Primary Placement

Observation Sheet Management

Was your lesson plan effective
for managing the class?
Yes, my lesson plan was effective for
managing the class. The overall behaviour of
the students was exceptional, with no severe
problems. The students thoroughly enjoyed
the lesson, where they actually wanted to do
the activities.
Did anything unexpected
happen?
The only unexpected thing that happened
was that the lesson went longer than what
was planned. Though, the mentor teacher
and the students were more than happy to
finish off the activities.
Did you provide a variety of
activities?
I did provide a variety of activities doing
things as a class firstly and then allowing the
students to do more independent work at
their desks after. I was also flexible with how
they produced their final product.
Were you satisfied with your
timing, particularly for the end of
the lesson?
The lesson did run for longer than planned,
but did not run overtime in the sense of
disrupting other activities planned in the day
or a break time. In fact, I concluded the
lesson twenty minutes before lunchtime. So I
was satisfied with the timing, as I didnt have
to cut my lesson short.
Did you feel you were able to
change things if needed?
Yes I did, but it turns out that I didnt really
have to change anything. The only major
thing I changed was increasing the length of
the lesson.

Was your organisation of
materials and resources efficient
and effective?
Yes it was. I organised everything the day
before, so I was well prepared. The students
had ready access to aids, such as that of large
maps of the world and globes. They also had
access to a coloured piece of card of their
choice, so I did cater for my students. I even
made sure I had extra copies of the
worksheet activities, just in case any
students make an error and wanted to start
over again from the beginning. I had
everything that my students and I needed,
which I put down to the detailed lesson
planning I did.
Did you plan how and when you
would distribute and collect
materials?
I did plan how and when I would distribute
the materials. This has been noted down in
the lesson plan. I have done this in a
particular way in order to minimise
disruptive classroom behaviour, which does
not facilitate effective classroom learning.
Primary Placement
Were you aware of classroom
procedures and school
disciplinary policy? How much
did you know about your
students?
Yes, I was aware of the classroom procedures
and the schools disciplinary policy. I had
three days to familiarise myself with these
things, before my full class lesson. I knew
most of my students and their names. I also
knew a few of the backgrounds of my
students, both from the mentor teacher and
the students themselves, and I even managed
to get an insight into what they have
previously learned.


Maintaining a Positive Attitude in the Classroom

How did you demonstrate to the
students that you valued them,
and enjoyed learning?
To demonstrate to the students that I valued
them, I listened to them, sympathised with
them, and showed that I cared about them. In
order to do the latter, I got to know them,
helped them with things that they didnt
understand, and even gave them something
as simple as a smile, a high-five, or a
handshake. Also, I made an effort to say hello
to everyone in the morning.
Which aspects of your teaching
style do you feel helped maintain
class attention?
The aspects of my teaching that I feel as
though that has helped maintain class
attention is that of using a variety of
activities, which are simulating and
interesting for the students. This then should
allow for the learning process to take place. I
also feel that altering the pitch and tone of
my voice has helped maintain class attention,
since using a monotone voice could easily
bore someone to death.
Did the students know what was
expected of them?
Yes, the students knew what was expected of
them. During the lesson, I explained and
showed the class what they were required to
do. After this, if any students were still
unsure as to what they had to do, I would
kindly explain and show them again one on
one.
Were you able to redirect
energies of attention seeking
students? Did the students have
enough to do?
Yes, I was able to redirect the energies of
attention seeking students. In this case, I
would say something like this: (Insert name
here) stop it, youre disrupting everyone else.
Weve only got x minutes left, and I really
want you to finish this work so you can take
it home to show your parents.

The students did have enough to do. If they
Primary Placement
did finish early, they were encouraged to
help others who werent finished or who
were struggling.


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 difficult to be aware of what was
happening in all areas of the class at all
times. Thus, I had to always be on the move,
or just simply stand at the front of the class.
So I did know what each student was doing
to an extent. When I was walking from table
to table, I took a mental note of what each
student was doing.
Did you take action when you
observed poor behaviour? Why?
Why not?
Yes, I did take action when I observed poor
behaviour. Firstly, I said something along the
lines of: I dont like what you are doing!
What do you think you should be doing? If
the poor behaviour continued, I would take
action. For instance: putting the students
name on the board, deducting 50 cents from
their money books, moving the student to
another desk, or taking an item from them
(such as a glue stick that they may be fiddling
with, when they should be paying attention
or working on an activity).
Did you use non-verbal cues? Yes, I made use of non-verbal cues quite
heavily. These cues include eye contact,
pause, proxemics, and gestures. Though,
these non-verbal cues must be reflected by
the associated verbal cues. Therefore,
through the use of these cues, the student
should start to realise that their current
behaviour is not appropriate, and this may
move them to correct the behaviour
themselves.


Overall Comments
In my prac, I had to deal with very minimal misbehavior, the worst being
students refusing to do particular tasks.
As a teacher I was firm but fair, yet friendly at the same time.
The students enjoyed my lesson, and my presence in their classroom.
I made sure that my verbal and non-verbal cues reflected each other.