Types of lessons and lesson observations as instruments

1. Types of lessons and lesson
observations as instruments for
professional growth
02.11.2015
16:00 – 17:20
Presenter: Irina Pomazanovschi,
Moldova

2. Please, research the internet and share in the
comments below your answers to the following
questions:
What traditional and non-traditional lesson types do you
know? Which of them have you practiced with your
students?
• What is the teacher’s and students’ roles in each type
you mentioned?
• How the stages in every type are mentioned different?
• What internet resources have used to plan some of the
lessons you mentioned (if any)? What were the results?
Did it work? Will you do it again or not? Why?

3. Reflective practice and identifying
your needs
Reflective practice is an approach to
teaching that involves critical evaluation of
your actions, to better understand your
strengths and areas for development as a
teacher.

4. Kolb’s experiential learning cycle –
reflective practice is based on this:
2. You reflect
on the
experience
3. You
critically
analyse the
experience
4. You plan
future
actions based
on what you
have learnt
1. You have
an
experience
e.g. you teach a lesson
You think about
what went well,
or not so well
You identify what it was
that made the lesson go
well or not so well – the
activity? Your instructions?
Your knowledge of the
subject/topic?
e.g. you try the same
speaking activity with
another class because
it worked well, or you
research language so
that you know the
language point better
for next time, etc.

5. Ways to reflect
• Keep a learning diary of what went well or not
so well in a lesson
• Ask your learners for feedback on a lesson or
activity
• Make notes in your coursebook after each
lesson
• Talk through your lessons with another teacher
• Ask a colleague to sit in and observe your
lesson
• Record yourself teaching (and then watch it!)

6. Whatever you choose to do, the process of
reflection helps you to keep learning and
developing as a teacher.
• What reflective
practices do you
already do?
• Which would you like
to try?

7. Observation for learning
Most teachers have been observed at some
stage in their professional career.
1. What is your experience of observation?
2. Have you observed other teachers? Have
they observed you? What did you learn?
3. Would you like to take part in peer
observation?

8. Video
Listen to teachers talking about their experience of
peer observation.

9. Observation - having a focus
Observing a whole lesson can be overwhelming -
so much can happen in a lesson that you can
sometimes wonder what you’ve learnt. Having
an observation task helps to provide a focus for
peer observation.

10. 10 Observation tasks
• 1. Guess the aims
As you observe, write down the stages of the
lesson, along with what happens at each
stage. After the lesson, write down what you
think the aim of each activity was. Compare
this with the teacher’s lesson plan.

11. • 2. Instructions
Write examples of instructions that the
teacher says (word for word). Were they
clear? Did learners know what to do in each
case?

12. • 3. Something to steal,
something to give
Write down one thing you
would like to ‘steal’, i.e.
something you see that you
will try in your own classroom,
and one piece of advice you
would give the teacher e.g.
‘Next time you could…’

13. • 4. Who’s talking?
At each stage in the lesson, write down the
amount of time the teachers spend talking,
and the amount of time the learners spend
talking (in English ). What conclusions can
you draw?

14. • 5. Checking understanding
Note down techniques the teacher uses to
check understanding. How did the learners
respond? Did they understand? How do you
know?

15. • 6. Participation
Draw a map of the classroom with chairs,
desks. Every time a learner participates, put
a tick next to them. Did all the learners
participate equally? Why/why not?

16. • 7. Language practice
Note down times when learners practise
language in the lesson. This could be spoken
or written. What practice activities did the
teacher use? Why?

17. • 8. Boardwork
Note down when the teacher and learners
use the board and for what purpose during
the lesson. Was the teacher’s boardwork
clear? How could it be improved?

18. • 9. Materials
What materials did the teacher use during the
lesson? For what purpose? Why do you think
they used those materials? How did the
learners respond?

19. • 10. L1 or L2?
Note down when the teacher uses L1 in the
lesson. For what purpose? How do the
learners respond?

20. Let’s Summarize

21. Discussion
• Which observation tasks have you used in
the past?
• Which would you like to try?
• What other observation tasks do you know?

22. Virtual observation – stay focused
What have you learnt from observing this lesson according
to your observation task?

23. Post-watching discussion

24. Teachers Lesson Plan

25. 1. What do you
think the
teacher learnt
from teaching
this lesson?
2. What questions
would you ask
the teacher
about his lesson
if you had the
chance?

26. What did you learn from your
lesson?
• After you’ve watched, think back to a lesson you’ve
taught that went well or badly.
• Here’s an example: I recently tried a ‘half a crossword’
activity with my teenage learners. It’s a pairwork activity
– each learner has half of the words and has to describe
them to their partner who then fills in the missing words in
their crossword. It took ages for me to explain, and some
of the students didn’t get the idea at all. In the end they
all cheated and looked at each other’s papers! Next
time, I’ll plan my instructions more carefully and do an
example with a strong student. Plus, I’ll change the
seating so they can’t cheat!
• Write your reflections in the discussion below.

27. What was the most interesting to
you during this session?