SIT TESOL Certificate Course - Practice Teaching Observation Sheet

Teachers name: Leoric Matos

Level: High beginners/low intermediate
Date: April 29th
# of students: ~21
Trainer: Nico
Lesson type: ECRIF Vocabulary
Time: 40 min.
Lesson plan: Lesson plan was e-mailed on time. Some topics the corresponding trainer offered feedback
about include the modification of the lesson objective so it is more SMARTA, the role of writing in favor of
speaking, and the real-life quality of the Fluency activity.
General feedback from trainer: Thanks and congratulations on your first ECRIF lesson under the SIT
TESOL certificate course, Leo! Some of the most relevant celebrations I would like to offer in this summary
chart are related to the energy you put in the class and the spaces you created throughout it. I heard
students laugh and saw them smile in different moments, as you and them offered a healthy dose of fun.
Motivation was also easy to see, they had a number of opportunities to brainstorm before sharing as a class.
All these practices make me think students are feeling more and more comfortable with you and the group.
One of the most relevant puzzles I can offer this time is related to student-centeredness. I notice some of
the interactions and answers involved you primarily as provider of information. I was wondering what some
ways to deal with this are, and I think the inductiveness in the design of the activities will greatly decide
whether students are the protagonists of the class or not.
In terms of ECRIF, I noticed you implemented activities that fit in the Encounter stage with the pictures on
the smartboard; Clarify with the definitions activity; Clarify/Remember with the one where you pointed at
the pictures and the poster; one resembling a mini Internalize when you asked them if they used the TL in
real life, and a Fluency with giving directions.
I encourage you to create more opportunities for practice towards the end of the lesson (especially in R - I),
so students have a higher probability to use the TL in the Fluency Activity.
In regards to your work on action points during this lesson:

Action plans for next PT:

* I will cut time from the Encounter / Clarify stages
* I will provide more chances to practice in the Remember and Internalize stages so that it's more likely Ss
will use the TL in F
Time

I notice
(Description of students and teacher
actions or words)

17.26 T: Kill lights! I'm the shy one, remember?

Ss form 4 groups of 5

17.28 Ss are asked to think about what the

ActSc pictures on the interactive board are and
h
where they are

I am wondering and/or
thinking.

Interpretation: what
helped/hindered student learning
& Generalizations: Themes and
inside or outside theory that
connects to and/or explain what
might have helped and/or
hindered student learning

I noticed this form of humor got

your students' attention
immediately as all eyes were on
you and most minds were
wondering about the phrase
"kill the lights". They were
ready to receive the next
activity.
It was great to see you created
a space for students to talk in
small groups before a wholeclass discussion. This may
impact them in a positive way
by learning from each other's
answers and by building the
necessary confidence to

I am offering

(specific and measurable

possible action
plans/suggestions/questi
ons for consideration and
exploration)

participate later on.

17.32 T: What is this?
E/C
S: A rotondation!
Ss look at different words and associate
them with the previous pictures.
(roundabout, landmarks, underpass, fork
in the road)

17.34 T: Are you ready for the definition? [loud

C
voice]
S: NOOO! [laughs]
Ss see definitions on the board and read
them
S: What's the difference between a traffic
circle and a roundabout? I'll tell you in a
moment!

You didn't initiate this joke, but

you did allow for a moment to
let it be. I believe letting these
small eruptions of energy go
out is highly beneficial, as they
probably are strategies
students use to get their need
for fun and community met. It is
also an effective way to keep
connecting.
Another space for humor!
This little cliffhanger served as
motivation to raise curiosity in
students, particularly if they
can relate to what you wanted
to teach.

17.39 T offers a quick check: points at the 4

C/R
images on the board without the words,
and Ss say the name.

I was positively struck by this

quick way to check their
understanding and even
memory. It was effective
because it was not timeconsuming and it was
necessary.

17.41 Ss receive a poster divided in 4: each

I noticed here that students

C/R

corner is one item of the TL. They paste

the corresponding pictures in the
corresponding corners.

17.46 T: Have you ever given directions? Have

mini-I you used them to give directions?
T explains the difference between "circle"
and "roundabout": a little park in the
middle.

17.50 Ss take a card each and will give

F
directions to a partner to get from theirs
to their partner's place.
Participation was a bit messy here: who
was giving directions to whom?

were using a number of

different learning styles, namely
Auditory, Visual, and the not-sofrequent Tactile. The more
styles we include in our lessons,
the greater variety of students
will be able to engage by using
their preferred style.
It was interesting to see the
shift in focus here to their own
experience with the Target
Language, which makes me
think this could have been an
Internalize activity. I was also
wondering how such a task
could be more studentcentered, letting them do most
of the interaction at the same
time they personalize the TL.
Probably because of the "time
constraint" confusion, I noticed
instructions were given in a
rush and the structure of the
activity was not determined the
way you intended. Students
ended up working in groups of
4-5, with some of the people
giving directions and some
people receiving them.

You might want to

consider designing
activities that have
students interacting
with each other, and
focusing your
participation on
eliciting information,
negotiating correct
answers and giving
instructions primarily.

17.54 Class dismissed!