TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook

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

Name of Observer Yingrui Yang (Fifi)

Date

Observation Environment

05.19

face to face

(include URL if the class

was online)

Class
Skill/Content
reading&writing

Observation # 10
Class
Teacher
Level/Number
(Beg./Int./Adv.)
600
Matt Kutter

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 BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY ACADEMIC SOURCES.
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO ANALYZE SOURCE BY USING AN EVALUATION
WORKSHEET.
Notes while observing:

Last Updated: 8/6/2015 4:42 a8/p8

1. T writes 3 sentences on the board, and gives Ss two choices to fill in the blanks.
2. Ss ask T, "What is source?" T explains and writes some sources on the board.
3. T distributes a handout that is "Evaluation of Academic Sources", and asks Ss to read
first.(Those three things appear in the handout: Where did you get your source? Is that
reliable? Where do you want to use this source?)
4. T distributed a paper to each group, and asks Ss to write the answers about "What type
of resources is the most reliable?","What do professors expect you to do?"and"Name
three things in the publication process.", "What should be clearly marked and
identified?"as a competition.
5. When the unknown vocabulary word "bias" appears, T asks Ss to discuss the meaning
with a partner first. Then T explains "Death Penalty" with "bias" to Ss.
6. T writes the topic about"Should the government ban gun?" on the board.
7. T distributed the guideline about "Evaluating a Source" to Ss, and explains each terms
on the handout to show Ss how to use this form. (Where did you get your source? Is that
reliable? Where do you want to use this source?)
8. T hands out another handout, "How to evaluate sources", to Ss, and guides Ss to go
through question No.1. Ss do the rest of 8 questions with their partner.
9. T asks Ss to finish this worksheet as homework.

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)
I focused on the teacher's explanation of academic sources. I saw the teacher using
questions to guide Ss to think about "what are academic sources and how can I analyze
them." Also, the T gave Ss a chance to discuss the questions that T wrote on the board,
which was very good for improving Ss communicative competence and getting Ss
involved into the class.

T was very organized for his class, he controlled the discussion time wisely. When Ss
discuss with each other, he walked around to participate in their discussing instead of
siting on his chair and leaving Ss alone.
Ss will use those skill in future college life. They have to write paper in college, so
they must be able to get academic sources to support their ideas in the paper. Thus, Ss
will need to find reliable academic sources. T exactly taught them how to find those
sources by themselves.

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)
I really want to teach my future students how to get academic resources and analyze
them. I want to adopt the technical of using that T uses many questions to guide Ss and
allow Ss to have more time to discuss their opinions with peers. In my future reading and
writing classes, I will also use student-centered ways and inductive ways to guide my
future students to learn knowledge by themselves. I will be acting as a guider, not a
traditional teacher. I want to participate in students discussion and give some positive
feedback to them. If I heard over topic discussion, I can through this way to guide them
to the right track.