Observation Sheet Questioning

(Please complete this form for both primary and secondary professional experiences and
place in your ePortfolio)
Graduate Standards - AITSL
Professional Knowledge:
Professional Practice:
learning

1. Know students and how they learn

2. Plan and implement effective teaching and

Question Type

Do you feel your questions

were clearly structured and
readily understood by the
students?

Did you use a variety of

question types?

What balances was there

between the various
questions types?

Consider both why and

when you made use of the
different question types?

When it came to the conclusion of my lesson I felt as

though the students didnt understand my questions.
Perhaps because they were not clear enough.
Whenever I asked a question I didnt get a response
straight away. Therefore to ensure my questions were
readily understood I had to give an example of an
answer I was after. Doing this help my students
understand what I was asking and I received more of
a response.
I mostly asked my questions during the conclusion of
my lesson, where I used mainly evaluation questions
and questions to check for understanding. To improve
I would use more variety of questions types, for
example I would ask more recall or comprehensive
questions during my lesson.
Due to the fact that I focused on mainly evaluation
questions, there was very minimal balance between
question types. This is another area I think I need to
improve on, spreading my questions throughout the
lesson, not just asking them all in one part of the
lesson.
I used evaluation questions mostly in the conclusion
section of my lesson because I feel as though they
were the most appropriate in order to wrap up my
lesson and decide whether or not the students had
learnt anything from my lesson.

Distributing and Directing Questions

Did you recognise any

pattern in the distribution of
your questions amongst the
students? Consider
reasons for this pattern?

How have you directed

questions to the group?

Have you used wait time?

Did you make eye contact

with the group as you
directed your questions?

The patterns in my questioning was that I used recall

questions at the beginning of the lesson (to check
the students prior knowledge) What is one way we
can represent data? and I always used evaluation
questions at the end (e.g. what conclusion can you
draw from this data?)

I asked questions to the class as a whole, however

because I didnt always get a response from student,
I had to start directing my questions to individual
students. Something I need to improve on is making
sure my questions are clearer and perhaps making
sure the student are capable of answering them.
Because it took a while for me to get a response from
students after each question, I used wait time to wait
for a response, most of the time I would just simplify
my questions straight away if I knew I wasnt going to
get a response.
When asking questions I concentrated on keeping
eye contact with students because I knew that was
how I would keep the class engaged and ensure they
are paying attention. There was a time when I caught
myself talking while I was facing the whiteboard, I
quickly realised what I was doing made sure I didnt
do it again as I knew that was one way to lose the
attention of the students.

Reactions to Students Responses

How do you deal with
correct responses? Do you
qualify any praise given?

For this lesson I decided to use lollies as tool for

rewards. This was a strategy I used to ensure they all
tried their hardest. It worked, when the students saw
lollies were involved they all tried to give me
answers.

How do you deal with

incorrect responses? How
do you deal with students
who stumble and grope for
an answer?

It wasnt incorrect responses that I had to deal with

as such, it was more just getting a response from
students at all. I encouraged responses by giving
students examples of an answer. If there was a time
that students would stumble or grope for an answer, I
would just ask them if they wanted me to come back
to them.

What use do you make of

the students responses to
develop the teaching point?
Have you redirected any
questions in order to add to
an initial response?

Are you the only evaluator

of the students answers?

Overall Comments

Whenever I received an answer I would develop the

teaching point by beginning to elaborate on the
answer or asking the student to elaborate and then
using my elaborations to create another question.
This is also how I redirected questions to add an
initial response.

My partner and I were the only evaluator of the

students answers. We organised it so that whoever
asked the question could respond to the students
answer. My mentor teacher evaluated however gave
us feedback at the end of the lesson so she didnt
have to interrupt our lesson.

