REFERENCE DOCUMENT FOR GTA OBSERVATIONS

Department of English -- UPRM

Name: _Willie Young Class: INGL 3104 Room Ch 125
Observer: Kevin Carroll Date: March 4, 2014
Number of students: 23 Time Class Started: 2:00pm Time Class Ended: 3:15pm
Directions: Respond to each of the following statements with one of the following:
Y= Observed Behavior, N= Not Observed Behavior, NA= Not Applicable.
Add comments to clarify, expand, or explain.
Statements
Y, N, or
NA
Comments
Organization
1. Took class attendance.
Y/N
2. Was well prepared for the class. Y Extremely well prepared for class!
3. Stated the purpose and objectives
of the class session.
Y Purposes were very clear and made a
lot of sense given what you plan to
cover
4. Presented a brief preliminary
overview of the content.
Y Good job foreshadowing the class ,
what will be done and why you are
doing what you are doing. This is so
important and is a HUGE difference
between what you did last semester.
5. Made explicit the relationship
between today's and the previous
class session.
Y Good job
6. Defined new terms, concepts and
principles.
Y Key vocabulary (only spent 3
minutes much better than last
semester) Time
7. Summarized main points. N
8. Identified what s/he considered
important.
Y You used your notes from the
reading to highlight aspects that you
deemed to be the most important
9. Utilized a variety of instructional
strategies during the class session.
Y/N You had a variety of techniques and
aspects to the class, I would suggest
adding one more in order to break up
the discussion
Content and Clarity
10. Arranged and discussed the
content in a systematic and
organized fashion.
Y/N I think this is the area you can
continue to work on . you had good
activities, but need to up your clarity
to students and hold them more
accountable. You are moving in the
right direction just need to tighten
the screws a little.
11. Asked questions periodically. Y
12. Presented clear and simple
examples to clarify very abstract
and difficult ideas.
Y
13. Used alternate explanations when
necessary.
Y
14. Explicitly stated the relationships
among various ideas.
Y This was extremely positive, you
continued to make connections
between the other work
15. Periodically summarized the most
important ideas.
Y Good job, using your notes and
guiding the discussion of the
Fredrick Douglas reading.
16. Slowed the word flow when ideas
were complex and difficult.
Y You did a good job explaining things
that students didnt understand
17. Related the day's material to
upcoming sessions.
Y One of the strongest aspects of the
class.
Media Usage
18. Writing on board/overhead/slides
was legible.
Y Good job writing on the board and
using the projector when necessary.
Good preparation of the PPT
19. Information presented on
board/overhead/slides was
organized and easy to follow.
Y
20. The AV-materials used added to
the students' comprehension of the
concept(s) being taught.
Y Good job
21. The AV-materials were handled
competently (e.g., the instructor did
not walk in front of the image for
overhead or slide projector; the instructor
spoke to the class, not the screen or
board; etc.).
Y Excellent
Questions
22. Asked questions to see what the
students knew about the topic.
Y Various students had obviously not
completed the homework, consider
giving students guide questions or
homework.
23. Addressed questions to individual
students as well as the group at
large.
Y Did a great job
24. Used questions to gain students'
attention.
Y Kept students attentive
25. Paused after all questions to allow
students time to think of an
answer.
Y
Questions (continued)


26. Asked probing questions if a
student's answer was incomplete
or superficial.
Y Good job and great connections to
the slave narrative
27. Repeated answers when necessary
so the entire class could hear.
Y When students asked questions, you
did a good job rephrasing them and
getting them out there so everyone
can understand
28. Received student questions
politely and enthusiastically.

