Jeremy Tang taught a lesson on An Inspector Calls to a Year 9 class. The lesson focused on analyzing the language used by the character Mrs. Birling in a passage from the play. Students completed homework on linguistic terminology and peer assessed each other's work. In class, students read the passage aloud and identified examples of terminology in Mrs. Birling's speech through group and independent work. Feedback involved creating a mind map of words that characterize Mrs. Birling. The lesson concluded with students writing a diary entry from Mrs. Birling's perspective using the language analyzed. The observer praised Jeremy's lesson planning and assessment strategies but provided suggestions to deepen the language analysis and characterize of Mrs. Birling.

1. SECONDARY: School Experience Observation Standards Sheet
Academic Year: 2015 2016
Student Teacher Name: Jeremy Tang Date: 6th
May 2016
School: Queens’ School, Bushey Visit: AP3
Professional Standards, Targets & Directed Activities. Please: comment on each of the Standards headings at each
observation, taking into account the practice observed, documentation, and discussions with the student teacher and
relevant school staff; check and comment on progress towards meeting previous targets and set new ones; check and
comment on Directed Activities.
1.Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and
challenge pupils
Jeremy: Focusing upon language, the use of
collaborative learning.
FG: Yes, high expectations in terms of terminology, and
good use of questioning to develop students’
understanding.
2. Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
Jeremy: Clear development of the lesson and students
building upon their previous knowledge.
FG: Yes, I agree.
Good questioning at times.
The students had time for writing a diary entry.
Good ending to the lesson, which clearly showed the
students had progressed.

2. 3. Demonstrate good subject knowledge and
curriculum knowledge.
Jeremy: Use of the stylistic features of speech, good
knowledge of the play.
FG: Yes, I agree.
Improve subject knowledge of imperatives,
declaratives, interrogatives. Develop knowledge of the
differences between spoken and written language? E.g.
tape record students, do a transcript and compare with
a play version of that same discussion?
4. Plan and teach well structured lessons
Jeremy: I felt my plan was very comprehensive, clear
development, knew what I was doing.
FG: Yes, I agree.
Plenty of variety in the activities.
5. Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and
needs of all pupils.
Jeremy: use of collaborative work, independent work,
help sheets, starter sentences.
FG: I agree with that. Good use of extended
questioning at times: we needed more of this. In a
group situation: “What is the effect of that
interrogative? What is she trying to say about Shiela’s
state of mind?”
6. Make accurate and productive use of assessment.
Jeremy: plenty of AfL, peer assessment throughout, did
collaborative work in groups, doing the carousel. It
worked. Independent work which was peer assessed.
Plenary which thought about the utterances they made
themselves.
FG: Yes, I agree.
Peer assessment of homework: good. But little time for
reflection upon what they actually know.
Nice listening to the comments students are making.

3. Help sheets on the wall; this gives an indication of who
needs help. Good activity!
Peer assessment: students pass their books to the
person next to them, with a clear set of questions for
them to assess the work, related to what was covered
in the lesson. This was good.
7. Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and
safe learning environment.
FG and Jeremy:
Well behaved class.
Good authoritative manner.
There was reciprocity, e.g. saying you use “bro” and
“mummy”.
8. Fulfil wider professional responsibilities
Form tutoring.
Parents evening.
Creative Writing Mentoring Project.
Working with Year 12, marking their essays.
Senior Sports’ Day.
Strengths
Jeremy: Lesson planning, using AfL strategies,
differentiation.
FG:
Really liked your extended questioning.
Targets (up to 3)
Please use continuation sheet if necessary.
THIS WAS A GOOD TO OUTSTANDING LESSON, SO JUST
CONSIDER THESE POINTS:
Model language analysis in more depth? Take a less
“mechanical”, more organic approach to it? E.g. get the
students thinking about the overall character of the person

4. Good choice of activities.
A clear link between terminology they studied for
homework and the group task activity.
Excellent AfL, both at the beginning and end of the
lesson: a real variety of activities.
Excellent behaviour management.
for this diary exercise,not just the words and phrases they
might use. The most able could consider the literary effects
of such a diary entry: Mrs Birling is presentedas a repellent
character in the play, snobbish and heartless. How will the
students present her in their diary?
More independent learning and meta-cognition. E.g. give
them the task without any help and see how they get on?
Then they can reflect upon what they know and don’t know.
More collaborative reading. Paired reading of the passage
might have been more appropriate than whole class reading
here.
Judgement For this stage of the PGCE you are:
making the required progress □ YES not making the required progress □
Judgement is made in relation to performance at this point in the PGCE. This must be filled in.
Signed _______Francis Gilbert___ Mentor / University based tutor
Signed_______Jeremy Tang__ Student
SECONDARY: Lesson Observation Commentary
Stage: AP3

