and places?

” My cooperating teacher tried to engage all the students in the activity but initially found it hard
to keep them focused on the lesson because of my presence and she became a little flustered, this according
to Richards & Farrell (p. 91) is not unusual as “the presence of an observer in the classroom sometimes
influences the nature of the lesson.” This only lasted for a several minutes and then my cooperating teacher
took control of the students using non verbal and verbal methods to gain their attention.

My cooperating teacher was kind to the students and referred to them as ‘children’. She called them by their
names if she was addressing them directly. She called them by their names, nodded and smiled at them
when she asked them a question and waited patiently for the answer. She also called them by their names
to praise them for participating in the discussion, often she would say “ well done, Jacey” “good boy Bobby”
On two occasions, she would snap her fingers at the boy closest to her and say “Jack” in reprimand when
he fidgeted while maintaining eye contact and continuing to listen patiently to another student.

The students responded to my cooperating teachers verbal and non verbal methods and some would put up
their hand when they wanted to answer a question. The lesson was engaging for the students and they
seemed to enjoy sitting around the whiteboard and discussing and predicting what the images on it meant
using nouns and verbs while the teacher prompted them from time to time.

Emerging patterns

Jack was named most often and was the recipient of the most eye contact, in reprimand and in
encouragement.
Vasiliki contributed the least to the discussion and needed prompting often to participate in class activities.
My cooperating teacher used non verbal methods such as, smiling, nodding and direct eye contact to
encourage Vasiliki’s participation. Vasiliki being a new arrival did not participate as much as the other
students and relied heavily on my cooperating teacher’s non verbal form of communication.

Conscious and subconscious behaviours

When discussing my data with the teacher we concluded that the attending strategies such as the eye contact
in approval, when she was directly speaking with the students and as a reprimand were all she used
consciously in her everyday interactions with the students as part of her behaviour management strategies.

Reflection

At the end of the lesson, upon reflection I noted that my cooperating teacher’s attending strategies differed
from mine. While she referred to the students as ‘children’ when they walked into the room and sat down, I
refer to them as boys and girls or stage 3 when I am talking to the whole class. I thought the way my
cooperating teacher made direct eye contact when attending to behaviour was very affective. She never
raised her voice and was calm at all times and just said the child’s name if they misbehaved. However when
she was interacting with a child and another one interrupted, she would snap her fingers and continue with
her discussion. This prompted me to reflect on my attending strategies in the classroom and realised that I
don’t do that. I tend to stop what I am saying or doing and focus on the misbehaving child. This does disrupt
the flow of the lesson and the students thought process.

‘
 Observation Task 2 Monday 27th August 2018

Lesson Planning Week 5

Topic Persuasive writing

Year Grade 1

Duration 1 hour (12.10 – 1.10)

In order to observe this lesson at the very beginning from the planning stage, I noted that the teacher had
written on the board a learning intention and success criteria on the board. When I questioned the teacher
on whether she had prepared a lesson plan, she told me that there was no need as she had a term program
that she used which was broken down into weeks rather than individual lessons. Upon analysing the program,
I realised that each week had the necessary elements of a lesson plan. In addition to the learning intentions
and success criteria visible on the board, the teacher also had a list of interesting words for the students to
use in their sentences.

Learning intention: Success Criteria:

Write a message that persuades I can write 2 or 3 sentences that link to the topic
I can write 1 or more compound sentences
I can use full stops and capital letters
The program contained:

English outcomes and ESL scales

KLA content – Persuasive writing

Resources

Language focus: The four language skills -Writing and representing- using adjectives, interesting words,
spelling, grammar & punctuation. Reading – predicant and questioning what is read. Speaking &
Listening –sharing ideas, questioning, responding and retelling.

Assessment strategies:

In her assessment folder, the teacher has a column next to each child’s name which she uses to take notes
on each child’s participation, understanding and progress during each lesson.

In addition at the end of the writing lesson, she asked me to help her mark the students work and give them
immediate feedback using used the two stars and a wish.

Consultation with the teacher

Prior to the lesson my cooperating teacher explained to me the objective of the lesson was for the students
to meet the success criteria. My cooperating teacher shared with me that she had previously completed this
lesson but had to revisit it, with the focus being on using full stops and capital letters, as well as linking the
sentences to the topic, because the students did not exhibit enough understanding previously and did not
enjoy the lesson.
Because the students had struggled with understanding the concepts in the previous lesson, the teacher
explained that she had changed her teaching strategy and this time focused more on their oral skills and pair
work. First she modelled a persuasive sentence and discussed it with the class. She then allowed them to
work in pairs and share ideas. In pairs, students discussed their persuasive sentences and came up with
interesting words together. They read their sentences to each other and made changes while my cooperating
teacher read out some of the words on the board for them to use in their sentences. The students were
engaged and motivated as they read their sentences to the rest of the class.

