Question Type

Do you feel your questions

were clearly structured and
readily understood by the
students?

I made sure I incorporated convergent, divergent and recall

questions so that all areas of the topic and lesson objective
were addressed. This helps the students perceive the task in
various ways and engages them in problem solving
increasing levels of understanding.

Even though I would ask different types of questions, I

tried to balance them through relating them all to each
other.
Questioning techniques are definitely something I feel I
need to look more into.

Did you use a variety of

question types?

What balances was there

between the various
questions types?

Consider both why and

when you made use of the
different question types?

I believe my questions where understood by students yet

could have been structured more sequentially so the
lesson/information flowed more structurally.
I made sure I started easy and progressively got harder,
allowing all levels of ability within the class to have an
opportunity to answer.

Recall questions were used at the beginning to reinforce

prior learning as well as the end to establish the learning
objective was successfully addressed.
Questions requiring problem solving were asked during
the lesson to engage student understanding and influence
perspective shifts.

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?

My pattern seemed to be recall, and then questions that

required problem solving and the students having to think
about the bigger picture of the topic, and then to recall
about the lesson and lesson objective taught.
I felt this was the best way to incorporate all aspects of the
subject, while introducing and getting orientated with the
initial recall questions and then confirming material was
learnt through the questions where students had to engage
their minds to figure something out.

Questions were directed to the whole group and students

with their hands up were selected. If I noticed some
unengaged students I would direct a question at them.
Also if there was a students still not grasping the idea,
whatever that may have been, I would structure my
questions in order to try and let them establish an
understanding.
Yes, I believe wait time is crucial if they are to engage their
brain and thinking, and this can take time.

Yes, and if students were being rude or talking I would

make sure to make eye contact with them while directing a
question to them.

Reactions to Students Responses

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

How do you deal with

By making sure I acknowledged their correct

response. Using, and being specific to what it was
they did, Well done on or Great job etc.
I praised students when they showed me that they
were grasping the lesson topic.
Also praised the question if it was a good one.
If it was close then I mentioned that fact and used
other questions to attempt and direct their answers

incorrect responses? How

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

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?

towards the correct answer.

If they were completely off ask Who can help
out?

If the student was correct and demonstrated an understanding I

would question them further to incorporate other learning aspect
of the topic. I believed that continuing the flow of questions, if the
student seems able, will encourage them to expand their thinking.

Other students would join in, especially if a student answered

incorrectly and they knew the answer.

Overall Comments

I enjoyed interacting with the high school students, as I prefer questioning students
that are more on my level, and in some cases even knew more about a topic than I
did. This seemed to help build a relationship between the students and myself and
established a nice learning environment.

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?
e.g. How did the students
react to your lesson overall
and to your planned
activities?

Did anything unexpected

happen?

Did you provide a variety of

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?

Were you aware of

classroom procedures and
school disciplinary policy?
How much did you know
about your students?
How did your mentor
teacher maintain a safe
learning environment?
What strategies did your
observe your mentor
teacher using to maintain

I had not fully incorporated what to do if a student

continued to talk, but over all I was happy with my lesson
and how I structured my questioning did assist in
managing the year 7s.
The students enjoyed evaluating their projects and learning
what could be done to improve in the future.
Nothing unexpected happened, some children however
were much further ahead than others.
I didnt provide many activities, my activities were simply
initially question and answer and then completing a
worksheet the mentor teacher provided.
I was, my time management allowed me to allocate an
appropriate amount of time for each stage of the lesson,
enabling me to evaluate my lesson through questions that
reiterated the learning objective.
Yes, I felt I could change this if needed. Although
everything ran smoothly, a few students did start polishing
when they were meant to be filling out the evaluation form,
but after politely asking them to change everything ran
well.

Yes. There seemed to be a routine similar to, but less strict,

primary schools. For example all students had to quietly
line up before entering a room. Another
procedure/technique I noticed was that the teacher never
talked over the students, instead always waiting for silence
before beginning.
By the end of the week I knew a few students by name and
roughly where they were academically, but as the class
period, and class, would change every 50 minutes it was
hard to build relationships in the short time space.
As we were in Technology & Design safety was very
important. In addition to all the signs visibly around the

workshops, safety tips and procedures were always revised

and demonstrated at the start of a lesson.

this?

