English 300, Section 001
Spring 2006
Dr. Susan Stewart
Class Observation Assignment Handout
At some point before you write your teaching observation, you should read Lynn Langer Meeks's article, "Making English Classrooms Happier Places to Learn." The article is available through Educator or you can access it at:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8274%28199903%2988%3A4%3C73%3AMECHPT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0
If you access this through the above link and you want to view the entire article at once or want to print it, follow these directions:
At the top of the page you will see PRINT | DOWNLOAD | CITATION/STABLE URL | TABLE OF CONTENTS
Either print or download
Classroom observations are built into this course to build a foundation for reflection on your assigned reading, class activities, and our class discussions. In Yellow Brick Roads, Janet Allen claims through offering a "kind of support and passion for learning" and "establishing an environment that supports reading, students will not only want to learn but will also take increasing responsibility for that learning" (9). A supportive environment depends upon necessary environmental, academic, and emotional conditions for learning to take place. Brian Cambourne, author of The Whole Story outlines eight conditions for learning:
Allen discusses each condition in depth and the whole of her text discusses a multitude of reading and writing activities meeting each one of these conditions.
Your objective:
Observe one class period in a middle or secondary classroom. You may focus on a literature/reading course or a writing/composition course, but I prefer you find a course taught at one of the levels in your certification area. If you are observing a class for one of your pedagogy courses, you may use that class for this assignment, but you must write your observation to meet my criteria.
During that time, take extensive notes detailing the teacher and students' behaviors, activities, interactions, etc. Your objective is to find at least one example of each condition for learning during the class. In other words, what does each condition for learning "look like" or "sound like" in the class you observe? Remember to "read the walls" in the room and to set up a time to talk to the teacher and preferably discuss the routine of the class with one of the students as well.
You may extend your observation by listening to what both the teacher and student have to say about regular routines and "built in" examples of conditions for learning that aren't entirely visible during your one visit. For example, reading the room may reveal an example of "choice" used routinely or "approximation" used during a previous activity. Some examples may not be as visible as others. THINK!
To complete your project, be sure to do the following:
1. Before observing a class in the public schools, be sure to get permission from both the teacher and principal. Also, obtain from the teacher a brief description of what the class will be doing along with the educational goals for the day you're observing. (If you are given an oral description, write it down).
2. Attend class: Arrive a few minutes early and sit in the back. Have paper and pen or pencil to take notices (You will be turning in your notes with your assignment.) First, I suggest you spend a few minutes to "take in" the physical environment then jot down what you notice about the classroom. Then, draw vertical lines down several pages making three columns on each page: you will need to take notes on what the students do/say, what the teacher does/says, and what you think as you observe the class. You should be taking notes during the entire class, starting from the time you enter. Be as descriptive and specific as possible. *The more detailed your notes are, the more they will help you make connections and write your assignment.
3. After class, try to talk to the teacher (and a student) for a few moments for their evaluation of the class. Ask questions such as: Was the class typical? In what ways? If not, what was different about the day? Does s/he think the goals were met? How/Why?
4. The written assignment: Drawing from your notes and using your memory, type a summary of your observation. Describe what you observed including the physical set up of the classroom, movement (both teacher and students), what was said, what was done, etc.
Then, in a separate section, write your response/Evaluation to/of what you observed making connections to Brian Cambourne's conditions for learning: How did you see various conditions incorporated during your observation. Were they beneficial to learning? How?Why? Example: How did you see or hear choice in the classroom? And how is choice significant to student learning--how do they respond? How does it impact on their responsibility for learning? What did you most like about the class (what would you choose to "steal" or use in a future class of your own)? If you were unable to find an example of one (or two) condition(s), did its absence hinder learning? How/Why? How would you incorporate that condition within the framework of the teacher's classroom? Explain in specific terms an activity, chart, questioning technique, etc. that would offer students that condition for learning. What did you have questions or concerns about? What did you learn by observing?
(Note: these questions are meant as a guide, not meant as an inclusive list to follow.)
Turn in the following materials in a folder labeled "Classroom Observation Assignment":
1. Notes (including written description of teacher's "plan" and educational goals obtained prior to visit).
2. Written assignment including Observation and Response/Evaluation (typed, double spaced)
Taken almost verbatim from Lori Rios's Observation Assignment