The teacher had established a positive learning environment, it was clear from observing the lesson that the
students were comfortable with my cooperating teacher and happy in the classroom.

My cooperating teacher utilised strategies in the classroom which allowed the students to work together in
groups, this opportunity promoted communication and permitted the students to bounce ideas off each other.
This shifted the focus of the lesson from independent work which didn’t allow for interaction. The students
were motivated and engaged in their learning.

My cooperating teacher wrote an example of a persuasive sentence on the board using high modality words;
in this instance the teacher realistically contextualised language. My cooperating teacher used formative
assessment throughout the lesson to check for comprehension and learning; she sat with each group in turn,
listened to their dialogue, asked them questions and checked their sentences. To end the lesson, the students
shared their sentences with the rest of the class.

Look at the hypothetical answer to the question; is it worth planning a lesson?

Richards & Farrell (2013, p.63) believe that lesson are blueprints for action and that lesson plans have to on
occasion be adjusted and renegotiated according to things that occur during the lesson itself. As a teacher I
can relate to A, D & E, while it is important to have a plan with learning intentions, goals students should be
working towards and learning activities outlining how this will occur, I believe that a rigid lesson plan with too
much detail does not allow the teacher the flexibility to adjust lessons to suit the students needs and will not
allow the teacher the opportunity to learn to teach without relying heavily on a lesson plan. In addition to that,
writing lesson plans with too much detail is time consuming and unnecessary.

A lesson plan format that I would use would not be one that requires too much unnecessary detail, for e.g.,
needing to know the grade of the students, their level, language focus or profile as this information would be
unnecessary as it would already be in my program. In addition to this, this detail heavy lesson plan would not
allow for changes that occur due to the fluid nature of the classroom.

Reflection

As a classroom teacher I do not rely on lesson plans but plan all my lessons based on my program/unit of
work which has all the necessary qualities for effective teaching and learning. I always have a plan on how I
am going to run the lesson, I like the structure of a well organised lesson and make sure I plan for the lesson
in advance. From observing my cooperating teachers lesson, I did like the way she revisited the previous
lesson because she wasn’t happy with the student’s commitment and engagement. She not only went over
the lesson again but had reflected on her teaching strategies and adapted them to maximise student
engagement and learning. As a teacher this is something I need to learn to do, I don’t reflect as often as I
should on my lessons.
 Observation Task 3 Tuesday 28th August 2018

Giving Instructions Week 5

Topic Writing/Sequencing a Narrative

Year Grade 3

Duration 1 hour (10-11)

This language lesson focused on year 3 students writing a narrative using the structure of an orientation,
complication and resolution. This was the third lesson, with the first two lessons focusing on what imaginative
texts were and their structure. The teacher had shown the students examples of short narratives based on
visual prompts. She had shown them what the orientation should contain, and what the complication
(problem) and resolution (solution) contained. In this lesson she focused on having students write their own
orientation using a visual prompt. The teacher provided students with examples of narratives, by watching
Harry the Dirty Dog read by Betty White. Then she gave the student’s different narrative paragraphs
sequencing activity to complete on art paper. At the end of the sequencing activity the teacher gave them a
narrative writing prompt.

