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TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook

Observation Report

Name of Observer__Xi Qin______ Observation # ___1___

Date Observation Class Skill/Content Level Teacher


Environment*

8/19/2017 online ESL Speaking Beginning Chris Westergarrd


course beginner level
vocabulary
lesson

*Include the URL if the class was online

WRITE THE OBJECTIVES ACCORDING TO THE OBSERVATION GUIDELINES:

STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO MASTER SOME PHRASES ABOUT EVERYDAY ROUTINES.


STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT DAILY ROUTINES.
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO HAVE A DAILY CONVERSATION WITH CLASSMATES USING
NEW PHRASES.

Notes while observing:


At the beginning of class 0:05/15:00
Teacher greeted students.

Last Updated: 3/25/2018 2:45 AM


TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook
Task 1 0:20/15:00
Teacher acted the action of waking up and showed the picture of 7 o’clock.
Teacher wrote down “in” and let students guess the phrase about the picture.
Students said “in the morning”.
Teacher let students repeat the phrase and checked everyone’s pronunciation.
Then, teacher used the same way to show the phases “in the afternoon” and “in
the evening.”

Task 2 2:00/15:00
Teacher acted the action of waking up and asked students “What’s the first thing
in the morning?”
Teacher wrote down “weak up” and put the phrase in the sentence “In the
morning, I weak up.”
Teacher asked every students to speak out the phrase and checked their
pronunciation.
Teacher showed the picture of “eat breakfast” and put it in the sentence “in the
morning, I…” as well.

Teacher used same way to show other phrases like “eat lunch”, “go to bed”…
This is an electing vocab section, in this section, there are lots of drilling with
beginners, because they need it.

Task 3 (study 1) 5:00/15:00


Teacher gave students many lists of paper, let them put each phrase under
different phrases about times, like “in the morning”, “in the afternoon” and “in the
evening”.
Teacher asked each student to choose one phrase and make a complete sentence.
Teacher checked the answer.
Task 3 (study 2) 6:00/35:00

Last Updated: 3/25/2018 2:45 AM


TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook
Teacher let students finish the task of filling in blanks. In the task, students need
to complete the phrases and write down the correct sentences like “I eat
breakfast.” Teacher monitored students work while they were writing.
After this section, students had a deeper memory about new phrases and they had
a general understanding about how to use them in the sentences.

Task 4 7:00/15:00
Teacher wrote down the questions of “What do you do in the morning?” and he
let students answer his questions using the sentences learned just now.
Then, teacher divided students in to several pairs, let them practice in pairs. In this
section, all questions and answers are practiced.

Task 5 10:00/15:00
Teacher put all phrases together and leaded students review them together.
Then, teacher divided three students as a group, let them practice dialogues.
After students practiced, teacher made a complete conversation with each student,
this time, he added greeting sentences like “How are you?”
Teacher let students have a free talk with anyone in the class just as the
conversation he made up just now.

Task 6 14:00/15:00
The section of reviewing of errors.

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)
In this observation, I focused on teacher’s teaching. This class was a speaking
lesson for beginning level students. I noticed that all students are adult and it
seemed that they had no basis of English. So, I thought it was a challenge for
teachers, but Chris gave us a successful class as an example.

Last Updated: 3/25/2018 2:45 AM


TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook
At the begging of class, I could see how teacher created an effective classroom
learning environment. According to Richards and Farrell (2011), as a teacher you
will need to find ways helping your students develop a positive view of you and
of their class so that they have positive expectations for you and your lessons. We
could see Chris created the right classroom climate by his funny performance of
the phrase and his friendly attitude to students. In this way, teacher created a
relaxing and safe environment for students where they are not afraid to take risks
or make mistakes. In the following tasks, Chris always asked students to show
their pronunciation or dialogues to all students, I found all students were full of
confidence and spoke loudly, this was the result of the right classroom climate he
created.
Then, this class could reflect learner-centered class completely. An important skill
in teaching is the ability to make your learners the focus of your teaching, this
involves giving feedback on their learning in ways that help develop their self-
esteem. (Richards and Farrell, 2011) In this class, I could see Chris monitored
every activity, he heard every students’ speaking and gave them feedback. This
action was really helpful for students at the beginning level, because they didn’t
have the ability of recognizing their mistakes, they need a teacher to assistant
them.
Also, this class involved varies of activities like pair work, group work, these
works increased student talking time, and it could also increase student motivation
by providing a risk-free environment for language practice. According to
Richards and Farrell (2011), Effective teachers build a sense of community in
their classroom by using their students’ names and regularly using small- group
tasks. That was exactly what Chris did.
In conclusion, Chris gave us an excellent lesson and was learner-centered. I
learned a lot from his class.

Last Updated: 3/25/2018 2:45 AM


TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook

Reference

Richards J. & Farrell T. (2011). Practice Teaching: A reflection Approach. New


York, N.Y. , USA: Cambridge University Press.

Last Updated: 3/25/2018 2:45 AM


TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook

Last Updated: 3/25/2018 2:45 AM


TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook

Last Updated: 3/25/2018 2:45 AM


TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook

Last Updated: 3/25/2018 2:45 AM


TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook

Last Updated: 3/25/2018 2:45 AM


TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook

Last Updated: 3/25/2018 2:45 AM

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