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.

My relationship with the students and use low-key

techniques, and making sure everyone was involved in the
discussions. Through using questions regarding the
learning objective at the start it engaged and made
students aware of what it was they were doing. Making
sure I wasnt working them to fast also allowed struggling
students to keep up and understand the aim, increasing
class attention.

Yes. This was made clear through the specificity of the

lesson objectives and the fact they had the questions in
front of them as a worksheet.

There was one students in my 20 minutes lesson that I had

a little bit of trouble in directing their energy, but this
wasnt because he was finished and bored, but simply just
being disruptive. After some words, and with his friends

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?

Were you able to redirect

energies of attention
seeking students? Did the

Through constantly communicating with them all. I would

circling the room throughout the lesson and make sure to
acknowledge everyone. I would always use a nice tone of
voice and never once yelled. Relationships were also
founded through discussing topics outside of school, this
allowed the students to see that I am invested in learning
about them, and also gives them an insight into who I am.
This enabled me to give them more appreciated praising as
they knew me and that the praise was genuine.
I would always smile, use a nice light tone when
interacting with them and add in humour when I could.

students have enough

to do?

saying he should also change his attitude, he did so.

When students had finished their work they had other
projects they were working on to start finishing, always
having something to do.

Dealing with Minor Misbehaviour

It was sometimes hard to be aware of every students as

they were continually moving around the room from
machine to machine and were also aloud to speak. By
circling the room and acknowledging all students and
where they were up to, helped me in keeping control. Also
as some students were at different stages of their projects it
was sometimes hard knowing where everyone was up to.

Yes. In my short lesson when a student was being

disruptive I used low-key techniques involving my eyes
and presence to keep his attention on topic. He was being
loud and disruptive to near by students that were initially
engaged in the activity. After explaining my case to him in
front of his peers, and with them also requesting that he be
quiet, his behaviour ceased.

Yes. My presence and eye contact with him when walking

towards him, as well as an un amused facial expression. I
also initially tapped his desk and praised the students
around him doing well with thumbs up, making sure he
saw this.

Were you aware of what

was happening in all parts
of the classroom? Did you
know what each student
was doing?

Did you take any action

when you observed poor
behaviour? Why? Why
not?

Did you use non-verbal

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

Overall Comments

Over all the majority of my students behaved really well. Being a selection school
meant that most students had a purpose to be there and new that they had been
given a great opportunity and didnt want to ruin their chances,

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 was very old in parts but held strong to a very
inviting appearance. There were many new facilities being
built and other aspects that all contributed to a very
professional appearance.
As the school was a specialised school its demographic
was fantastic. There were students from all over the world
that had talents in some area of the arts. As 95% of the
students were here because of a talent, and through an
intense selection process, they all understood the
significance of them being placed there and this was
reflected in their behaviour.

To maintain a safe and constructive learning

environment for the students.
To know what they were teaching well.
For their teaching to meet the criteria of the
curriculum,

They seem to have a less work than primary, but not in a

bad lazy way, more just not such a supervisory role. But
through laws and the like, teachers and how they work are
definitely moulded by government policies.

What did you observe non-teaching

staff doing to support teaching and
learning in the school?

I met the IT services when scoring for the sports carnival

and gained insight into the importance of their role within
a school. I also would see the cleaning staff in the
mornings and afternoons supporting the teaching staff
through maintaining a clean environment.
In addition to this the school I was placed had a lot of
administration staff, who seemed to rotate through the
position of getting mugs and coffee etc. ready in the staff
room before recess and lunch.

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

Equally, although it was diverse, it wasnt so much in skill

as the subject we were with was easier than academic
subjects. It was really fantastic to see, but there was very
much a sense of equality.

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

Yes. While observing some of the specialised classes

students had to attend for their specialist subject. All
students that are in a program have a lot of out of school
roles to fill. For example the dancers/drama students are
constantly performing and the soccer specialists compete
on weekends and travel the country for state and national
events.

What do you think the function

of school is?

The function of the school is to provide a safe and

engaging learning environment for students that
incorporates and demonstrates an understanding of the
importance of the arts,