TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook

Observation Report Form

Name of Observer: Nicholas Dotson Observation # 2

Date Observation Class Skill/Content Level Teacher

Environment*
04/13/2017 Face- Grammar Adjective 500
to_Face Clause Debbie Peterson
Pronouns

*Include the URL if the class was online

WRITE THE OBJECTIVES ACCORDING TO THE OBSERVATION GUIDELINES:

STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY (RELATIVE) ADJETCIVE CLAUSE PRONOUNS.

STUDENTS SHOULD ALSO BE ABLE TO CREATE SENTENCES THAT CONTAIN CLASUSES

USING SUBJECT PRONOUNS, OBJECT PRONOUNS, VERBS AND ADJECTIVES.

What did you learn about teaching or learning from this lesson as it relates to the theory you

have studied in your TESOL classes? Include at least one reference (with an in-text citation)

to support your response. (250-500 words)

This lesson enhanced my knowledge of designing and implementing a grammar lesson

plan, which will prove especially helpful to me later this quarter. The material of todays class

was very complex on the surface, but through careful instruction the students came to

understand it and that in turn taught me about the importance of the teachers choice of

language in providing explanation and feedback (Richards, 2011, p. 92-93). This is one of the

essential elements of class observationwhat language does the teacher use and when? The

instructor provided very detailed explanations of grammar patterns in context and provided

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 TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook
feedback to student responses that were both critical and supportive in regards to not only

comprehension of the lesson, but also to pronunciation and intonation. In correcting one student,

for example, she assured him that yes his answer was correct, but told him to slow down and

emphasize words. She instructed him to not rush as he would in Chinese. Her reasoning for this

was that there are no courses in proper pronunciation offered to teach students the proper way

to say the words they are learning. From this, I gleaned that the instructor can and should go

above and beyond his or her duties if possible to better aid student learning on multiple fronts.

From this lesson, I also observed what a principle in practice that I have been learning

about in my grammar class, which is the importance of both mechanical and meaningful drills.

The instructor first established the rule and grammar pattern and then had the students complete

an exercise aloud that helped them become familiar with the pattern. Then, the students had to

complete another exercise that required them to choose whether to use whom, who, which etc.

Lastly, the students had to apply the rule to sentences of their own creation in which they added

new information to the activity, which I noted made the activity very communicative in nature.

Lastly, I learned more on the subject of planning and using materials in observing the

class. Another teacher created the handout that the students used. It made local references to

Riverside, California as opposed to a textbook, which demonstrated the idea that more

experienced teachers can eventually employ their own authentic materials in the classroom. It

isnt always necessary or recommended to rely on textbooks (Richards, 2011, p. 57).

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 TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook

References

Richards, J. (2001). Course Planning and Syllabus Design. In J. Richards (Ed.), Curriculum
Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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