TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook

Observation Report
Forms for inclusion in the Observation Notebook must be typed

Name of Observer Mami Abe

Date

Observation
Environment (include

URL if the class was

online)

2/20/201
5

UCR Extension

Observation # 4

Class
Skill/Content
Reading / Writing

Class
Teacher
Level/Number
(Beg./Int./Adv.)
200
Craig Vitamanti

Focus on relevant areas from the What Can Be Observed handout. Notice how the
teacher handles these areas during the class.
OBJECTIVE OF THE LESSON:
Students will identify the main idea of a paragraph.
Students will find transitions in paragraphs.
Notes while observing:

Last Updated: 8/12/2015 21:11 a8/p8

Warm Up: The teacher had a small talk with the class and confirmed homework for the
next week.
Presentation: The teacher explained eight patterns of paragraphs giving examples and
reviewed four patterns of them. The teacher said the focus of the day was a listing
paragraph.
Practice: The teacher asked the students to read a paragraph in the text and find the main
idea of the paragraph. He also asked the students to try to find transitions in the
paragraph. In checking the answers, the teacher added more explanation about transition
words.
Production: They moved on to a passage in the text, which had three paragraphs. The
teacher asked the students to find the main idea of each paragraph and transitions. The
teacher checked the answers every paragraph so that the students did not lost
concentration on their work. After doing the exercise, the teacher explained about the
components of a paragraph. And then, the teacher asked the students to try speed-reading.
The teacher measured time, and the students read a passage as soon as possible.
Wrap Up: The teacher reviewed the lesson by asking questions like What did we learn
today? and What is transition?
What did you learn about teaching or learning from this lesson? Discuss your
observation focus, and the theory you have studied in your TESOL classes. Consider
the three levels of teacher reflection (surface, pedagogical, critical). (100-200 words)
The teacher asked the students a lot of questions to get them involved in the class.
In reading a paragraph together with the students, he asked questions such as What is the
topic of the paragraph? What is the main idea of this paragraph? What do you expect
to read? and What information am I looking for? These questions helped the students
read a paragraph completely and notice that reading is not a passive activity but an active
one. The teacher told me that his objectives in his teaching were testing first to see how
students do, finding difficulties among them, figuring out how to solve problems
together, and leading students to the answer. I think that his way of teaching takes an
inductive approach because he let the students do first before giving rules.
As for the three levels of teacher reflection, the class was organized well, the
activities were helpful to learn to read a paragraph, and the teacher gave the students fair
opportunities to talk.

What activities/techniques from this class do you want to remember for your own
teaching practice? Discuss specific ways in which you could apply the techniques and
methods you saw. Discuss your future teaching environment and your students needs
and goals. (100-200 words)

The teacher said, If you finish, look at me, before starting an exercise. By
saying so, the teacher can know who finished the exercise, so I think that it is very
effective phrase to say before doing activities. Moreover, the teacher talked about classes
of 300 and 400 level, which are the students next level, and he motivated them to work
hard. Especially for beginners, motivation to learn is important because it decides their
future outcomes, so motivating students by mentioning upper level is a useful way to
encourage students to study hard. Last but not least, I really like the teachers attitude
toward the lesson and the students; he was relaxed, fun, and motivated. I would like to
behave like him.