Phase of Predicted Instructions Scripted Instructions Comments

lesson
Setting the Opening –
task/ “Now that we have finished
Stimulation watching this story you are
going to work in pairs to put
another narrative into the correct
order.”
“Work with the person next to
Giving you. Discuss which order you
Instructions/ think the paragraphs should be
Checking in.” “How do you know this
understanding paragraph belongs here?”
“Now that you all have finished
sequencing the narrative, I will
put one that has already been
Closing/ put into the correct order and we
Wrapping up will mark them together.”
‘What happened in the story we Instructions can’t stand
just watched?’ alone, they need to be
What happened first? accompanied by
Who can tell me what the problem questions, to gauge
was?” student understanding.
How was the problem resolved?” The teacher questioned
the students after
watching Harry the
Dirty Dog to tap into the
“Now boys and girls you are going
previous lesson and
to work in groups of 4 to put this
what the students
narrative into the right order.”
remember and know
“There are 4 paragraphs and you
prior to the lesson.
must read them to each other and
work out which paragraph should
The teacher gave
be placed first.”
explicit instructions, on
“Read the paragraph, what is it
what the students had
telling you? Is it introducing the
to do, who they were
characters? “What is happening
working with and how
in that paragraph?””Again make
they were going to
sure you read the paragraphs to
sequence the narrative
each other once you finished
paragraphs “Read the
sequencing them into their correct
paragraph”. She
order.”
sometimes repeating
“Now that you have all finished herself to make sure
sequencing your paragraphs into student’s understood
their correct order, I will put up a what was expected of
copy of the narrative correctly them.
sequenced on the board and we
will check if it is in the right order.”
Follow
up/closure “I am going to give you writing
prompt and I want you to try to
write an orientation with the
person next to you.”
“Remember an orientation has
“who, what, where and when.” It
tells us what the story is going to
be about.”
“How you are you doing?”
“You’re on the right track; keep
up the good work boys and
girls.”
“If you need help, put your hand
up and I will come around and
help you.”
“Would you like to share your
work with the rest of the class?”
“Next lesson we will start writing
the problem to our narratives.”
“Now that we have finished
sequencing the activity, we are
going to write our very own
orientation.”
“Who can tell me what the
orientation needs to have?
“Thank you for putting your hand
up Jasmine” That’s good
manners.” (Jai called the answer
out)
“Well done...Jasmine (making
direct eye contact with her) yes, it
has who, what, where and when.”
“Yes Ali... it does tell us what is
going to happen in the story.
Great job.
“Now boys and girls...listen
carefully...You are going to work
with the people on your table and
together you will write an
orientation using the writing
prompt I have put on your desk.”
“Each table has a different writing
prompt, so you will all be writing a
different orientation.” “I will be
coming around and helping you.”
(One group is taking too long to
finish, their discussions are
relevant). Teacher notices this.
“You are doing a great job, but
you need to work faster.”
“Well done, now that you have
finished.... I want each group to
share their orientation with the
rest of the class.”
The teacher gives
explicit instructions on
the activity, letting
students know what
they need to do.
Teacher instructs
students on how to
behave during lessons
indirectly by praising
Jasmine for doing the
right thing, rather than
saying anything to Jai
for calling out. She
praises students for
trying and always
addresses them by
their names when
talking to them to give
them a sense of
importance.
Lesson is very guided
with explicit instructions
given all the time. The
teacher speaks clearly
and enunciates her
words to ensure
understanding.
The collaborative group
work/interaction
between the students
provides them with the
opportunity to critique
assess each other’s
work and learn from
one and another.

After the lesson

My predicted instructions were quite different to those of my cooperating teacher. While I gave the students
instructions on what they needed to do, my cooperating teacher gave instructions that were quite explicit,
explaining the content and the sequence of the lesson. The instructional phase of the lesson was my
cooperating teacher engaging students in the language lesson by providing them with a story to watch online,
identifying parts of a narrative and its correct structure. She asked them questions to elicit their understanding
of narratives and their purpose. I didn’t do that in my predicted instructions. The narrative the students
watched engaged them and demonstrated what a narrative looks like and sounds like, its sequence. This
was then modelled by the whole class through collaboratively sequencing the narrative paragraph activity
and the writing of their orientation.

The patterns I observed during the lesson, was the teachers tendency to repeat instructions to make sure
students understood given instructions. The teacher did not modify her language but used language that
students needed to learn and remember and told them what they meant “resolution/solution”,
“complication/problem.” Group work was an essential part of the lesson with students working collaboratively
the entire time. Another pattern that emerged was student grouping. Students worked in groups the entire
time which encouraged active rather than passive learners, communication, engagement and collaborative
skills.
Chunk of teacher instruction for simplification

• Now boys and girls you are going to work in groups of 4

• Again make sure you read the paragraphs
• I want each group to share their orientation with the rest of the class
• You will write an orientation using the writing prompt I have put on your desk
• Teacher could have used the visual support of body language and hand gestures to communicate with the
students
• Jai put your hand before speaking

Features of instructions

Eliciting more responses from students would have allowed the students to take more responsibility for their
learning. Attending behaviour, more visual support and modelling would be useful in guiding the teacher
towards a more effective instruction giving. The teacher effectively activated the student’s prior knowledge
and memory from previous lessons was by asking concept questions and allowed for student to engage in
the lesson.

