Anecdotal Records

(1) or (2): for grades 1 or 2

(A) or (B): for section A or B

Civics (with Rola Tarsousi):

o 14/3/2015 (1,A): The first time I attended a civics session, the teacher
welcomed me and introduced me to the students and said, The
teacher (pointing on me) wants to observe you and you have to sit
quiet, if you didnt she will tell the principal. Then I sat down, she
started telling me that most of the students are Syrians, how she deals
with them, and how the lesson should be taught.
o 21/3/2015 (1,A): The teacher started explaining the lesson, she gave
me a paper and told me that I have to write what she is doing to have
an idea about how I have to teach my lesson later on. I already know
what she have done (lesson planning), but I wrote down some notes
because it was a social studies session not an English session.
o 23/3/2015 (1,B): The teacher wanted to explain the lesson she
explained for section A. She explained some of it, and then I told her
that I can continue the rest of the period because I saw her teaching it
before. I continued then wrote the agenda on the board.

28/3/2015 (1,A): I reviewed the lesson explained before, then the

teacher started with a new lesson. I worked as a mentor for the
teacher and helped students in the things the teacher wanted them to
do. At the end I wrote the agenda on the board and checked it for
every student.

o 30/3/2015 (1,B): The teacher explained a lesson about "". At the

end, she wanted to make an activity so I took her place and I made the
activity, in which I say a sentence and students have to hold the
(check) stick if it is true, or hold the (X) stick if it is false.
o 15/4/2015 (1,A): After the summer vacation, students had a test. I
observed the students while the teacher was not in class almost half of
the time, and helped them whenever they wanted something.
o 18/4/2015 (1,B): In this section, I read and explained the test for the
students instead of the teacher, and I observed them with some help.
o 20/4/2015 (1,B): This was the section I gave when the doctor came, the
lesson was about the four seasons (found in the preparing to teach
section).
o 25/4/2015 (1,A): I gave a lesson about the traffic lights (found in the
preparing to teach section).

o 27/4/2015 (1,B): The teacher explained a lesson about "" .

Most of the students didnt know the places very well. I asked the
students what is the name of the place that they would like to go the
most, and then I told them to bring a picture for them in their country.
o 2/5/2015 (1,A): This session was my last civics session. The teacher
was correcting worksheets about "" . While students were
reviewing the lesson. I told the teacher to give them to me to correct
them, so I took them, corrected them for each student, and then I
made the correction on the board.

Geography (with Rima Nakib):

o 19/3/2015 (1,B): It was the first time I attend a geography session with
this teacher. When I entered the class, she just smiled and did not
introduce me to the class. She explained a lesson about "". The
lesson was too short, there was an activity and she started shouting at
the students who didnt know how to work. So I helped them and the
teacher felt angry because of them.
o 21/3/2015 (1,B): Students had a test. I couldnt take her role and
explain it because she explained it quickly then told then no questions!
But I was walking through their desks to help them.

o 21/3/2015 (2,A): It was a different story in grade 2. There was a big

difference between the level of understanding of grade 1 and that of
grade 2. Here, the teacher doesnt check the agendas, and I felt like
they were 3rd graders with respect to the 1st graders. The teacher
introduced me in this grade, maybe because they are more mature
than grade 1. Then she explained a lesson and solved some activities
on the board. Whenever a student finishes, I checked his/her work.
o 24/3/2015 (2,A): It was a recitation period. So I reviewed for the
students the lesson about agriculture, then I recited for each student.
o 28/3/2015 (1,B): I already checked with the teacher which lesson she
wants to give so it was about "". I brought to class several types
of clothes to make an activity on it. The teacher explained the lesson,
then I gave each group one type of clothe to guess what is it, tell me
when do we wear it; in which season, and make a sentence about it.
o 28/3/2015 (2,A): The teacher explained a new lesson about "". I
recognized that the teacher only explains the lesson; students solve
exercises, and if there was extra time she would sit down and play with
her phone. Because of that, at the end I summarized the lesson and
asked students questions about the lesson.
o 28/3/2015 (2,B): The same lesson was explained by the teacher and I
for this section, then I picked up some students to solve the exercises

form the book on the board. They liked the idea because their teacher
doesnt ask them to come to the board.
o 1/4/2015 (1,A): The lesson in this session was about "". The
teacher introduced several types of houses (house made up of wood,
snow, straw). I asked students who usually lives in these different
types of houses. They solved an activity from the book. Then I asked
them to draw the type of house they would like to live in.
o 1/4/2015 (1,B): Same as the previous period.
o 1/4/2015 (2,B): Students had a quiz to do, I asked her if I can read and
explain it for them so she accepted.
o 14/4/2015 (2,A): The lesson was about "" . The teacher
explained the lesson and solved exercise. I told her that I want to
prepare something for the other section.
o 15/4/2015 (2,B): In this session, I made crowns for students written on
them the months of the year. I chose 12 students and they wore the
crowns and they had to stand in chronological order. When the 12
students finish, the other students should say how many days does
each month has and so on.
o 16/4/2015 (1,A) + 16/4/2015 (1,B): The lesson was about "". In the
first section, the teacher explained the lesson, but in the other section I

explained it with the help of the teacher. Then I asked every student
what is the job of their fathers. At the end, I picked up some students
to act out the role of a doctor and a teacher. They loved this acting out
as if they have never acted out something, they were fully engaged.
o 18/4/2015 (2,A) + 18/4/2015 (2,B): The teacher reviewed the lesson
about the months of the year, then I recited the things they had to
study. I made an activity for the students in which one student will start
with a month; the other student will continue and say the month after
it and so on.
o 18/4/2015 (1,B): I arrived to the class but the teacher didnt appear. I
asked the supervisor if she is coming and she said yes, so I waited for
her about 10 minutes but she didnt come. I took the book from a
student and started reviewing each lesson they took from the time I
came to class. They participated and it was obvious that they have
mastered the content.
o 21/4/2015 (2,A) + 22/4/2015 (2,B) : The lesson was about "". In
the first section, the teacher explained the lesson and solved some
activities. In the other section, I thought of an activity for the students
after explaining the lesson. I brought cardboards, students worked in
groups, and every group drew something that shows the weather of a
specific season.

o 23/5/2015 (2,A): I gave this session, the lesson was about ""
(found in the preparing to teach page).