Diploma in TESOL: Lesson observation feedback Name of teacher:__Dan Levy_____________________ Name of assessor: _Barbara Chamberlin_____________________

Level of class Intermediate

Lesson location St. Georges School of English

Date of lesson 18/11/14

Start and finish time 10:45-11:45

No. of students 15

Age range of students 12-15

Teacher reflections: You need to identify 3 aspects of your teaching for reflection and comment. These can be areas which you feel you would like to develop in future teaching or comments on certain points in the lesson that may warrant comment (positive as well as negative!) Point 1 less is more principle, giving SS’s more time and freedom to run with the task. A quite congested lesson left less time and space to focus on the primary task, the jigsaw reading. Because of the more complex nature of the task, it appeared necessary to spend more time setting up the task in order for the SS’s to fully comprehend the process involved in completing the task. The lack of time caused a more intense atmosphere in the lesson because everything had to be rushed in order to allow for an opportunity to do the follow up at the end. Looking back, I would have omitted the initial, introductory reading as I now realise that it was probably too much reading material for the SS’s to digest in one section. Point 2 Organising students and activities: clearer set up instructions, make it more accessible, more comprehensible (jigsaw). This point ties in with the first point as it also relates to a more successful approach to setting up the tasks, though this point is more about making the actual organisation process simpler and more practical. For example, instead of allocating specific SS’s as ‘student A’, ‘student B’, and ‘student C’, it would have been more straightforward to say, ‘this table are SS A’s, this table SS B’s and the last table SS C’s. This would have saved time and allowed more space to do the actual task. Point 3 positioning in the class during different tasks. Once I’ve monitored to check the mechanics of the task, (first 30 seconds), have been understood and the SS’s are settling into the task, I need to consider whether my continued presence is acting as an interference and make the decision to either monitor discreetly or vanish. Watching the video, I noticed that there were times where I could have taken a step back and let the SS’s make use of their own resources. Also, in terms of positioning, when giving out instructions or presenting in general, making sure that I vocalise to the whole group rather than a portion of the group. This is due to the fact that some SS’s took advantage of the lack of attention from the teacher and engaged back into their L1.

Tutor’s comments on reflection Yu make some very useful reflections above which pick up on a number of issues that I too identified (see my notes below). It may help you to use these as a springboard for a bit more depth, as this might allow you to more explicitly identify action points to act on in the future. The action points are very much like those I briefly mentioned and I think you need to engage with this stage of the reflection in a bit more depth, and beyond what areas are suggested to look out for. Your first point relates to what we discussed in the hot feedback after class. I very much agree with this; I think you tried to cram far too much into the time allowed. A jigsaw reading is a highly complex task (compared to the more straightforward reading tasks that students may be used to) and needs careful setting up and chance for students to share answers before the information exchange stage. It is a great way of making what can be seen as a more passive activity (though I would argue that reading is highly active) more engaging and communicative for students, but to achieve this you need a bit more flexibility with time to do it. I agree that omitting the first stage would have helped here, though this also acted as a useful warm-up to the longer text. Again, your second point is something I noticed and I think commented on briefly in post-lesson discussion. Whilst you were somewhat constrained by the space in the classroom (which would impact the setting up of these activities), I still think it would have been possible in this case to have dedicated A, B, C tables and then regroup students later after they had fully understood their section. This would have allowed clearer instructions (and for you to stage these to make them clearer) as well as make the task more meaningful to the students and the text more comprehensible. It also, as you note, would help with timing. Your final point is also one I identified. Your monitoring was very supportive and well-intended but at times it was a little ‘smothering’ and prevented students from working together. In addition, when giving instructions and gathering feedback, you tend to speak to a particular group rather than the whole class. This resulted in higher than usual L1 use amongst students and moments of distraction and disengagement in class. As we discussed, please find below my notes from the observation. These are still in note form so is rather ‘raw’ feedback, but it is intended to give you a sense of narrative of the lesson, at least from my perspective. Daniel Levy 18 November 2014 15 ss young learners pre-int ish Useful, thorough plan. Yes, this IS what we are looking for and demonstrates thinking and decision making process of the planning stage. 10.45 – ss are going to Brighton this afternoon, so you opened this section of the class by asking what ss already know about Brighton and what they would like to know about Brighton. Useful ss centred way of opening. As this ties in with their social programme (and is likely in keeping with leader / agent / family / school demands on what should be in syllabus), this is appropriate. Some supportive monitoring even in quite a small space and you managed to spread attention to all students / tables.