Possible paradigm for instruction giving

• Give Instructions
• Stage briefly the overall nature of the task
• Organise seating/groups
• Monitor understanding
• repeat/rephrase as necessary

All the possible paradigms for instruction giving mentioned above were used by the teacher in the classroom
to making learning and understanding attainable by the students. Instructions were clear; students knew what
the task was and who to work with. I believe that even though instructions were given well, the students
could have benefited more from broken down instructions. The teacher could have given ongoing instructions
throughout the lesson to establish student’s engagement and contribution. Grouping was already established
as students were required to work with the other student’s on their table. I believe that all learning
environments should be flexible, students would have benefited from having the choice of working
independently, in pairs on groups. That would have challenged and motivated the students further.

The paradigm was reflected in my predicted instructions but my instructions were not clear enough for a
language class. My instructions were too short and were not segmented and this would have achieved better
understanding. It would have benefited the students if I had given my instructions in small chunks and been
more explicit in my instructions to ensure the students knew what their goals were.

Gower & Walters (1988:37) and Reflection

As a teacher my view differs from that of Gower & Walters (1988:37). While scripted instructions may not be
necessary for everyone, they do not slow things down nor are they time wasting. On the contrary, scripted
instructions allow for better understanding and student involvement as they process the given instructions.
However while I don’t believe that instructions should be below the level of the language being taught,
instructions should be simple and concise to allow for better understanding. Even though learner’s receptive
language is higher than their expressive or written language, it is far more productive for students to
understand and follow simple instructions in order to meet their intended goals and outcomes.

After observing this lesson and comparing the teacher’s instructions to my own predicted instructions, I have
come to realise that while I am aware of the process of instruction giving, I need to make sure my instructions
are more explicit, guided and broken down into small chunks for the language learner to better process and
follow.
 Observation Task 4 Tuesday 28th August 2018

The language of questions Week 5

Topic Reading

Year Grade 5

Duration 1 hour (12.10-1.10)

Teacher questions Question types

1. What were we doing last week? TQ + SA A
2. How did you write that story? TQ + SA A
3. Where did you get those words from? TQ + SSA A
3. What was the video about? TQ + SSA A
4. Can you explain to me how you managed to write so much, you don’t TQ +SSA A
normally write so much.
5. Tell me about your stories, did you write them by yourself? TQ + SSA B
6. How did we work? TQ + SA A
7. So is your story the same as your friends? TQ + SA B
8. Hussein & Ivan, Who is going to read first? TQ + SA C
9. If they’re reading their version of the Rainbow Serpent, what is our job? TQ + SA A
10. What else is our job? TQ + SA A
12. What else is our job? TQ + SA A
13. Is that where you are up to Ivan? TQ + SA B
14. Is that were you are up to too, Hussein? TQ + SA B
15. Are there any comments about their story? TQ + SSA F
16. What do you think their sentences were like? TQ + SSA F
17. Now can you two share? TQ + SA B
18. Anyone want to comment on what they have written so far? TQ + SSA D
19. What was their writing like? TQ + SSA D
20. What’s different about it? TQ + SA D
Categories of question types, to classify the twenty questions above
A. Display questions
B. Yes/no questions
C. Questions that require information just presented
D. Referential questions
E. Non-–retrieval, imaginative questions
F. Open ended questions

Patterns that emerge from the above classification include (A) at the beginning of the lesson which
require students to remember and share previous knowledge. These questions were asked to
determine students had learned and remembered what they learned from the previous lesson.

During the lesson the students were asked (D) referential questions and (F) open ended questions
which were used to allow students to include more information when answering questions and gain a
better understanding.

In terms of difficulty, the questions were not hard to decipher. They were easy for the students to
understand and answer. The teacher asked many questions and none of the questions were so
difficult that they required a complex response. They were general questions that teacher’s often ask
before and during a lesson with no new vocabulary to challenge the students.

I agree with (Tollefson,1989) teachers being aware of the students cognitive ability and the challenge
complex questions may cause them, would better allow students to support student learning and their
engagement in the task.

Reflection

I think all questions differ depending on the lesson being taught and the age group of the students. Upon
observation, I appreciated how the teacher began the lesson by asking explicit questions to tap into the
student’s prior knowledge and understanding of the previous lesson. I have never given much thought as to
how I ask questions as I generally ask questions based on the concept being taught. This has made me
reflect on the questions I ask questions during my lessons and whether I could ask different questions.
 Observation Task 5 Wednesday 29th August 2018

Teaching skills and strategies: Presenting Week 5

Topic Reading /Writing

Year Grade 3

Duration 1 hour (10-11am)

The objective of this task to raise awareness of the key components of a successful lesson; the following
table outlines my observations of the teacher’s presentation phase of the lesson.

What teacher does What learners do

T asks SS to sit on the floor in front of the whiteboard SS sit on floor facing the whiteboard
(T has whiteboard ready with reading book online – and
stands by whiteboard)

Greets SS Greet T.