5. Trainee Name …Jeremy Tang….. School…Queens’ School Bushey…
Class……Year 9AS No: in class…23………. An Inspector Calls Act II
Observer (s)………Francis Gilbert…………………….
Narrative of Lesson Observed
Silentreadingas Jeremy sets up PowerPointand takes the register.Goodbehaviour. AuthoritativetonefromJeremy.
Jeremy asks students to get their homework out. Jeremy explains that the class is doing An Inspector Calls, looking
Mrs Birling.
“We are going to write an empathetic diary. What does empathetic mean?”
SLIDE: Homework. Terminology list. Swap with the person next to you. Peer assessment.
Key terms: sociolect (a dialect of a specific social class or social groups); idiolect (individual way of speaking; your
own unique speech); Jeremy asks the class what idiolect means, and explains that he still uses the word ‘mummy’;
tone (general character/attitude/place piece of writing); dialect (takes the form of language which peculiar to a
specific region or social class); Jeremy asks the students to consider the differences between Newcastle and Bushey;
utterance (spoken word, speech or sound); imperative (command; vital importance is also valid); I felt Jeremy’s
knowledge was a bit shaky here; imperative has two meanings, and there are many imperatives in spoken language;
it’s not true to say that most statements are declaratives;
This was a goodexercise,but ask students for feedbackonwhat they know anddon’t know; link moreto the context,
e.g. find examples of these things in An Inspector Calls? E.g. the characters do have idiolects in the play.
Jeremy allocates the reading. Jeremy decides to be the Inspector. Start from page 29, possibly do Forum Theatre?

6. Students read the passage in the class. Most students are listening.
Jeremy stopsthe class, andasks the class:“What’s just happened?” Gooduseof questioningfromJeremy, developing
students understanding of the passage: “What do you mean by vague?” “Why do you think she’s quite surprised?”
Capitalism/socialism is shoe-horned into the discussion?
NEW TASK: Group Task. Using the terminology table. Identify the different examples in the extract. Annotate it: what
does it show about Mrs Birling’s character? In groups of 4 or 5: Carousel, In your groups you have 2 minutes to
annotate as many stylistics features of Mrs Birling’s speech, Once the 2 minutes is up, one person passes it around
to the next group.
Jeremy organises the groups. They do this in an orderly fashion. Jeremy has put two examples on the sheet to give
the students guidance.
The students get on with the tasks, filling in the sheet with various degrees of enthusiasm.
Students annotate the sheets using the homework terminology, but I worry that many of them are simply feature
spotting, and not analysing the language in depth. Possibly model analysing language in depth with them?
NEW SLIDE: Feedback: Mindmap. When groups are giving feedback, write down some utterances or words in a
mindmap that you think are really important to show Mrs Birling’s personality. If you think of other words, add it to
your mindmap.
Jeremy says: “What words or utterances reveal Mrs Birling’s personality?”
A student says: “Absurd” Jeremy: “What type of word is it? Idiolect etc?” Needed to developthe effect of the word.

7. “Morbid”: this word was not interrogated enough. Get the students to investigate the meaning of the word in more
depth?
Yes, good when discussing how Mrs Birling is manipulative and controlling in her use of language.
“Girls of that class”. Jeremy: “Mrs Birling is being dismissive.” Some development of the effects of the language here.
But I think there could be a bit more.
“I’m not sure lordly is a word. I need to check on that…”
After wrapping up the discussion of Mrs Birling’s language: “You have words and utterances that Mrs Birling would
use to talk to other people.”
NEW SLIDE: Independent Writing Task. Mrs Birling is recollecting her interrogation by the Inspector. Write a diary
entry focusing on her first interaction with the Inspector. Use words and utterances that you think Mrs. Birling would
use.
Jeremy: “10 mins, you as Mrs Birling, using words and utterances.” Possibly more importantly, the students need to
understand the character, how her world view hinges upon snobbery? She is from a more upper class family than
Mr Birling. This is important, isn’t it?
NEW SLIDE: IF YOU WANT HELP…There are some starter sentences on the board.
The students get on quietly with the exercise.
Jeremy asks the students to swap books.
Jeremy asks the students to write down one word that Mrs Birling uses on a post-it note and then put it on a sheet
at the front. I thought this was a good exercise for summing up the key points learnt in the lesson.

8. Observer’s Signature:………Francis Gilbert …
Date:…6th
May 2016
Trainee’s Signature:…………Jeremy Tang…… Date:…6th
May 2016