1. 1
OBSERVATION REPORT
OBSERVATION REPORT:
LESSON PLAN N°
Trainees: Solange Cortese & Angela Lopez.
School: 92
Course: 6 B
Mentor teacher: Vanesa Toro
Textbooks: Trainees prepared a booklet. No textbooks are used.
Date: September 24th, 2019
Number of lessons taught: 8
Lesson plan n°: 8 and 9
Topic: There is/ There are.
Teacher Educator: Estela N. Braun
Feedback for Solange Cortese.
What went well:
Solange started the lesson with the routine: date, weather. She was unaware
of the conflict the mentor teacher was dealing with.
Then, she continued with feelings. It was a very nice activity where she
worked with almost each student (there were 12 present). She asked them
how they felt and let them choose feeling cards from a box. She moved round
the class and children showed that they had learnt many feeling words: angry,
bored.
2. 2
In activity one she presented vocabulary about the house. She also set the
objectives for the lesson: there is/ there are. She presented the new structures
by means of a poster and examples.
Solange has built an excellent rapport with the stduents. She smiles all the
time and students respect her. One of the “difficult” pupils enquired what I was
doing there, and when the mentor teacher explained that I was observing the
trainees he said that they knew a lot. This shows how much children value
and respect trainees’work.
Solange performed different roles during the lesson, she was a controller
explaining new language and a facilitator and prompter helping pupils use the
enw language. She is highly efficient.
After the explanations, she asked students to work in groups. Her classroom
management skills are very good because children followed all her
instructions promptly. They became quieter and quieter. She simply ignored
negative comments. Children worked in two groups with there is/there are.
Angela led one and Solange the other. They provided suitable scaffolding
during the process. Children were eager to participate. The ones who won
were very happy (Angela’s group). Something interesting is that Solange
made drawings of the prepositions on the board so that children could
remember them.
She forgot to cross-check with the whole group.
Then she started another activity in their booklets. Try to indicate transitions
between one activity and the next by changing patterns of intonation. She
offered extra pencils so that everyone could work. Well done! Perhaps you
could have sued flashcards to remind them about parts of the house because
they did not remember garden/ kitchen, etc. They need more visual support
to activate prior knowledge, especially considering that they miss so many
lessons. After this activity again there was no feedback or checking with the
whole group. Try to improve this aspect for your next lesson.
At ten to two the lesson was over. It was short but students worked a lot under
Solange’s guidance.
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What could have been improved: suggestions:
a. At the beginning of the lesson there were external conflicts. Another
teacher and Vanesa Toro, the mentor teacher were shouting and giving
instructions to students. You did not participate, which was fine because
it was not from your lesson but you seemed too detached from the
incident. When you work in such a complex socio-cultural context it is
important to listen so as to know what is going on.
b. Try to speak up. Your voice is almost inaudible from the back of the
classroom. Your voice should be loud enough so as to be hard/fill the
whole room. Pay attention to your breathing and you will be able to project
your voice much better.
c. Perhaps when you presented the objectives for the lesson you could have
focused on the function of there is/ there are: it is very useful to escribe
places.
d. “Ah, tarado!” You ignored negative comments like this. Sometimes it is
good to intervene. For example, one boy was bothering the girls and
Vanesa had to help.
e. Be careful with the competitive nature of games so that no one feels left
behind.
f. Providing feedback for the whole group at the end of each activity is very
important. Besides, you may involve the whole group. You are working
very well with individual leaners but you should be able to catch the whole
groups’ attention.
g. “El baño como se dice teacher?” Try to listen and answer children’s
questions as they are relevant.
The approach used:
Solange made nice use of PPP (Presentation-practice) with production
probably left till the next lesson. There were game-like activities which
4. 4
children enjoyed. The use of gamification proves highly effective with
this group in particular.
Team work and pedagogical partner’s role:
Angela helped all the time by delivering pictures, helping one group. This pair
shows excellent cooperation and collaborative work. They attend office hours
together and work without overlapping with each other.
Questions to reflect for your report:
How can you improve classroom management with the whole group? Which
elements could help you? Read the theory in module 4 and try to apply it to your
own teaching context. Which challenges do you have to face there and what are
you doing to overcome them?
Final comments:
Solange and her partner are able to design excellent lesson plans.
They care for children and motivate them by producing all sorts of
visual materials, plus the booklet to work in class. I get the feeling
that children in the group are learning a lot and really value
trainees’ work. Congrats on your effort and hard work!
GRADE: 8 (Eight)
Esp. Estela N. Braun
Profesora Adjunta Regular Exclusivo a cargo Práctica Educativa II, Didáctica
Especial de la Lengua inglesa y Residencia en Primaria.
Depto. Lenguas Extranjeras,
Fac. de Cs. Hs., UNLPam
