaved, in most cases I made it clear to them

that it was not the right thing to do, and direct them toward
something else they could do instead. When students made
unnecessary mess in their work station, I made them clean it
before they went to their recess, and when some students went on
their phones, I told them they could use them later, as they were
getting distracted.

Did you use non-verbal

cues? e.g. Contact, pause,
gesture, movement toward
student/s concerned.

-When I noticed any of the groups misbehaving or getting

distracted while working on the activity, I would move toward the
group so that they were aware that I saw their behaviour, and
often I would bring their attention back to their work by asking
them about it and checking whether or not they needed any help.
If I was giving instructions and students werent listening, I would
pause and wait until I had their attention again.

Overall Comments

Schools as text looking at the whole school

Describe the school in terms of
its demographics, appearance
and resources (be general here
and do not name the school).

What were the roles and

responsibilities of the teaching
staff you observed?

After discussion with your

mentor teacher describe how
policies and processes of
government, administration and
schools have an affect on the
work of the teacher?

Students

-The school is very large, and has many classrooms being

renovated and improved. The school currently has over
1300 students, and has a large amount of teaching staff as
well. There is a different staff room for each teaching area,
as the number of staff in the school is too large to be
contained in a single staff room. The school has excellent
resources, including a library, a gym, home-economics
classrooms with kitchens in them, large design and
technology classrooms with plenty of machinery, literacy
programs such as The Soundway for younger students
and older students who are struggling, as well as targeted
learning programs.
Each teacher has duty once or twice a week, during which
time they make sure that students dont get into too much
trouble. Teachers get assigned to a specific area due to the
size of the school, thus multiple teachers would be on duty
across the school campus. The teachers have to take the
roll for each class, as they often have different classes each
lesson. Teachers also have to ensure that students are
wearing the uniform correctly, and make sure that the
classroom environment is as safe as possible. The mentor
teacher I was with for the week had IT classes with year
elevens and twelves, in which he had to assess the TAFE
courses they were doing in class time, and make sure that
students did not copy anyone elses work. Teachers also
have to discuss what classes to run in following semesters
for the maximum amount of student to participate in them.
-The funding of schools can often restrict the minimum
amount of students in a class, and if this minimum is not
achieved, the class is not run. With TAFE courses run
within school hours, the teacher is not allowed to teach the
students to do the work, as they are only a facilitator who
marks the work and checks for students copying work, thus
greatly limiting the teachers role in the class. The work the
teacher is able to do also greatly depends on the resources
they have available to them. When a teacher has good
resources, they are able to provide more opportunities and
experiences for their students. When a teachers resources
are limited, it limits the opportunities and experiences they
are able to offer their students.

What did you observe nonteaching staff doing to support

teaching and learning in the
school?

You will have observed the

diverse nature of your classes.
How was this diversity
supported?

Non-teaching staff at the school would support teaching

and learning by ensuring that the school environment is
safe and clean. Library staff play an important role as
the library provides students with any books they may
need, and the staff ensure that it is well maintained and
organised. Administration and student services staff
play an important role as well, as they ensure that the
day-to-day inner workings of the school run smoothly.

- The classes that I was in during my second week had

students with a range of different backgrounds and
abilities. Some students spoke English as their second
language, some had learning disabilities such as autism
and ADHD, others had lower literacy levels, and some
were disengaged from their learning.
-The school had a range of programs to help students and
give them extra support if they are struggling in their
studies. The school had the Big Picture program, which
helped students who did not engage in their learning to
find motivation, by allowing them to create their own
curriculum in a way that suits them, thus encouraging
them to take responsibility for their own learning, and
letting them feel as if they have more choice in their
education. Another program the school has is the
Targeted Learning program, which helps students with
learning disabilities and low literacy and numeracy levels,
as well as students who may struggle with English not
being their first language. The program encourages
students to set goals, and allows them to learn at their
own pace.

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

The school shares the local oval and tennis courts with the
community, as they are located next to the school. The
parking lot next to the oval and tennis courts is also being
used by school students and staff, as the schools own
parking lot is not large enough and is currently being
renovated.
The school website is also a tool that the school uses to
connect with the broader community and to inform them
about the inner workings of the school, including the
school values, information about specialised programs, as
well as the curriculum content of the courses that the
school runs. The website also gives the wider community
information about recent events within the school, such as
sporting events and the school ball.
The laser cutter at the school was also used to make
students who asked a gift for their fathers on fathers day.

What do you think the function

of school is?

I think the function of school is not just to give students

basic literacy and numeracy skills. Schools also act as a
social environment, and play an important role in how well
students can communicate and work with their peers.
Some students may form lifelong friendships during their
time in school. Schools teach students what behaviour is
appropriate at what times (e.g. inside voice, and listening
when someone is speaking), and teaches students to treat
others in a respectful manner. School exposed students to
ideas and concepts that they may have had no knowledge
of before, and teaches students how to critically analyse any
new information they are presented with before simply
accepting it as fact. Education can also give students
opportunities that they may not previously have had.
Schools also prepare students for life, by teaching them to
be critical, reflective, resilient, and tolerant members of
society.