Observation Sheet Questioning

(Please complete this form for both primary and secondary professional experiences and
place in your ePortfolio)
Graduate Standards - AITSL
Professional Knowledge:
Professional Practice:
learning

1. Know students and how they learn

2. Plan and implement effective teaching and

Question Type

Do you feel your questions

were clearly structured and
readily understood by the
students?

-Students appeared to understand and engage well with the

questions asked during both lessons.
-The questions were structured to act as a framework for the
lessons, and allowed the lessons to flow more easily.

Did you use a variety of

question types?

-Yes, some questions only allowed for a specific answer, some

required a level of creativity, while others had many different
answers and interpretations.
-Each question type served a purpose within the lesson.

What balances was there

between the various
questions types?

-Most of the questions allowed for a variety of different answers,

while only a small number of questions required specific answers,
and questions that require some creativity were used only a few
times.

Consider both why and

when you made use of the
different question types?

-I used closed questions that require specific answers at the start or

end of each of the lessons, mainly to refresh students memory.
-I used more open questions that have more than one correct
answer to encourage discussion and critical thinking from
students, and they were used during the main body of the lesson.
-Creative questions were used to allow students to see certain
things from a different perspective and to further engage them in
their learning, mainly at the end of lessons.

Distributing and Directing Questions

Did you recognise any

pattern in the distribution of
your questions amongst the
students? Consider
reasons for this pattern?

How have you directed

questions to the group?

Have you used wait time?

Did you make eye contact

with the group as you
directed your questions?

When there was mainly one student answering a lot of questions, I

would ask another student for an answer, to ensure that the whole
class remains engaged. Some students tended to not be as eager to
answer questions, so when those students did raise their hands to
answer, I often asked them first, to encourage their involvement in
class discussion.
-To introduce the lesson, I asked students as a group if they knew
the features of an explanation report in order, as they had been
studying the features in previous weeks. I only took answers
when students raised their hands, and if a student was correct I
would bring their answer up on the presentation I had prepared.
If a student was incorrect, I would encourage them by saying they
were close, and use their answer to give other students a hint
about what the right answer is, to indicate that their answer was
still a good attempt even if it was not quite correct.
-I would wait a few moments until a few students had raised their
hands, before choosing someone to answer the question, giving
students who were still thinking to come by the answer
themselves.
-As I asked each question, I made eye contact with different
students across the room to ensure that I had their full attention. I
also made eye contact with students before calling on them to
answer a question to make sure they know that I am talking to
them.

Reactions to Students Responses

How do you deal with
correct responses? Do you
qualify any praise given?

-I praised students for giving correct answers with enthusiasm,

such as good job or well done, to encourage them to continue
contributing to class discussion. Occasionally correct answers
would also be used to build further discussion on.

How do you deal with

incorrect responses? How
do you deal with students
who stumble and grope for
an answer?

-When students answered incorrectly I still congratulated them for

attempting a response, so that they do not become discouraged.
-When students struggle to find an answer I give them a few more
moments to think, and if they cannot recall their answer I give
someone else the opportunity to answer the question or to
elaborate on the part of the answer that has been given.

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?

Are you the only evaluator

of the students answers?

Overall Comments

-When students answered correctly, I would congratulate them

and then further expand and explain their answer to the rest of the
class, as well as explaining how it is relevant to the lesson and
topic.
-When students answered a question I would often ask another
question related to the answer, to further prompt discussion and to
explore other possible answer if the question is open-ended.
-No, as the other students would also learn from the answers
given by their peers, particularly if more than one answer can be
found for a question, as it gives them more insight into a topic.
-The mentor teacher would also have listened to students answers,
to ensure that they are learning.

Observation Sheet Management

(Please complete this form for both primary and secondary professional experiences and
place in your e portfolio)
Graduate Standards AITSL
Professional Practice:
1. Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
2. Planning for Effective Management

Was your lesson plan

effective for managing the
class?

-Yes, the students responded well to the techniques

used to regain their attention, and the transition
between activities was not too disruptive.

e.g. How did the students

react to your lesson overall
and to your planned
activities?

-The students seemed to participate well in the

activities, and only needed a small amount of
guidance for some parts.

-Some students misunderstood instructions and

attempted to alter the activity, and required some
reasoning and convincing to get them on the right
Did you provide a variety of track again.
Did anything unexpected
happen?

activities?
Were you satisfied with
your timing, particularly for
the end of the lesson?
Did you feel you were able
to change things if needed?

