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Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto

January 2011

Vnia Azevedo

Reflection on my Observation Process as

a Student Teacher


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INDEX

1. INTRODUCTION ---------------------------------------------- pages 1 42. Observation of my mentors lessons ------------------------ pages 4 63. Observation of my peers lessons ---------------------------- pages 6 84. CONCLUSION -------------------------------------------------- pages 8 105. Bibliography ----------------------------------------------------- page 106. Appendices


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1. INTRODUCTIONThe relevance of observation tasks

Classrooms [] are complex arenas where many processes co-occur and

overlap. It takes a skilled and trained eye to perceive, understand and

benefit from observing the proceedings of learning teaching. (Wajnryb

1992: 5)

During the first term of my traineeship in Escola Secundria/3 de

Ermesinde one of the good aspects of this process was the observation of

my peers and mentors lessons. I realized that this is a very positive way of

spreading good practice, talking through ideas, discussing new approaches

and above all it is a fantastic way of getting to know ourselves and those

who belong to the group (Ncleo de Estgio). This is because after each

lesson my peers, my mentor and I discuss what went good and what went

not so good during the lesson, we give advice and praise each other for the

effort and good performance.

The fact of observing my mentor and my peers teaching helped me to

broaden my horizons and to see beyond my own lesson plans and the

materials I use in my lessons. There is no doubt that observation plays an

important role when it comes to the improvement of teaching and learning.

I suppose that both the observer and the observed benefit from this

dynamic tool (which is observation) for professional growth. Wajnryb says

that observation is a skill that can be learned and can improve with


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practice. (Wajnryb 1992: 1) In fact, this is an aspect that I noticed

throughout the first term. At the beginning its seems its not easy to be an

observer. I didnt know quite well what and how to observe my mentors

and my peers lessons. However, as the time went by I started having a

purpose and an aim while observing a lesson and I also started taking other

elements into account such as interaction patterns, discipline, etc. In order

to observe what I intended, I had some observation tasks that I filled in

during the first term. Each observation task has a specific purpose and this

is good since it helps me to focus on just one aspect and thus it is easier for

me to establish aims and to reflect upon my observation later on. The

observation tasks or grids1 I used during my observation process were

related to the following:

1. Identifying strategies of learners in mixed ability classes;2. Interaction patterns;3. Techniques for maintaining discipline4. Specific learning tasks for students set by the teacher;5. Teachers Meta-language;6. Timing, Pace and Stages;7. Who is doing what?8. R

eflecting on theR

ole of theT

eacher9. Transitions in Events/Phases

1 Each observation sheet I filled in throughout the first term can be seen and analysed in

appendices.


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I thought these would be relevant aspects to be observed and I also wanted

to test myself while observing these items such as discipline and the

question of mixed ability classes. The 7th

D, one of my classes, is a very

good example of a mixed ability class. I realized this while I was observing

two different learners (a boy and a girl) and the girl has a weak level while

the boy belongs to a stronger level. In the grid related to this theme, I wrote

down the reasons why this happens and at the end of the lesson I talked to

my mentor about this and she confirmed that actually this is a mixed ability

class and thus in the second term we could work on this, i.e., to produce

different materials and even tests since the levels of these learners are

significantly varied. This is just one example that enable us , student

teachers, to understand that these observation tasks have a relevant role in

our professional growth and they help us to find problems that may exist

and we sometimes dont notice if we dont have some guidelines to follow.

Id also like to state that it is interesting to find that this observation tasks

are part of a gradual process. I learned that while teaching we cannot notice

everything and were not able to find every gap there is inside a classroom.

Therefore, if we, teachers, have the opportunity to sit down and observe a

class while someone else is teaching it is great because we, observers, see

beyond the person who is teaching. However, I learned that the observer

has to be patient and has to do one thing at a time, i.e., we establish an aim


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per lesson and in that lesson we only observe that specific aspect. If we

want to quickly look at every gap there is in a classroom then itll be

impossible to reach genuine and concise results.

2. Observation of my mentors lessons

My mentors name is Maria Emlia Gonalves and shes been teaching for

almost thirty years. Shes also the author of many coursebooks including

Get on 7andLog in 10 the coursebooks I use with my learners this school

year.

Before observing my peers lesson, I observed my mentors and this helped

me a lot with the production of my own lesson plans and it also allowed me

to reflect good teaching practice. I felt safe when I observed my mentor

teaching because its like a model to be followed. When I started my

observation process, before filling in those observation tasks, I established

beforehand some questions for self-reflection that helped me not to feel lost

during the first impact as a teacher. The questions were the fo llowing:

1. How does the teacher start the lesson?2. What kind of instructions (oral/written) does the teacher give the

learners?

3. How does the teacher answer the learners questions?4. What is the teachers attitudes towards the learners answers?


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5. How many l arners does t e teacher guide indi idually and in whichsituations?

