Universidad Catlica de la Ssma Concepcin

Facultad de Educacin
English Teaching Programme
Teaching Experience I

OBSERVATION TASK 2
Managing classroom communication.
This task is concerned with how communication takes place in a classroom setting, and
specifically with the patterns of interaction that provide the vehicle for communication.
In this task youll be collecting data about how communication works within the
classroom, for example, who talks and to whom, who questions, who responds.
a) Arrange to observe a lesson.
b) Consider all the elements worth viewing: the teacher, the students, their
interaction or dynamic, whiteboard, the classroom environment itself,
movement, time.
c) Observe the class in order to answer and reflect on the following questions:
How does the teacher open the class? What tone does this set?
(attention, motivation, engagement, other)
The teacher usually reviews what have been seen during the previous
lesson and present the introduction for the day class topic. The teacher
uses a cheerful tone or even a deep tone, in order to raise awareness
about what is going to be said by her.
What interaction or relationship does the teacher establish with the
students? How does this affect the learning environment or
opportunities for learning?
The teacher stablishes a close and polite relationship with the students,
which can be reflected in how she approaches them, by eye contact or
by their name, she seems to know everyone in class and is able to
make references about the personal characteristics of the students. This
creates a good classroom environment that invites everyone to
participate. Which reflects her knowledge of their context with creates
learning opportunities for the students because the activities have been
though specifically for them.
Are students engaged? at what level and in what ways? Is the
engagement sustained? How can you notice this? Exemplify.
Yes the students are in most level engaged and almost during the whole
lesson. This can be noticed first, because they are constantly following
the teachers movement, and her instructions. Also because they are not
afraid to participate or being corrected.
How has the teacher prepared for this learning occasion? What
tools are used and does the teacher apply them effectively? Note:
tools include humour, visuals, small group work, writing exercises,
guided class discussion, quizzes, others.
The teacher prepared herself following the syllabus class, and through
the planning of her class. She used a worksheet, visual aids on the
DATA, pair work, a lot of body language changes on her voice tone to
keep students engage during the whole lesson. She also uses examples
of the topic of the class (difference between going to and will) using

Universidad Catlica de la Ssma Concepcin

Facultad de Educacin
English Teaching Programme
Teaching Experience I

specific students characteristics, and asks them to create examples

applied to their selves.

How does the teacher know if the class is going as planned? Are
there clues to show the teacher maintains this trajectory or adjusts
course when unexpected events happen?
By using ccqs and checking constantly the understanding of the
students of the different tasks in order to go on with the next one. And
there are certain clues to check the teacher trajectory for example, we
were able to notice that she respects the time, that she provides for
every activity, and she has the activities that she will developed in order
on her desk. Also because usually she usually points out, what is going
to be done during the class period.
How does the teacher close the class? How does this affect what
students think or learn? What evidence shows that students clearly
understand the content and context for what is learned by the end
of the class?
The teacher usually closes the class by, summing up what has been
done in class with one last activity. This affect students learning
because they cannot only review, but also resolve doubt and make sure
they actually understood the task. The evidence is shown if the students
are able to complete the last activity successfully or with minimum
errors.
Adapted from Wajnryb, Ruth. Classroom observation Tasks, Cambridge Teacher
training and development,1992