Interaction
29. Addressed students by name.
Y Great job using students names
throughout the class
30. Praised students for good ideas. Y When students praised students
when they participated productively.
31. Established and maintained
extensive eye contact with the
class.
Y Great job maintaining eye contact
with students throughout the lesson
32. Listened carefully to student
comments and questions.
Y
33. Provided appropriate feedback. Y Good job giving positive
reinforcement
34. Noted and responded to signs of
puzzlement, boredom, curiosity,
etc.
Y The pairs allowed you to move
around the classroom and make sure
people were on task and that their
questions were answered.
35. Encouraged student questions,
comments, and discussion.
Y You were open to questions
throughout the lesson
36. Tolerant of other viewpoints. Y
37. Displayed interest and concern for
his/her quality of teaching.
Y/N
38. Talked with students after class. Y
Delivery and Style
39. Voice could be easily heard.
Y Your voice was easily heard
throughout the classroom which was
excellent
40. Voice was raised or lowered for
variety and emphasis.
Y Great job, very smooth, easy to
understand
41. Speech was neither too formal nor
too casual.
Y You move between academic and
non-standard variety of English
which I think is excellent as it gives
students excellent exposure to a
variety of dialects.
42. Rate of speech was neither too
fast nor too slow.
Y Good rate of speech
43. Varied the pace of the class to
keep students alert.
N/Y The discussion of the narrative
extended for about 5 or 10 minutes
too long. Consider doing an
additional writing activity or think
pair share activity to get students
talking about the story before you
start moving through the summary.
This will get students on the same
page before you move into the
lecture/Q&A
44. Spoke at a rate which allowed
students time to take notes.
Y
45. Spoke in English with the
students.
Y Great use of English for the whole
class, you also worked to build on
students understanding of slavery by
allowing them to create a slave
narrative specifically related to
Puerto Rico.
Rapport, and Enthusiasm
46. Spoke expressively or
emphatically.
Y Good use of our voice to project
throughout the class
47. Used appropriate body movement,
gestures, and facial expressions.
Y You were not accelerated or over
hyper, but calm and collective.
48. Extemporaneous delivery of
material.
Y Good work
49. Displayed respect for the students. Y You were funny and seem to have a
genuine affinity to getting to your
students
50. Was friendly with students, and
easy to talk to.
Y Many students asked questions and
you responded in a way that invited
them to continue their questions.
51. Used humor at appropriate times. Y The class was funny on many
different occasions. This was
fantastic.
52. Students were free to interrupt at
any time.
Y Students felt comfortable asking
questions and sharing their own
experiences
53. Provided a warm classroom
environment.
Y
54. Displayed confidence in self and
what s/he was doing.
Y You looked much more comfortable
in this class, it might be because you
are in your third semester or perhaps
it is because you are more
comfortable with 3104.
Additional Comments: See comments below
* Adapted by Dr. Gayle Griggs from material in Improving Your Lectures from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign; and from Teachers and Students, Center of Teaching Effectiveness at the University of
Texas at Austin.

Observation notes

2:00pm - class started right on time at 2:00pm Students were ready with the word of the
day. Grimy and he/she left me hanging

2:04pm Power Point
Learning Objectives EXCELLENT!!!!! This was FANTASTIC, and
something you can assess!

2:08pm great job going back to your notes, this shows you planned before and knew
what you were doing.

2:10pm Q&A, good movement around the class

2:26pm the Q&A portion of the discussion is starting to run out of steam. You had your
notes at the beginning, but you have stopped consulting them as a result you lost your
train of thought two or three times (this happens on occasion, but you want to make sure
you have the notes handy).

A few students have definitely read. It is good that you had a quiz set-up, but send
students home with homework that they have to hand in, maybe a timeline of events or
guide questions that will facilitate their readings but also hold them accountable.

2:31pm - Good job trying to get others involved, but few people seem to want to
participate.

Chapter 5-7 next week. GREAT connections between the reading and what they are
going to do in the rest of the class.

2:39pm gave directions of how to create their own slave narrative.

2:40pm students start to work in their own pairs. They have 10 minutes.

2:52pm good job modeling how a student looks up the synonym of a word on the
internet. Not all students know how to do this and you showed at least the students in the
back exactly how to do it.

2:55pm students still working in groups ( it has been 15 minutes) consider having a
time limit and counting things down so students feel a little more pressure.

2:58pm students start sharing (consider walking around/standing up and moving toward
the students who are not paying attention.

2:59pm students did a good job.

3:00pm students havent finished (but had plenty of time) extended the exercise for
another class, but if you had said that you were going to collect them at the end, perhaps
students would have finished. What do you think?

3:02pm Shows youtube video of a rap and how to rhyme, goes over
3:04pm Gives assignment regarding they rhyming and creating students own rap.
3:08pm starts a beat so that students can have some motivation for their own rhymes.
3:11pm Continue moving around the class
3:15pm need more clear directions on what is expected for the next class (no
homework?)

At the end of the class, at 3:12 you need to stop the class and recap.