6. How does the teacher focus her attention to different learners (toneof voice, eye contact, gestures)?

7. How does the teacher ensure that everybody takes part in theclassroom actions?

8. How does the teacher end the lesson?I have to state that I didnt write down the answers to these questions. The

notes I took during the observations are integrated in the observation tasks

in the appendices. These were mere questions that worked as guidelines

during the first lessons I observed before I was given those formal

observation tasks to be filled in. After the first observed lessons I used to

reflect upon these questions I established for my own work and I also

described many lessons (from the 7th

and 10th

years) as a kind of diary that

hel ped me a lot during the planning of my first lessons as a teacher. The

lessons I described were my mentors lessons, those that I thoughtit would

work as a scheme and a model to follow like I stated before. Below is the

model of observation I created to help me in September and October while

observing my mentors lessons:


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In the appendices it will appear 7th

year, 10th

year and also 9th

year

observation sheets because in September and OctoberI used to observe the

my mentors 9th

year class but laterI decided to keep only the 7th

and 10th

years.

To conclude this section I can say that the two main factors I considered

important during the observation of my mentors lessons in the first term

were the good relationship there is between us and her availability to

answer my questions and to help me reflecting after each lesson. In my

point of view, the observation process can only be concluded when there is

a discussion about what I observed after the lessons (Post -observation

Discussion) and this happened most of the time between my mentor and I.

3. Observation of my peers lessonsAna and Joo are my peers and good friends that are with me in this

process ofbecoming a teacher. Weve always worked as a group since the

1st

year in the faculty and we feel lucky to be together as a group this year

(the year we all three expected to reach) and working in the same school.

One of the most important aspects in our traineeship is the peers and the

people with who we work every day. Since we are very good friends, Joo,

Ana and I have absolutely any problems regarding to comments related to


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each others lessons, observations and even evaluation of each others

performance. We feel completely comfortable to mention things that went

good but also not so good during the lessons.

I have to say that I feel proud and also nervous when I observe my peers

lessons. Since we are a team we have to help each other and I felt as if it

was myself that was teaching at that particular moment. During my peers

lessons I take notes and I exchange ideas with the peer next to me. We

comment on our colleagues performance and sometimes we give

suggestions. These observations are all registered so that we can talk about

them after the lesson with our peer who was teaching and our mentor. To

observe my mentors lessons is very important to me because it he lps me to

know what is correct and what is wrong to do. However, I prefer observing

my peers lessons because its like I am watching myself teaching. Of

course were unique and each person has a different view and way of

teaching but we have one big thing in common: its our first experience as

teachers and all we know is what we hear or read. So it is rewarding to see

how our peers efforts are reflected in mine and how they try to give their

best.

The fact of observing my peers in the first term made me more aware and

analytical about their ways of teaching. I saw new ideas and approaches

that I can perfectly adapt and incorporate in my teaching practice. Other


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aspects that I got from this experience as my peers observer were that I

have to be careful when I analyse the lesson after the observation (Post-

observation Phase). To give helpful and useful feedback to our peers, we,

observers, need to be sensitive to their aims; we also need to be realistic

and specific because when we tend to generalise we may not be helping our

peers to understand the point; we have to know how to balance positive and

negative feedback and we should know how to comment on our peers

work; above all we cant judge them.

4. CONCLUSION

At the beginning, in September of 2010, I wanted to observe every little

thing that happens inside a classroom. However,I

could conclude that with

time this kind of observation becomes less frequent and I concentrate on

some specific areas where I thinkI should work on later as a teacher. F rom

the observation process I could also find that it might be better to keep the

principle of non-involvement in our peers lessons, even when something

doesnt go so well. This can be an embarrassing situation for peers but it

can also change the course of the lesson. I learned that being an observer

within a group of peers and a mentor, in my case, is a very positive aspect

since we all work together in a supportive environment in order to improve


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teaching and also learning skills. Watching/ observing my mentors and my

peers lessons also fostered creative professional growth; I learned a lot

from their own experiences and findings while teaching, their methods and

experimentations.

As an observer, I constantly experienced varied styles of teaching, diff erent

ways of organizing a classroom and most importantly I get to see how my

peers of different personalities and styles teach a certain content and

sometimes the same content I taught but in very different ways.

Many teachers claim about this new law that was implemented in

Portuguese schools which has to do with observed lessons by peers. Those

teachers allege the fact ofbeing teachers for twenty or thirty years and thus

they dont need to be observed because they are experts and they already

know exactly what to do. I think that observation has nothing to do with

being an expert or not or having enough experience that observation is not

an important procedure: That is for student teachers, they normally say.

They have to take into account that throughout their teaching career

teachers are constantly being observed even if it is by their learners. From

this process I learned that being observed is a way of changing ideas,

learning new approaches and being professional. Constructive criticism is

one of the good aspects of observation. When we listen to others criticizing


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our work we learn to accept those ideas and become better professionals. I

can conclude by saying that to me observation is the same as awareness.

Bibliography

Wajnryb, Ruth (1992) Classroom Observation Tasks. A resource book for language teachers

and trainers. CUP, United Kingdom.

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