Marwa El Sayed
Practicum
Observation #1
INFORMAL OBSERVATION CHECKLIST
Observer: Marwa El Sayed
Curriculum: UK National curriculum
Class: English
Grade: Year 7
Time: 11-12
Date: April 13th
NO
N/A
1. The lessons objective is understood and achieved.
2. Evidence of differentiation of instruction is present.
3. Student work and collaborate in pairs or groups.
4. When asked, students can tell the purpose of what they are doing.
5. Teacher uses hands-on materials or manipulatives.
6. Evidence of higher questioning is present.
7. All students are actively involved in the lesson.
8. Students work is displayed, current and linked to the curriculum.
9. Students are not typically completing worksheets.
10. Evidence of assessment /feedback is present.
11. Classroom is organized for instruction and is free of clutter.
12. Over all, the classroom climate is positive.
YES
A. Observed Model(s) of Teaching:
Information processing
o Inquiry-based teaching: The teacher engaged the students from the start
of the lesson with a fun warm-up activity that is closely related to the
topic of the lesson. She made heavy use of questioning techniques
throughout and used a variety of short formative assessment methods.
Socio-cultural
o Collaboration: Students worked together in pairs in one activity and in
groups in another. At one point they were asked to peer-assess each
others work.
Constructivist: Students were encouraged to construct meaning and knowledge
based on their experiences in class.
B. Observed Strengths:
Teacher talk was very minimal and included instructions to perform tasks,
otherwise the class was mainly discussion-based, where the students did most of
the talking.
The teacher integrated technology seamlessly. Students came up to the smartboard to annotate ads, an online timer was used throughout the class,
Powerpoint slides showed the learning objective for the lesson at the start. The
use of the smart board was appropriate for the tasks and not over-used. It is
evident that this is often the case as the students were very comfortable using
the technology.
The teacher explains tasks very carefully and clearly, leaving no room for
misunderstandings. She always starts explaining by making sure everyone is
attentive first. She asks them to focus on her and leave anything they are doing.
After explaining what they will do she asks for confirmation to make sure no one
is unsure before beginning the task.
Class time is used very wisely, every task is timed, and the students are well
aware of how much time they have to spend on each one. The time is visible to
everyone with the use of an online timer.
The starter activity engaged the students right at the start.
C. Observers Comments:
Within the broader umbrella of inquiry-based teaching which encompasses a
variety of different techniques, the teacher followed quite closely the 5E model
of instruction.
Namely; Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate:
o Engage - T began the lesson with an intriguing starter that aimed at
hooking the Ss attention. T called out START and the Ss were asked to
walk around the room until she said STOP at which point they face the
first person they see and tell them in less than a minute about a
memorable/interesting advertisement they have seen/heard. This
continued until everyone has had a chance to speak to everyone else.
o Explore Students walked around the room attempting to make sense
of the various definitions of persuasive techniques. They used their prior
knowledge, tried to make connections with what they have learnt
before and experimented freely.
o Explain After they had a chance to explore, the teacher made
connections with their current topic, clarified definitions and cleared up
misconceptions.
o Elaborate This is where I believe the lesson could have been improved
by challenging the students. Particularly for some of them, they could
have been pushed a little beyond their comfort zones.
o Evaluate The lesson included several tasks which acted as formative
assessments. They were short but to the point and focused on the LO
set for the lesson. Students also got the chance to evaluate one another.
Classroom Setting
Whiteboard:
Date: 13th April
Key Words:
A
F
O
R
E
S
T
Home Learning:
LO: To identify AFOREST persuasive techniques.
Seating Arrangement:
Teachers
desk
Smart screen
Whiteboard
Carpet
4 Ss
6 Ss
2 Ss
Supplies cupboard
*Located on all the tables: dictionaries, thesauri, a cup with pens, pencils and other stationary.