Category: Reflections

During this observation, I observed an online advanced grammar class. During this class the teacher reviewed present time verb tenses and introduced past time verb tenses. The beginning of the class went very well, however after the warm-up activity the teacher experienced a great deal of technical difficulties. The technical difficulties I observed highlighted two important lessons, that in the future I will keep in mind when planning and giving lessons. The first lesson I learnt through observing this class is that it is important to test new technology outside of class time to ensure that it will work. Due to the issues with technology, there was a period of about fifteen minutes in which students were not engaged in an activity. Despite the technical difficulties, I believe that the use of new technology and new activities demonstrates flexibility and adaptability on the part of the teacher. The teacher was willing to go beyond their comfort zone to better serve the students, which I think is a sign of a good teacher. The second lesson I learnt through observing this class is that not everything always goes as planned in the classroom and that it is important to remain calm when things do go wrong. Even during the period in which the teacher was unable to get the technology to work, she remained calm and had open dialogue with the students about the challenges she was experiencing. Observing this lesson, also allowed me to gain an understanding of the types of activities and material that is taught in an advanced grammar class.

During this hour of classroom observation, I observed an online advanced communication class. This class was made up of adult students from varying cultural backgrounds.

Within the first few minutes of this class, it became apparent that the students had a wide range of listening and speaking abilities. I believe this shows the importance of evaluating each student’s base line abilities, to create lesson plans that cater to each individual student in the class. In other words, it is important to recognize that each student has unique educational needs that need to be met. Throughout the duration of this lesson, student participation was low. The low participation could have been due to several factors. However, I believe that the low level of participation was due to the online format. Due to the current pandemic, classes that would normally take place in person are being taught online. Students who are used to learning in a classroom may be struggling with the sudden move to online learning. After noticing the lack of participation, the teacher moved from group discussions to asking individual students questions to facilitate communication. This slight change in format showcases the importance of being flexible in the classroom. Additionally, observing this lesson allowed me to gain some insight into what level of material should be incorporated into an advanced level class and what abilities students in advanced classes have.

For my first hour of classroom observation, I observed an adult ESL class taught by Tanya Cowie. This was a literacy class, made up of students with varying levels of English proficiency. Tanya broke her lesson into a warm-up activity, lesson, card game, review activity and closing activity. During this observation several important aspects of Tanya’s teaching stood out to me, including her use of verbal and non-verbal communication, frequent feedback, ongoing assessment throughout the class and repetition of key phrases and vocabulary.

Tanya used both verbal communication and non-verbal communication in the form of pictures, body language and pointing to objects throughout the entire class. The intentional use of non-verbal communication allowed students who were not confident with the vocabulary yet to gain an understanding through the gestures, pictures and props. Using both verbal and non-verbal communication is something that I would like to incorporate into my classrooms. Throughout the class Tanya provided frequent feedback to students. In some cases, she provided feedback immediately to individual students and in others she waited and gave general feedback to the entire class. It seemed, that see gave immediate feedback to students that were more confident and waited to give feedback to students who were more nervous. Additionally, the activities performed in the class were designed to allow for ongoing assessment. Assessment activities, included talking lines, role-play, a card game and an exit activity. I believe that quick informal assessments throughout the class are important because they provide the teacher with real time feedback on how students are performing and processing material. Tanya also uses repetition frequently throughout the class. I noticed that the use of repetition allowed for students to practice more and perhaps understand the material better. Overall, this class was fast paced and incorporated several different activities, which ensured students were engaged. The activities were a mix of group work, individual work and lecturing. It also became apparent after watching this class that Tanya had made personal connections with her students and that the students were very comfortable participating in the class. This showcases the importance of getting to know your students as individuals to make them feel comfortable in the classroom.

This classroom observation showed me the importance of using verbal and non-verbal communication, providing on-going feedback, designing activities that allow for assessment and including a variety of different activities to keep students engaged.