Primary school observations

Describe the school in terms of its

demographics, appearance and
resources

-Modern appearance to schools exterior
-Smart boards used in classrooms
-Students work is displayed on classroom walls
-desks are arranged in groups
-Charts are available on educational information or more
personal things such as asking teachers for help
-Students have a required uniform which stands for unity
between the students and school
-Bi-folding doors between classrooms so classes can open up,
teach two classes in one lesson
-Students have crunch and sip at 10am every morning
-Schools have class iPads
-Students do mathletics online for homework
-School has an FM for students with hearing impediments
What were the roles and
responsibilities of the teaching
staff you observed
Teacher
-Communicating educational information to students, listen to
students who are struggling and are in need of assistance
-Tell students how to behave eg do not yell in class. When
students misbehave they receive a time out
-Help students learn in a safe working environment by
monitoring behaviour with classroom management
Sport Teacher
-Exercise the students, teach them about physical activities
and the correct technique and posture
-Teach students how to play together by cooperating , so
students learn about team spirit and how to accept a loss eg
congratulate the winner(s)
Principal
-Provides school management for both teachers and students
What did you observe non-
teaching staff doing to support
teaching and learning in the
school
Social Service Worker
-Asked female students to open up and share about the mean
behaviour they face at school, help them understand that
teachers do care and want to know about their problems
Librarian
-Gives students weekly tasks, allows students to hire various
books but they must all be different eg genre/text type
-Help students learn and gain an understanding of different
types of literature
-Weekly tasks require students to search in books or online,
teach students how to find key terms in a text
Students
You will have observed the
diverse nature of your classes.
How was this diversity supported
-The teacher will cater for students with different learning
abilities
-Because all students strengths are different so students are
expected to do various school work that involves oral
presentations, silent tests, creative posters, etc
-Students will have to work both in groups and as individuals
-Lessons will be structured differently each time to help
students remain engaged
-Each day will consist of several different lessons being taught
to the students so they have an even mix up of all topics
Function of Schools
Did you observe the connection of
your schools with the broader
community? How did this happen
-The school has a church on school grounds which are available
for mass or funerals to students, families and the public
-The school had a robotics display to show off their work.
Parents, family members and other members of the public
were welcome to come and watch
-School had a performing arts excursion where they went to
sing for the public at a performing arts theatre
-Year 4 students had an excursion to the library so they could
hear some story telling from the librarian
What do you think the function of
school is
-Educate students by following the Australian Curriculum
standards
-Provide extra-curricular activities for students such as soccer
on Wednesday mornings, choir, swimming/sports carnival, etc
-Help students in developing their social skills eg how to make
and maintain friendships, correct manners and how to behave
in public
-Provide a safe learning environment for students to feel
comfortable in
Question Type
Do you feel your questions were
clearly structured and readily
understood by the students
-All of my questions were structured as open questions that
involved students using skills of inferring
-The questions were easily understood and students were
eager to share their own answers
Did you use a variety of question
types
-The variety of questions I used were:
-Evaluative,
-Synthesise,
-Recalling,
-Analysing and,
-Application
What balances was there
between the various questions
types
-I would link analysing questions to application questions by
asking when catching a netball what is the difference
between standing with both feet apart and standing with both
feet together after students provide an answer I would ask
with a partner demonstrate both styles and discuss with your
partner which way you think is more effective
Consider both why and when you
made use of the different
question types
-I used evaluative, recalling and synthesising questions for my
micro lesson of guided reading
-I used application and analysing questions for my sport lesson
when I asked students to demonstrate some activities
Distributing and Directing Questions
Did you recognise any pattern in
the distribution of your questions
amongst the students? Consider
reasons for this pattern
-A main pattern in my questioning was that a majority of my
questions were based on students using inferring skills
-In the distribution of my questions they were targeted at the
class or group, reasoning is I wanted all students involved
How have you directed questions
to the group
-Every question I asked was directed at the group
-I only questioned particular individuals when they answered a
question but their answer was very vague so I asked them to
elaborate
Have you used wait time -No I did not use wait time
Did you make eye contact with
the group as you directed your