-Yes, activities included asking questions, group work, cutting

out flash cards, writing, practising, and presenting.
-Yes, the lesson finished on time, with plenty of time for packing
up and cleaning, as well as time to ensure that students were calm
and orderly before dismissing them to go to recess.
Yes, the plan allowed for some flexibility with how quickly or
slowly students progressed through the set tasks, and the lesson
was adjusted accordingly when some students finished earlier than
expected.

Were you aware of

classroom procedures and
school disciplinary policy?
How much did you know
about your students?

-I did not know much about the disciplinary policy before teaching
the lesson other than students getting their names written on the
board. The students in the class I was with were generally very
well behaved, and did not really need much behaviour
management other than reminding them to raise their hands. I did
however find the policy online and reviewed it, and found that the
school policy outlines very clearly how to deal with specific
behaviours.
-By the time I did my lesson in the middle of the week I knew the

How did your mentor

teacher maintain a safe
learning environment?
What strategies did your
observe your mentor
teacher using to maintain
this?

students reasonably well, as we had gone on an excursion to Kings

Park on Tuesday, which was a good opportunity to gain some
insight into the different personalities of each student.
-The mentor teacher I was with for the week maintained a safe
learning environment by using effective classroom management
techniques, and by ensuring that student were aware of the college
values, which encourages students to behave in a respectful and
courteous way. For excursions such as the one to Kings Park, the
teacher would complete a risk assessment.
-To get the students attention the mentor teacher would often raise
their hand, which student responded to by raising their hands as
well and listening attentively. There were also various posters on
the walls with the college values on them, which reminded
students how they should behave. For the kings Park excursion,
we brought along a first aid kit, as well as taking parents who
volunteered along to help manage the group.

Maintaining a Positive Attitude in the Classroom

How did you demonstrate to
the students that you valued
them, and enjoyed
learning?
e.g. Tone of voice, facial
expression, sense of
humour, introduction to
students and topic.
Which aspects of your
teaching style do you feel
helped you maintain class
attention?
e.g. Variety of activities,
class or group discussion,
pace of lesson, interest at
class level.
Did the students know what
was expected of them?

-I gave students positive reinforcement when they gave a good

answer, and encouraged them to try again if they got an incorrect
answer. I used a positive tone of voice at all times, and I helped
students who were struggling when they needed it. I answered all
questions as quickly as possible, and did so in a respectful way so
that students did not get discouraged. I showed interest in their
work, and I attempted to make the lesson introduction and the rest
of the lesson as engaging as possible.
-I walked around while students were working, checking up on
their progress and helping them when they needed it. When I
needed students to pay attention so I could give them more
instructions, I would raise my hand to get their attention, and wait
for them all to listen before speaking. I allowed students to work
in various places around the room in their groups, and gave
enough time for students to do each activity.

-Yes, they followed instructions well, and asked questions when

they needed assistance. There was an instance with two student
where they had gotten confused by instructions from the day
before, however when instructions were explained again, they
understood and continued their work.

Were you able to redirect

energies of attention
seeking students? Did the
students have enough
to do?

-The students had plenty of activities to keep them occupied, and

had the opportunity to finish the work they had not completed the
next day. I was able to redirect students who sought attention by
reminding them of the tasks that they still had left to complete,
and helping them if they were distracted due to having difficulty
with a task.

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?

-It was not a very large class, so students were not too difficult to
keep track of. I was aware of where each group was sitting in the
classroom, and I walked around having a look at how the students
were progressing with their work to ensure that they understood
the instructions and that they remained on task.

Did you take any action

when you observed poor
behaviour? Why? Why
not?

-The students were very well behaved, and did not need much
behaviour management. Some students needed to be reminded to
stay on task, which I dealt with by reminding them that they still
had work to complete. Students sometimes got overexcited and
sometimes were slightly unfriendly towards their peers, but I
found that diverting them to another topic was often the best
option rather than participating in these discussions.

Did you use non-verbal

cues? e.g. Contact, pause,
gesture, movement toward
student/s concerned.

-When students misbehaved while I was talking to the class, I

would pause and look in their direction until they stopped, and if
they misbehaved during working time I would walk towards their
group so that they realise I notice their behaviour.

Overall Comments

Schools as text looking at the whole school

Describe the school in terms of
its demographics, appearance
and resources (be general here
and do not name the school).