Chats with SS Respond to T

Warm SS up by reminding them of previous lesson by SS respond to T questions

asking questions about the book (What plants and
flowers grow) they are reading to trigger memory

T questions SS further about prior lesson to elicit more SS respond to T questions

response

T points to the whiteboard and tells students they are SS wait for T.
going to look at the title of each chapter of the book

T shows the students each chapter heading on the

whiteboard and questions students about each chapter SS respond to T – class discussion
heading in turn – asking students what the headings SS share ideas/opinions
could mean

T tells students they are going to write a question about SS respond and share questions that they might ask
the book to the author. For e.g. What are killer plants? the author.

T asks SS “who remembers our big question words?”

SS respond to teacher and answer questions “who,
T models one question using big question word “what what, where, why, how.”
are killer plants and asks SS what other big question
word could we use?” SS respond using all big question words.

T asks SS what is needed at the end of their question.

SS respond – a question mark
T instructs SS to go to their desks and write their
questions.
SS sit at their desks.
T asks SS if they think in their question their first letter SS respond to T and start writing their questions.
of the first word needs a capital

T checks SS work SS finish their questions

T tells SS who have had their work checked to stick

their picture on the whiteboard next to the plant they SS follow all of the T instructions
are asking the question about and sit on the floor.

T looks at all the SS questions on the whiteboard and SS respond to T and share their questions with the
asks SS to share their question with the rest of the class class.
(T sits on a small chair in front of SS).

T instructs SS to sit in a circle SS sit in a circle

T hands out a big to each of the SS to read and shows SS discuss contents page
them the contents page

T instructs each S to read in turn SS read a paragraph each with T support

T discusses pictures in book of each chapter SS respond

T pauses during SS reading and asks them what some SS respond and answer questions
words mean

T asks SS where the ‘bud’ of the flower is. T draws a SS point at the flower – and explain where the bud is.
flower on the board and asks SS to tell her using their
words where the bud is.

T asks to S to colour in bud S responds/colours in bud

At the end of reading – asks SS to close their books SS respond to T

T shows SS a simple cloze activity on a passage from

a page in the book and tells SS they are going to fill in SS listen to T
the blanks.

T hands out worksheets to SS and reads it to SS and SS take worksheet and looks
explains what SS need to do.

T tells SS there are five words missing and they are at SS respond to T
the bottom of the page.

T tells SS to complete worksheet with their partner at SS respond/sit at their desks

their desk

T helps struggling students by reading the sentence SS respond/write missing word.

and showing SS the words in the box.

T checks SS work and marks it. SS put their hand up when they finish/T checks work

T checks work and asks SS to glue worksheets into SS glue worksheets into books
their books

T gives students a sticker to stick on their finished work SS stick sticker on their work and close their books.
 Whiteboard Whiteboard

Students

At the beginning of the lesson the students sat on the floor in front of the whiteboard as shown on the figure
on the right while the teacher spoke to them from her position next to the whiteboard. During writing activities
the students sat at their desks while the teacher left her position next to the whiteboard and walked around
the room helping the students as shown in the figure on the right. In between the warm up and the writing,
the students sat on the floor in a circle while they read a story with the teacher.

After the lesson:

The key components of the presentation were focused on reading and writing skills. The first phase of the
lesson was controlled by questions to tap into student’s memory of previous lesson; therefore there was no
drilling that the students could practise. The purpose of this lesson was for students to learn the purpose and
structure of questions. The teacher asked many questions and prompted students to respond. Four students
were the main respondents and others listened. For this presentation phase the teacher’s voice was very
important and she used it to project when giving instructions or asking questions. She spoke clearly, slowly
and enunciated her words to ensure student understanding.

Another element of the presentation phase was the teacher’s movement and position throughout the lesson.
During analysis of the book online, the teacher held her position by the whiteboard so she could point to the
images on the whiteboard while questioning the students. While the students were working at their desks,
she walked around the room and assisted students when needed. During the group reading while the
students were seated in a circle on the floor, the teacher joined the circle, to monitor student understanding
and participation.

Reflection:

The teacher’s presentation mirrors my own teaching approach as I often use visuals on the whiteboard or
picture books to engage students in their learning. However, the teacher spent a long time on the picture
book, which the students had been exposed to in the previous lesson. Students at this age have a short
attention span, and I try not to have them sitting for that long in front of the whiteboard or in the same position.
 Observation Task 6 Wednesday 29th August 2018

Managing pair and group work Week 5

Topic Reading /Writing

Year Grade 2

Duration 1 hour (12.10-1.10)

Sub-skill Observation Comment

1/ organising Teacher establishes pair work activity Teacher creates pair work with mixed
groups, seatings, ability students
etc
a) Moving into an activity

Teacher asks students to read and sequence

activity by sticking paragraphs in correct order Teacher listens to the students read their
to create a persuasive text. paragraphs.