questions
-As I asked the group questions I gave them all eye contact to
be sure they were paying attention to the questions
-When they were sure of their answer they raised hands and
gave me direct eye contact
Reactions to Students Responses
How do you deal with correct
responses? Do you qualify any
praise given
Say things such as:
-yes, great job...
-thats right, good listening skills...
How do you deal with incorrect
responses? How do you deal with
students who stumble and grope
for an answer
Say things such as:
-nice try but not quite...
-thats close but not the answer were looking for...
-no but that was a very good guess...
Do you keep eye contact with the
students until they have
completed an answer? Do you cut
students off and go onto the next
point before they have finished
responding
-Of course I would keep eye contact with that student, if I cut
them off and went onto someone else it would be hurtful to
the students feelings as I wouldnt have given them a chance
to answer the question
-If students dont feel as though Im listening to them then why
would they feel as though they had to listen to me
What use do you make of the
students responses to develop
the teaching point? Have you
redirected any questions in order
to add to an initial response
-Well if students provide answers that arent exactly what I
was looking for I ask them to build on their answer by
elaborating on it
-If students were not sure as to how to build on their answer,
other students would then raise hands to answer for them.
This is when I would redirect a question to another student so
the students would be teaching each other
Are you the only evaluator of the
students answers
-No because my mentor teacher evaluates their answers as
well as students will evaluate each others answers
Management
Was your lesson plan effective for
managing the class
-Yes because the activities only continued for a short period of
time before changing to something else. Students were
therefore continually engaged with the activity
How did the students react to
your lesson overall and to your
planned activities
-Students appeared to enjoy themselves and have a lot of fun
because they got to work in pairs and in teams
Did anything unexpected happen -The lesson did have to be cut short due to a robotics display
-We didnt have access to the tug-of-war rope
Did you provide a variety of
activities
-Yes, students played with netballs to do chest passes,
overhead throws, and bouncing
-Students played a team passing game and scarecrow
Were you satisfied with your
timing, particularly for the end of
the lesson
-Yes, it timed out very well as we were able to do all of the
activities I planned except for tug-of-war because we didnt
have access to the rope
Did you feel you were able to
change things if needed
-Yes because I already had to change things due to tug-of-war
rope not being available
Was your organisation of
materials and resources efficient
and effective
-I could have collected the needed sports equipment during
recess just before lesson but I had allowed time in my lesson
plan to collect the equipment
Did you and the students have
everything you needed
-The equipment needed was:
-Bibs, netballs and a whistle
Did you plan how and when you
would distribute and collect
materials
-Distribute sports equipment after the students had been
given instructions as to what they were to be doing
-Equipment was put away once lesson was over
Were you aware of classroom
procedures and school
disciplinary policy? How much did
you know about your students
-Yes I was aware of the disciplinary procedures
-I knew which students not to pair together because they tend
to play up
-One student had to start the lesson late because they didnt
finish their work from the previous lesson
Maintaining a Positive Attitude in the Classroom
How did you demonstrate to the
students that you valued them,
and enjoyed learning
-During all of the activities I made sure to acknowledge when a
student did something well
-When they were playing in teams I would say things such as
well done team one, that was really good work or that was
a really good try team two, great technique used
Which aspects of your teaching
style do you feel helped you
maintain class attention
-I used a whistle to get attention when I needed to address the
class as a whole
-We did stop and start for different activities so every time we
changed I provided brief instructions as to what was expected
and then students performed the activity
Did the students know what was
expected of them
-They knew what was expected because they listened to my
instructions and were familiar with the activities
Were you able to redirect
energies of attention seeking
students? Did the students have
enough to do
-The students had plenty to do, and to redirect energies of
attention seeking students I had them in front of the class
demonstrating the activities
Dealing with Minor Misbehaviour
Were you aware of what was
happening in all parts of the
classroom? Did you know what
each student was doing
-I was aware of any misbehaving as we were spread out on the
oval so everyone was in eye sight
Did you take any action when you
observed poor behaviour? Why?
Why not
-When some students were throwing the ball incorrectly I
approached them and advised if they were having any
problems they should take a step closer together making the
task easier
Did you use non-verbal cues -When I gave students eye contact and began to approach
them they knew what they were doing was wrong and
immediately did the right thing