From a presentation at IATEFL 2015 - a topic which was then of great interest to teacher educators - this may need updating now as Evernote may have changed some of its features - but video recording still not possible

1. Evernote for Teacher Observation &
Development
Exploring Evernote affordances
Marisa Constantinides - CELT Athens
From a talk at IATEFL 2015
Evernote for Teacher Observation &
Development

2. Evernote in your browser, tablet or smartphone
A free application with great features for teachers (and learners)
Evernote for teacher observation & Development

3. What do you note down when observing a teacher?
• teacher actions
• teacher language
• learner actions
• learner language
• your own impressions
Observing and writing
down comments during a
lesson
Typical example of tutor's
'field notes' in a word
document
• objective comments
• subjective comments
• criteria checklists

4. Evernote can do all that and more!
• you can take free text notes
• you can insert a table (browser version)
• it syncs on all your devices
• you can continue the same note on your tablet or
phone
• you can snap photos & insert in note (tablet &
phone)
• you can record audio of the whole/part of lesson AS YOU TYPE!

5. with Evernote you can
• send your notes via email
• publish notes on the web & share link with trainees (eg in a
wiki)
• publish your notes on a class blog directly or via email
• easily insert links to video or audio
excerpts
A picture says 1000 words!

6. - Video considered ideal
- Tutor: "Watch the recording of your lesson
and find the problems"
This is a very good idea - but is
it enough to help you 'see'?
(especially for new teachers
and teachers in training)

7. But a video doesn't flash lights & point out
your problems
I watched this video of myself
as a new teacher. I knew there
was something wrong with part
of it....
Trainees need time to process
inforation and time to reflect.
Sometimes this ‘click’ can take
years to happen!
Tutor & peer feedback is a great
shortcut and can

8. Watch this video and decide which line is problematic and why

9. The last line of the jazz chant does not work
Did I know this when I wrote it? I’m afraid not!
Did I notice that something
was not working while I was
teaching this young class?
Not fully & not
straight away

10. Novice teachers or teachers in training can benefit
from feedback - it's not enough just to watch a video
I knew that this line worked
But it took me time to 'see' why this one
did not and I was already experienced
“We can only see what we can see at the
particular stage of our development”

11. (Aside) Still some children managed the pesky
like!
Sometimes students learn
despite their teachers :-)

12. We need other 'voices' to raise our
awareness
• A tutor’s voice
• Our peers’ voices
• A student’s voice

13. How do tutors get the message across?
Feedback like any learning, needs to involve discovery learning and problem solving, not just 'telling'

14. How can the trainee be involved? Some
ideas
• Read tutor notes and write own evaluation
• Transcribe own talk from Evernote recordings and subject
to classroom discourse analysis
• Listen to lesson recording & read tutor notes - write own
evalutaion
• Read tutor notes and annotate/comment (see next slide)

15. Read the notes your tutor made during your
lesson and for each stage decide what you
would do:
• I would omit this
• I would develop this
• I would add another stage or element
• I would change this

16. Trainees can be asked to write down their own lesson's
transcripts
• Using the audio on Evernote
• Part or whole lesson
• Analyse in terms of .....
Using knowledge of classroom discourse - this or
other system eg. IRF
(http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/initiation-
response-feedback-irf)

17. Tutors can take notes anywhere
• on scraps of paper
• on a laptop
• on a tablet
• .... using any programme

18. On Evernote you can
• type your notes
• record audio while you type
• take photos and
insert in place
• email your note to you,
your trainee
• publish your note
online
• publish your note
directly into your blog
• find your note on all
your devices (syncs on
all • use it in your
browser
• download it and use
offline version
I can do all these things using different
apps but with Evernote I can do it all with

19. Contact me if you need more ideas or examples
marisa.constantinides@gmail.com
http://www.celt.edu.gr/
Thank you!!
https://eltgeek.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/iatefl-
2015-marisa-constantinides-evernote-for-teacher-
observation-and-teacher-development-workshop-
summary/
Olga Sergeeva also blogged about
this