OBSERVATION - PLANNING. How to plan your classes

Observation of classes and planning

1. OBSERVATION

2. WHY DO WE OBSERVE? To shift from a student to teacher perspective To analyse what is happening in the classroom To discover different way of doing things To learn to monitor the progress of a lesson To identify things which you do not understand and which can provide a basis for discusión with your trainee teacher

3. PLEASE… YOU ARE OBSERVING TO REFLECT ON YOUR DEVELOPING PRACTICE, RATHER THAN MAKING VALUE JUDGEMENTS ON THE TEACHING BEING OBSERVED…

4. KEEP FOCUS ON… Beginnings and ends of and transitions within lessons Teacher’s questions and the kinds of answer they generate Teacher’s explanations and instructions : how they are made clear and explicit Organization of equipment Methods of class control: verbal and body language Giving praise and providing instructional feedback Behaviour management techniques

5. FINALLY… OBSERVE WHAT THE TEACHER DID AND AS ARESULT WHAT WAS THE LEARNING THAT TOOK PLACE

6. OBSERVATION GUIDELINES General data : School, class, teacher Description of the group . Number, boys and /or girls, age, level. Homogeneous or heterogeneous? Aim of lesson : Teaching point? Introduction: (When you got there, were you introduced to children? What was the student’s reaction to you) The Classroom : Description of environment (lights, decoration of walls, level of noise/ Classroom atmosphere/ Organization of seating arrangement)

7. Classroom Management: T’s position during the class. (Standing? Sitting? Walking?) Kind of rapport- How did the teacher establish it? How did students address to the teacher? How did teacher address to them? The Teacher : Overall appreciation of language, personality traits. Techniques to handle discipline (Eye-contact? Body- language? Gestures?) Task-assignment? Modelling? The Learner: Level of Motivation. Was it sustained throughout the lesson? The learners’ learning styles (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic ?) Behaviour The learner as a doer The learner as a risktaker (volunteering participation?)

8. The Lesson: Timing? Stages in the class: opening, phases, closure. General development. Transitions. Teaching style: T-centered or student-centered. Approach, method, most striking techniques and/ or strategies. Use of Audio-visual aids Interruptions? Breakdowns? Kinds of interaction during the lesson: pair work, lockstep procedure, group work Balance between routine and surprise? T-talking time v St-talking time? English or mother-tongue?

9. Procedures: to activate Prior Knowledge to contextualize to present vocabulary to present a structure to develop the skills Strategies: Strategies to make input comprehensible Strategies to check understanding of tasks

10. PLANNING LESSONS

11. PREPARE THOROUGHLY. BUT IN CLASS, TEACH THE LEARNERS, NOT THE PLAN.

12. Where to begin ? Variables: Time available Pace of the lesson Disposition and readiness of students Unexpected events

13. KNOWING THE CONTEXT

14. STAGES IN PLANNING Stage 1: Specification of the learning objectives : consider sts ’ needs , the crriculum , learner’s ability and timing. Stage 2: Anticipation of how the lesson objectives will play out during the actual lesson . What challenges do I have ? Stage 3: Selection and ordering of activities and tasks Stage 4: Second phase of anticipation : Actual execution of the lesson ( teacher language , transitions , closing )

15. QUALITIES OF A GOOD LESSON CLEAR ERUDITE: SIMPLICITY IS THE KEY LOGICAL: PROGRESSION

16. THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of the lesson sts should be able to … Sts should be able to start and keep conversations in English; Sts should be able to use some connected speech . Students should be able to listen to a song and complete a cloze activity By the end of a lesson Sts should be able to discuss global warming and recent findings according to the article read prior to the class . Sts should be able to agree or disagree with other’s opinions Sts should be able to give their own opinions following an agreement or disagreement in order to maintain the conversation . Sts should have practised the present simple for habitual actions and reviewed the use of the auxiliary verb ...

17. QUALITIES ODF LEARNING OBJECTIVES RELEVANT USEFUL REALISTIC AUTHENTIC TEACHABLE/LEARNABLE

18. TRANSITIONS A progression from one activity into the next provides a smooth flow for the lesson , contributes to a sense of achievement and aids the students in making sense of our teaching . They should be purposeful , respectful and efficient for everyone How ? .Use visual schedules .Visual timer . I do/ We do . Count down from 5

19. Lesson rhythms Add a game to the end of the lesson / Pair work speaking activity Incorporate topics of interest for students Calibrate energy levels and attention DO NOW activities Need for variety of interesting activities

20. Teachers may vary PACE: take up speed when things are easy and give time when things are difficult . Be flexible according to you students ’ needs . ORGANIZATION: include movement / individual, pair work MODE: balance skill ( written and oral) MATERIALS: varied DIFFICULTY: fast finishers MOOD

21. HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN LANGUAGES? IGNORANCE EXPOSURE NOTICING UNDERSTANDING PRACTICE ACTIVE USE

22. FORMAT FOR A LESSON PLAN Class : Class teacher : Trainees : Date and time: Learning outcome : By the end of the lesson , I expect the students will be better able to use CAN to express ability IN THE CONTEXT OF sports .   Language focus ( Skill / language item ): MODAL CAN, AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE FORM Type of lesson ( Vocabulary / grammar / skill /CLIL/TBL): GRAMMAR STAGE   (+ timing) ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES PROCEDURES (what the teacher says/does; instructions, explanations) GROUPING AND INTERACTION MATERIAL AND RESOURCES NEEDED                          

23. CEF DESCRIPTORS – CAN DO STATEMENTS

24. PROCEDURE INCLUDE THE ESSENTIAL STEPS OF EACH STAGE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT INFORMATION (GROUPINGS, WHO WILL TALK, ETC)

25. PROCEDURE PROCEDURES 1.1 Informal talk: The T will ask the sts what kinds of musical genres they know and which genres they like/ listen to and which ones they do not like. 1.2 Setting the context : The T will tell her sts that they are going to talk about ‘TRAP’, a music genre that is in its heyday, especially in Argentina. 2.1 Activating prior knowledge : The T will ask her sts if they know what trap music is. She will also as them if they are aware of the concept ‘battle of roosters’. 2.2 Setting the purpose for reading/listening : The T will tell her sts that by the end of the passage, they will have to explain her what a ‘battle of roosters’ is.  2.3 Reading : The T will read the text and sts will listen carefully. She will make sure that the text is understood by her sts . 2.4 Checking the purpose for listening : The T will check the purpose for listening. She will also take advantage of this moment to make questions about the gist of the text to check comprehension. 2.5 Complete the chart : The T will tell her sts that they have to complete the chart with the information in the text.