2/ Instructions Teacher tells students not to stick the
paragraphs down, just to read each paragraph
and place in the position they think is correct.
Teacher tells students they need to decide
3/ Appointing together whether the paragraphs strips are in
and briefing the right order.
group leaders
Teacher checks the students strips to
make sure they are in the right order
Teacher reads some of the paragraph
strips out loud to promote student
understanding
Teacher checks students work and puts
her own paragraph on the whiteboard and
asks students to read it.

1/ Monitoring Teacher makes sure students are sitting with Teacher stands at the front of the room
their correct partner and checks to see where students are
sitting.
Teacher walks around the desks and checks
b) Monitoring pair/group work

Teacher ensures student engagement

on student’s progress.

Teacher speaks to students and asks them

Teacher promotes student commitment
to read their work.
to the task.

2/ Verbal Teacher boosts student’s confidence in

Teacher praises students for the effort.
contact
Teacher asks students questions to check
understanding and engagement.
completing the task.
Teacher raises her voice to ensure the
whole class is listening to her
instructions or when dealing with
disruptive behaviour.

Teacher raises her voice to get students

3/ Teacher’s Teacher uses a low tone to speak to
attention when speaking to them.
voice, position smaller groups, so she doesn’t distract
etc. others from their work.
Teacher sits at each desk in turn and quietly
speaks to each pair about their work.
1/ Winding down
 Teacher sits close to all the students and Teacher questions students on
reads the persuasive text they put in order meanings of some words to check their
and asks them to glue it in their books. understanding.

2/ Signalling
Teacher asks all students to keep their books Teacher reminds some students of what
open and get a pencil to start their writing her instructions were.
activity.

3/ Re-orienting
C) Moving out of an activity

Teacher gives students a new topic to write Teacher asks students if they know what
about. the new activity is to ensure they all
understand what the next activity is.
Students work as a whole class to write a
joint paragraph about their pretend favourite Teacher types up student sentences
cat. about their favourite cat on the
whiteboard.
All students jointly contribute to the
paragraph Teacher types a whole paragraph on the
board using the student’s ideas.

4/ Reporting
back Students copy the completed paragraph of Teacher walks around the room and
the whiteboard. makes sure students are copying the
paragraph correctly.
Students read the paragraph in unison.
Students draw a picture of a cat in their Teacher tells students they can draw
books. and colour in their cat any colour they
want.

Teacher tells children to choose a name

for their cat and label their picture.

1. Sub-skills List

Organising groups – Seating arrangements are pre planned by the teacher to minimise disruption and
misbehaviour. Students are organised into mixed ability groups to maximise learning.

Instructions – Activity is explained explicitly and modelled. Instructions are clear and concise. Students work
in pairs to enhance and consolidate learning.

Appointing, briefing leaders – Clear instructions are given by the teacher. Students work in pairs and teacher
continuously checks students work to ensure understanding.

Monitoring – Teacher observes students as they work to ensure they are actively involved in the task and are
not struggling with understanding instructions.

Verbal contact – Teacher offers support and asks questions to confirm student understanding. Teacher
moves from desk to desk to observing and interacting with students.

Teacher’s voice, position etc – Teacher raises her voice to make an important point or to gain the groups
attention. Teacher speaks quietly to students working in pairs when helping them so as to not distract others.
Teacher positions herself at the front of the classroom to signal transition from one activity to the next.

Winding down – Signalling the end of the lesson, allow students the opportunity to finish off work.

Signalling – Clear communication ending the activity.

Re-orienting – Clear communication of next phase of the activity.

Reporting back – Encourage feedback, sharing of work, give instructions of expectations.

2. The skill of intervention

A/ A teacher monitoring a group is there to listen, help and monitor, but not to teach. FALSE, some
students may be experiencing difficulty understanding a task or concept and the teacher needs to
revisit that topic.

B/ Any teacher comment must be preceded by the teacher listening closely to the group to find out how
they are getting on. TRUE

C/ Any interaction must be initiated by the group or its members but not by the teacher. FALSE

D/ The teacher must give equal time to the groups. FALSE, some groups are more equipped to work
with minimum teacher instruction, while others may need more teacher scaffolding.