What were the roles and

responsibilities of the teaching
staff you observed?

After discussion with your

mentor teacher describe how
policies and processes of
government, administration and
schools have an affect on the
work of the teacher?

The school is relatively small due to the fact that it is quite

new, and has some buildings under construction currently.
The school has its first group of year twelves graduating
this year. The Primary and Secondary parts of the school
are separate, and each has its own Principal. The
surrounding neighbourhood of the school is also under
construction, and is quite small, however I do not believe it
will remain that way for very long. The school has good
resources, including laptop trolleys available for use when
students learn IT, a range of books for prescribed reading, a
library, overhead projectors for most classrooms, and a very
good performing arts department, as the senior school
recently performed their play Bugsy: The Sequel at the
Mandurah performing arts centre, and students from Year
7 to Year 12 were involved.
Each staff member had set duty periods each week,
including before school, lunch and recess times, and after
school bus duties. In the mornings the teacher has to
indicate on the roll whether or not students are taking the
bus, as well as which bus they are taking, and this
information is passed on to the person on bus duty. For
certain subjects such as French, ICT, Music, Sport, Art, and
ACE, students would have different teachers. Subjects such
as Literacy, Mathematics, and Science, are taken by the
class teacher.
-The capacity to which a teacher is able to do their job
effectively greatly depends on things such as the
curriculum, funding, and school policy. The state or
national curriculum can sometimes limit the amount of
depth a teacher can go into for each topic, as it may be
rather fast paced, restricting the time that can be spent on
each topic. Resources can also limit what the teacher is able
to do at which times, and if shared resources are in use, a
teacher sometimes has to compromise and change plans at
short notice. Standardised testing such as NAPLAN,
particularly in primary school, can often lead to the content
taught being restricted to the content that is in the tests.

What did you observe non-teaching

staff doing to support teaching and

-Non-teaching staff such as administration play an

important role in the daily running of the school, as

learning in the school?

they process all necessary documentation and

ensure that the right people receive it, which allows
everything to run more smoothly. Staff such as the
school librarian, the person who manages the
uniform shop, the school nurse and the school
counsellor all ensure that students have all the
resources they need to have a happy and safe
learning environment.

Students
You will have observed the
diverse nature of your classes.
How was this diversity
supported?

-Students in the class were all at different stages in their

learning, and students who were behind were given the
support they needed. One of the students in the
classroom had ADHD, which meant that they often got
distracted from their work, sometimes had trouble
listening to instructions, and occasionally forgot to raise
their hand and instead would call out an answer. The
teacher supported this student by seating them at the
front of the class, so that they could easily be kept on track
and could receive help if they needed it.
Another student was at a different level with his
numeracy to other students. This student was supported
with an online mathletics program, which he would do
on one of the classroom computers once the warm-up
activities were done.
In another class, a girl who was visually impaired was
given a machine that allowed her to have a more close up
look of the board and the teacher from where she was
sitting, by using a type of camera connected to a large
screen on her desk, that allowed her to zoom in on what
was happening at the front of the classroom.

Function of Schools
Did you observe the connection
of your schools with the broader
community? How did this
happen?

-Yes, the school offered free tickets to the wider community

for the senior school play, Bugsy: The Sequel, which was
performed in the Mandurah Performing Arts centre. It was
a community outreach event that attracted large crowds,
and as a result the tickets for every night that the show was
run were gone almost straight away. The event allowed
people in the community to get some insight into the
culture of the school, as well as the quality of the
performing arts programs within the school. I went to the
play myself, and it was hugely successful, as there were no
spare seats in the entire auditorium, and everyone was
having a great time, which reflected very positively on the
school.
The school also ensured that students from all over the
regional area could get to school easily, by providing a
number of buses that transport students from school to
home.

What do you think the function

of school is?

I think the function of school is not just to give students

basic literacy and numeracy skills. Schools also act as a
social environment, and play an important role in how well
students can communicate and work with their peers.
Some students may form lifelong friendships during their
time in school. Schools teach students what behaviour is
appropriate at what times (e.g. inside voice, and listening
when someone is speaking), and teaches students to treat
others in a respectful manner. School exposed students to
ideas and concepts that they may have had no knowledge
of before, and teaches students how to critically analyse any
new information they are presented with before simply
accepting it as fact. Education can also give students
opportunities that they may not previously have had.
Schools also prepare students for life, by teaching them to
be critical, reflective, resilient, and tolerant members of
society.