Guided Video Observation for Cert. TESOL (Trinity College London) course

1. Guided video observations
The guided video observation shown to us is taken from Jeremy Harmer’s book, How to teach
English. It is divided into ten different topics which focus on the various skills for a teacher to
implement in their classroom. Each topic contained segments of videos from different classroom
from A1 to C2 level. The topic was viewed from a different angle by various teachers who gave us
an idea about different teaching techniques. At the end of each segment of the video there were
reviews based on the methods of each teacher in dealing with a variety of topics. These observations
of experienced teachers have helped us to adopt a different teaching style and self-confidently use it
in our classroom.
1) Student levels:
The first segment of the video deals with the level of each class and how the teacher approaches
them. A teacher has to be conscious about the level of the class they are teaching in so as to have a
control on the language to the level of the students. The teacher should effortlessly try to control TTT
and increase the STT if the students are in the lower level and use compound and complex sentences
if the Ss are in the higher level. If the teacher has fallen into the vocabulary trap or grammar trap in
the lower level, then the students would feel uneasy in the classroom and might find the topic more
difficult. So it is important to have the knowledge of the level of the class before planning a lesson.
2) The teacher in the classroom:
The next segment of the video deals with teacher position. Teachers stand and sit in different parts of
the classroom which shows the relationship between the teachers and what they are doing. In the first
part of the video the teacher takes the centre position of the classroom so as to get the whole attention
of the class. In the second part of the video the teacher is with a small group of students and thus
stands very close to them. The teacher uses the chesting technique with this group. In the next part of
the video the teacher sits on the desk which makes students feel friendlier towards the teacher. In
another part of the video the teacher sits on her chair in the centre of the classroom facing the
students. The position of the teacher depends on the class and nationality. The variety of teaching
style can be adopted by the teacher based on certain situations, it depends on what you teach, who
you teach and what you are trying to achieve. The position of the teacher changes when the exercises
are teacher centered or student centered. It changes when there is some correction needed or based on
whether the correction involves all of the students or one individual. If the teacher needs accuracy
then the best position of the teacher is to be beside the student. The teacher can choose any position
in the classroom but only after the group becomes familiar with the teacher.
3) Giving instructions:
This segment deals about how to give instructions to the class according to the student’s leve l. The
instruction can be given in different ways like chesting, reading the rubrics and stressing on the key
words of the instruction. The best way is to give one or two examples or do a demonstration. While
giving instruction it is trial and error; the teacher learns through experience what instructions work

2. and what doesn’t work. The important thing is that students should listen that the teacher is giving
the instructions. While working with the low level students the teacher should be quite explicit and
make sure the demonstration is very clear before the teacher starts the activity, otherwise it won’t
work with a particular group.
4) Organising student groupings:
Grouping of the students depends on the students and the activity. Most often teachers tend towards
pair work more than group work because either the pair is talking or listening and in group of four,
two might be talking and one person might be drifting off into day dream. One of the teachers in the
video put particular students with particular students because the activity was based on particular
cultural experience, the country the students were born in and wanted to share their experience with
students from other country. So grouping is based on the information students can share with other
students and not one group having all the information and the other having nothing.
5) Different seating arrangements:
This segment of the video focuses on the same classroom used in different ways by different teachers
using different seating arrangements in different activity. The students can be grouped in two or four
which makes the students more comfortable and helps the teacher to monitor them and help them
reformulate their ideas. While organizing the student groupings, teacher should be careful in putting
the higher level of the students with the lower level so that the higher level of students can help the
lower level and motivate them to speak. One of the teachers used two separate tables because there is
a possibility that while sitting in a group round the table, some students might dominate the feedback
session and also in their proficiency level there are certain varying levels within the group. The
teacher should be aware of the skills and their nature of response in the class while arranging the
seating of the classroom.
6) Teaching vocabulary:
This segment of the video shows how teachers explain or elicit meaning in a number of different
ways. It was interesting to see teachers teaching vocabulary in different ways. Some teachers teach
vocabulary while some try to elicit vocabulary from the students, but what is it important in making
it a memorable experience is when that word is learnt. One of the teachers opined that eliciting the
vocabulary from the students is more effective than teaching vocabulary. Teacher used mimes, realia,
mind maps, draw pictures on whiteboard, gestures and expressions to teach vocabulary. These events
would stay in the minds of the students and help them to use it in proper context.
7) A reading sequence:
In this extract the teacher ask students to read a text and shows how the teacher gets them interested
in the topic. The teacher asked what they knew about J.K. Rowling, who was the subject of the
reading text, long before they got into the reading so as to generate interest into the topic they were
reading and to give their own input to the task and to share their knowledge and experience of the
topic and for weaker students who might not know anything about J.K. Rowling might get benefited

3. from the collective information put on the board. In the following activity students checked whether
the information on the board was right or wrong. So the information written on the board became a
second reading task. The teacher also wanted to get the gist of the text and so asked the students to
suggest a suitable title for the text, so students felt that there is a purpose of reading. While giving a
passage, students should be given a task to do which would help the reading purpose.
8) Speaking task:
This segment of the video shows two teachers organizing speaking tasks with their classes. Both the
teachers brought interest into the topic and made the students speak. The students had a
demonstration from the teacher and so found it easy to speak. One of the teachers in the discussion
said that the higher you go in level the more authentic or the less prescriptive the teacher has to be.
The teacher should give confidence to the students to speak on the topic as well as be confident about
the student’s confidence.
9) Beginning the lesson:
This segment focuses on the beginning of a class by different teachers. The teacher can start with a
energizer or a warm up activity, by describing a picture, recalling the previous lessons or informing
students what they will be doing today or by asking the students to have a wild guess on today’s
topic. The beginning of the class is very important for a teacher because this continues throughout the
class. If the teacher looses the first impression the students might fall off into day dreaming.
10) Games:
This segment describes two different games played in the classroom by two different teachers. In the
first game students were divided into 4-5 and made them sit around a table with their hands on their
knees. There were strips of paper with words on the table. When the teacher calls out a word,
students had to grab the strip of paper with the word on it. The student with the more number of
words would win. In the next game a student from the group sits opposite to the board, while the rest
of the group members sit facing to the board. The teacher writes a word on the board. The student
facing the group should say the word with the help of the group members who can describe the word
but can’t say it. Game can change the mood of the class. While doing vocabulary teacher can use
such games that would help the students to enjoy as well as learn the words.
Guided video observation was very useful for me as I got to know of different teaching styles and
how to make the class more interactive. I used some of the techniques in my classroom and it helped
me to improve on my skills. The discussion in the end of each segment was an insight and made me
more confident while I enter into my class and in giving activities.