E/ The teacher must give equal time to individuals within the groups. FALSE, teacher attends to students
only when needed.

F/ The teacher must sit or crouch down so that she or he is at the same height as the students. TRUE, this
is necessary when teacher is speaking with some groups and may not want to distract others from
their work.

G/ Proxemics, eye contact and tone of voice in group work are necessarily different from those in full class
activities. TRUE

3. Ease of members during pair work

The students worked in pairs of made up of one independent worker and one less able student. The students
worked happily together, they were focused on the task, relaxed and comfortable. They easily heard the
teacher and saw the whiteboard from where they were sitting. They responded accordingly to instructions
and worked silently when required to.

4. Report back

Report back usually involves group leaders to present/share their work with the rest of the class. This
approach is not necessarily the best one, as it doesn’t allow all the participants to take responsibility for
showcasing their work. Pair work on the hand allows both students to participate in presenting their finished
work to their peers.

Reflection

Upon reflection, the teaching skills I want to aspire to are the monitoring phase and the grouping phase of
the lesson as they are both quite important for effective learning. For my own professional development as
a teacher I feel that the organisation phase is a phase I rely heavily on during teaching. I tend to organise my
students into group work and need to further improve my teaching practice by providing more opportunities
for pair work. This allows students more opportunities to collaborate with one another in a future focused
learning environment.
Observation Task 7 – The context of learning: The Institution Week 5 Thursday 30th August 2018 1
hour (2 - 3pm)

1. What language programs are offered in the institution where you are doing your practicum (e.g.
general or academic English, the Certificate in Spoken and Written English, English for Specific
Purposes)?

I am completing my practicum at Clemton Park Public School. This is a school with mainstream classes
which provide students with general academic English in every classroom. It also provides levelled EAL/D
support for children from K-6. EAL/D students are levelled according to the EAL/D progressions. Students
range in ability in English language proficiency from BICS (Students who have basic interpersonal skills to
students who are working towards cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP).

2. What kinds of students are enrolled?

At Clemton Park Public School, primary aged students who are designated within the intake area are eligible
to enrol. Children may enrol in Kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if they turn five years of age
on or before 31 July in that year. Students with disabilities are welcome to seek enrolment into regular
classes, but must be appraised for support and educational needs.

3. What kind of syllabus is used? How prescriptive is the syllabus?

The NSW syllabuses are used to program learning and teaching units for all key learning areas. In English
and Maths the syllabus is used in conjunction with the Literacy and Numeracy progressions. EAL/D students
are differentiated for using the EALD scales and EAL/D progressions to maximise learning opportunities.

4. What materials and resources are available for teachers and students?

NSW Syllabi, ESL Scales and progressions. Professional networking with other schools and through the
department of education. Professional development within the school and collegial support. ICT including
Ipads, Laptops, interactive whiteboards and educational programs. Running records to assess student
reading fluency and resource kits for new EAL/D arrivals.

5. How are students placed in classes?

EAL/D students are placed in their class according to their age. Students with learning difficulties or identified
as needing extra support are provided with more EAL/D support and attend EAL/D classes instead of
attending their community language lesson.

6. What kinds of assessment are used to evaluate student learning? What pathways can students
follow?

Assessments for EAL/D students is designed specially by the EAL/D teacher. Teacher uses diagnostic
assessment to access prior knowledge, followed by ongoing formative assessment and summative
assessment. These are recorded using the EALD progressions.

Students pathway is for them to attend primary school up until year 6 and progress to high school.

7. Is the institution government or privately funded and operated? What impact does this have on the
ethos of the institution (i.e. how is the teaching and learning affected?)

As a public school, Clemton Park is funded by the Australian government through the national education
policies, which are established by the all governments working together through the Council of Australian
Governments system. The impacts on all aspects of the educational institution, including management,
staffing, resources, class numbers, reporting and an educational registration number – ERN which is
necessary to acquire funding for EALD students.
8. Are volunteers involved in any of the programs? If so, describe their role and discuss their
contruction

There are no volunteers involved in the EAL/D program.

9. What forms of professional development are available for teachers? What is the frequency of
professional development sessions?

10. Would you like to teach in this institution? Why or why not?

I am currently a stage 3 teacher. I teach a composite 5/6 class. I would really like the opportunity to become
a specialist EAL/D teacher at Clemton Park Public school. I enjoy teaching EAL/D focussing on English and
helping students enhance their language skills, through explicit teaching and educational programs that
would aid them in gaining proficient language skills for social and educational purposes. I am passionate
about teaching and enjoy every aspect of it. The skills I have gained throughout this course have reinforced
my passion and commitment to teaching. I believe and have always believed that to be an affective teacher,
one needs to be motivated, passionate and enjoy teaching.
Observation Task 8 – General observation task Week 5 Thursday 30th August 9-10am

1.What are the lesson objectives?