10.50 – class feedback. When getting feedback from the different tables, it might be worth trying to get whole class attention more as once you have moved on to the next, as ss tend to talk amongst themselves and / or in L1. I don’t necessarily view the latter as a problem, but it is good to hold whole group attention for stages like this as much as possible. 10.55 – showed ss pictures to elicit key words / ideas that will come up in the text. Brighton pier / promenade etc. useful visual prompts and good to see these being incorporated in class. Helps reduce TTT (which still tends to be relatively high at this stage) but gets stronger ss to get more involved and offer thoughts and ideas. Useful drilling of promenade. Do you use phonetics in your class at all? I think it would be a useful inclusion and help those ss who are familiar to it. Or at least to mark stress on the board. Not sure I agree you only or mostly see rock music at a gig. Good to see you include gay pride in the class, especially with ss of this age. Useful differentiation of word form – pride and proud. Useful recap, concept checking and some drilling at the end of this stage. Timing working out well so far. I wonder why you keep wiping the board. Might be useful to have more of a permanent record of what has gone on in the class to date. I appreciate it is a small board, but this might get you think creatively about having visual resource. E.g. pictures stuck up on wall (if you are allowed) and labels attached to them. That way it might provide a visual reminder of language they have been pre-taught. Useful reference plus visualises and illustrates text, lessening challenge of reading for some. 11.08 – handed out text – copy per ss. Gist reading first – useful. Two basic questions for this stage, though actually ‘what kind of city’ and why beautiful’ actually involves quite a deep understanding of text and brings in a lot of the language input from the text. Also, as you say, you can have more than one answer for this – does that make it a bit more challenging? I think the comprehension questions are in some ways easier as they look for very specific pieces of info – scanning rather than skimming. Useful feedback and nice to see you using ss names already. Second, more detailed reading, questions on side of page. Again, lots of monitoring (I understand why you are doing this – to keep them on task and help where needed) but maybe a bit too much? Give ss space to get on with the work, especially in quieter tasks such as reading and when doing more group based work. I notice when you correct ss pronunciation, you tend to reformulate in an echo. This doesn’t necessarily draw attention to the mistake – can you perhaps make this more explicit? 11.25 – jigsaw reading (now about 5 mins over) might this be easier to set up and control if the ss were in groups of As, Bs and Cs so they could then read together, check understanding together, decide how they respond to questions together and then regroup to do the information exchange. I understand that room layout and size makes this a little challenging but it would certainly make the task a) less challenging to set up, b)more obvious to ss what they need to do and c) maybe a bit more task based and communicative. I can’t help thinking you have perhaps over-planned this lesson. Do you really have enough time now for both the jigsaw reading – challenging by nature and quite a lot of text – the necessary follow up and the speaking task that follows? I would suggest going for a ‘less is more’ approach – do less but go into greater depth, give it all a bit more time to try and maximise learner engagement. If you are worried you don’t have enough, the reading could have been broken down even further with perhaps a bit more work on vocab. I really like the follow up activity, but in some ways, this could have been done as a schema activation reading at the beginning to lead into the vocab you chose to pre-teach, giving the rest of the class to focus on the reading without you having to worry about (possibly) cramming it all in. You don’t seem to have fully anticipated the setting up of these activities in your otherwise effective timing and this has I think thrown you off course.

I notice that you have to repeat the instructions to smaller groups. In part this relates to not having whole group attention when you were giving instructions or the jigsaw reading earlier. It can be harder with ss of this age, but do try to ensure everyone is listening the first time to give them a clearer purpose for the task at hand. 11.36 – you are getting feedback while ss are still doing the task and answering / asking questions. Try to make sure everyone is at the same or at least similar stage before moving on. You also, in feedback, tend to talk only to those giving feedback and not necessarily involve the whole class which is what a stage like this needs to be. This means that other ss are not getting the benefit from getting answers from other ss. A bit chaotic at this stage which is a shame. This in some ways renders the ‘meaning and purpose’ of the reading a bit redundant, which is such a shame as it was, in planning anyway, a very well thought out way of working with the text. 11.40 – why are you doing the speaking task so late in the lesson? Wouldn’t it be more effective to use the last 5 minutes dealing with the text, especially as some / many of them didn’t fully answer everything. Also, avoid telling ss what you were going to do but not doing now – confusing. Again, a bit chaotic, lots of L1 – you try and address this but again, not everyone listening (and pretty much everyone carries on doing it!). You try and get everyone to listen but then where you are located in the class – you are only talking to and listening to the one group. If you consider your position in the class more this may help address this. Good to see you acting on action points identified in your SoR here in your lesson! Error correction chart… not time to do this but great to see different parts of the course intersecting like this. Assessment criteria and comments Criterion for pass: Evidence of ability to apply knowledge of language, language teaching methods, resources and factors affecting language acquisition in the planning and delivery of a lesson. This was a very well-planned lesson, but one that aimed to do far too much in the time allowed. You need to simplify in order to achieve aims and outcomes more effectively and work with language in greater depth. I would also like to see more explicit classroom management in future classes (relating to aspects such as instructions, grouping, use of whiteboard etc). This said, this was an effectively constructed lesson that made consistent attempts at maintaining learner-centredness and relevance. Grade: 58% Signed: Barbara Chamberlin Date: 28 November 2014 The checklist below is used by the assessor for feedback and grading purposes (see also descriptors at the end of this proforma).

Planning and preparing teaching

Plan contains all required information

Appropriate learning outcome

Understanding of target language

Anticipation of students’ difficulties

Clear and coherent lesson structure

Balance and variety of teaching procedures

Using teaching and learning resources

Materials appropriate for the class

Ability to prepare and adapt materials Teaching and learning activities

Checking of student learning

Techniques for error correction

Concept-checking

Contextualisation

Personalisation

Appropriate accuracy practice

Appropriate balance of TTT and STT

Appropriate communicative practice

Elicitation

Handling linguistic content Managing the learning process

Organisation of the classroom

Sensitivity to learning

Establishing and maintaining rapport

Managing groups, pairs etc.

Promotion of learner autonomy

Adapting the plan when necessary

Appropriate use of gesture etc.

Voice and diction

Ability to use own language appropriately

Giving instructions clearly

Use of technical and other aids

Effective and varied feedback

Management of pace

Creation of a secure and supportive learning environment

Teaching assessment grade descriptors

PASS WITH DISTINCTION 70-100% Teachers must achieve all of the criteria (see module outline for TE315) specified for pass and demonstrate no weaknesses. In addition they must demonstrate exceptional skill/ability in at least two of the specified areas.

In post-lesson debriefing they must show a strong ability to evaluate their own teaching.

PASS WITH MERIT 60-69 % Teachers must achieve all of the criteria (as above) for pass and have no serious weaknesses. In addition they must demonstrate exceptional skill/ability in one of the specified areas. In post-lesson debriefing they must show a strong ability to evaluate their own teaching.

PASS 50-59% Teachers must achieve the majority of the criteria (as above) specified with no serious weaknesses. In post-lesson debriefing they must show some ability to evaluate their own teaching.

FAIL 49% and under Teachers may achieve a majority of the criteria (as above) specified but have serious weaknesses. Teachers may relate well to a class and have (on paper) a well-planned lesson, but the lesson as observed will have failed to achieve its aims and may be inappropriate. In post-lesson debriefing they may not be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the class, but this inability alone is not grounds for failing.