 Students will discuss images in pairs

 Students will analyse and predict what is happing in images and what is going to happen next
 Students will use parts of a sentence to predict “I wonder what is happening?” “What could happen
next?
 “I predict .... because.....
 Students will write one paragraph using correct paragraph structure predicting what is going to happen
and what will happen next.
 Students will extend their vocabulary

2. What is the language focus of the lesson? How does the teacher present this?

 The language focus of this lesson is speaking, listening, reading and writing
 The teacher presents this lesson through stimulus and discussions, focusing on content and the use of
language.

3. How does the teacher start the class and warm the students up?

 The teacher greets the students and asks them to sit on mat in front of classroom
 Teacher revisits previous lesson and asks students if they remember what they were learning about
 Teacher initiates class discussion on previous lesson ‘Beth A convict Child’ and the students predictions
based on the front cover.

4. How does the teacher open and close the activity?

 Opening –
 The teacher displays an A3 image from the text Beth A convict child’ using the interactive whiteboard
 Teacher reads one page out the book – class discussion on the image on that page using prompting
questions “What is happening in this image?” “What do you think Beth is looking at?”

 Main Activity –
 Students sit in pairs at their desks
 Class discussion on A3 image on the whiteboard, predicting what is happening in the image
 Teacher gives students an image glued onto an A3 paper.
 Students brainstorm in pairs what is happening in the image and write their predictions around the
image.

 Close –
 Students share their predictions with the rest of the class.
 Students write a joint paragraph based on their predictions
 Teacher showcases students work on the wall.

5. What correction techniques does the teacher use?

 Reading and re-reading
 Repeating word
 Encouraging students to sound out words/self correct
 Encouraging students to edit each other’s work, checking spelling, grammar and punctuation
 Encourage students to provide each other with feedback. Monitoring feedback.
6. Comment on lesson pacing
 The lesson was very slow paced allowing students to process chunks of information at their own pace.
The teacher modelled and explained every aspect of the lesson, breaking it up and working slowly. The
students were engaged and enjoyed the lesson. The teacher did not rush the lesson and was very
focussed on the student’s language skills through discussions throughout the lesson. The lesson went
very well, with the teacher achieving what she wanted from the lesson.

7. How does the teacher explain vocabulary and grammar items?

 Vocabulary is explained by teacher explaining, describing and using synonyms.
 The teacher explained grammatical features by asking students questions such as; “What do you need to
put at the end of a question? When guiding the predicting language such as “I wonder...I believe”, the
teacher directed the students attention to the predicting comprehension strategy poster on the wall.
Teacher models one sentence using predicting language and writes it on the board. Teacher writes
predicting sentence starters on the board.

8. What form of positive appraisal does the teacher use?

 Students name, direct eye contact and smiling

 Well done, great job, keep trying
 Acknowledging effort
 Encouraging students to repeat and share ideas with the rest of the class
 Giving students a blue card (schools reward system) at the end of the lesson
 Sticker on work

9. How does the teacher encourage interaction among the learners? If pairs or groups are formed,
how does the teacher do this?

 Students worked in pairs

 Pairs were pre-arranged so students knew who their partner was and sat with them
 Pairs consisted of two students of differing abilities to scaffold each other’s learning and language needs
 The students working in pairs, discussed their predictions and wrote down their responses talking quietly
(using inside voices).

10. How does the teacher deal with different language levels, learning styles and cultural
backgrounds in the class?

This is addressed through the grouping of students. Students are paired according to their cultural
background. The students are placed in pairs of differing abilities (one stronger student and a weaker one)
this enables peer tutoring.

11. What teaching aids and materials are used? How and for what purposes are these used in the
lesson? How is the whiteboard organised?

 Picture book is used for reading, stimulus images and class discussions
 Super 6 Comprehension strategies posters are used to scaffold writing activities
 Stimulus pictures are used to stimulate or encourage students to predict what might be happening in that
picture
 Interactive White board is used to show stimulus image and for word bank and modelling of predicting
sentences.

12. To what extent have the lesson objectives been met?

 By observing this lesson from beginning to end, I noticed that all the lesson objectives had been met.
Students worked in pairs, discussed what they thought was happening in the stimulus picture and what
was going to happen next. They used predicting language and wrote a paragraph using the predictions.