Observation Sheet Management

(Please complete this form for both primary and secondary professional experiences and
place in your e portfolio)
Graduate Standards AITSL
Professional Practice:
1. Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
2. Planning for Effective Management

In my lesson plan I included examples of ways that I

could manage the class. This included things like,
raising my hand for silence, checking for understand
to make sure students understand what is expected
of them, and what I would use as a signal to begin. If I
e.g. How did the students
react to your lesson overall didnt include these in my lesson plan I dont think it
would have been as easy to manage the class.
and to your planned
When the lesson first began the students didnt seem
activities?
keen at all. However they were all very excited when
they were informed that they would be going outside
Did anything unexpected
for part of the lesson.
happen?
I was expecting the students to take advantage of the
Did you provide a variety of fact that I was just a student teacher and wonder off
and misbehave when I took them outside, however
activities?
they all showed respect to me and what I had asked
for them.
Were you satisfied with
your timing, particularly for I had provided three activities for my lesson, first was
to go outside and collect data, second was to record
the end of the lesson?
the data onto a table and the third was put the data
Did you feel you were able on to a graph, so I feel I provided enough activities
to change things if needed? for the students.
I satisfied with my timing because I finished my
lesson in the hour provided and I was able to fully
wrap up and conclude my lesson without having to
rush.
I think because I managed my time well that there
was room to change things if needed, for example we
could have spent a little longer outside to collect
more data.
Was your lesson plan
effective for managing the
class?

Were you aware of

classroom procedures and
school disciplinary policy?
How much did you know
about your students?
How did your mentor
teacher maintain a safe
learning environment?

I was aware of the classroom procedure and

disciplinary policies. The usual classroom procedures
were a seating plan, having nothing on your desk
except your book and pencil case and bags must be
at the back. For discipline, there was either detention,
picking up rubbish at lunch and recess, or going to a
buddy class. Because I was always chopping and
changing between classrooms I never had the chance
to learn all the students names. This made it difficult

What strategies did your

observe your mentor
teacher using to maintain
this?

when trying to interact with them. What I knew about

the students was what my mentor teacher though
was important to tell me. For example, poorly
behaved students and how to handle them. To
maintain a safe environment my mentor teacher
made sure there was nothing or nobody in the
classroom that could threaten the safety of the
students or herself at any time.

Maintaining a Positive Attitude in the Classroom

How did you demonstrate to I always offered help to students if they wanted/needed it.
the students that you valued
This was to show that I do care and value them. I greeted
them, and enjoyed
everyone at the beginning of each lesson and introduced
learning?
e.g. Tone of voice, facial
expression, sense of
humour, introduction to
students and topic.
Which aspects of your
teaching style do you feel
helped you maintain class
attention?
e.g. Variety of activities,
class or group discussion,
pace of lesson, interest at
class level.

Did the students know what

was expected of them?

Were you able to redirect

myself so they know who I was and why I was in their

classroom. I also had a laugh with students where
appropriate.

I think being enthusiastic was what helped in keeping my

class engaged. Because they saw my enthusiasm, they were
also enthused. Had I looked bored throughout my lesson,
the students would have lost interest.
I think encouragement also helped. I encouraged the
students and I think that helped them become confident
when sharing answers and responses with me. I think
because I was quite energetic, and they could see that I was
just as excited about going outside for an activity as they
were, that made them more engaged in my lesson.

Prior to the main activity, which would be taken place

outside, I had to tell the students what kind of behaviour
was expected of them. For example, no wondering away
from the group, being quiet for the classrooms around us,
and acting appropriately (e.g. no climbing trees). Due to the
students behaving well outside, I know they knew what was
expected of them.
During my group lesson it was difficult to stop the attention
seeking kids from being disruptive. This was because I had

energies of attention
seeking students? Did the
students have enough
to do?

two boys in my group who were best friends and were

constantly acting up. This is when I had to tell them that if
they cant work quietly then they cannot sit together. That
worked and they got the job done. I had provided an activity
for my group lesson which I had assumed would have taken
the full 20 minutes, unfortunately a couple of the students
finished early and I had to think quickly of an activity for
them. Next time I will make sure I have enough work to
provide for those who finish early.

Dealing with Minor Misbehaviour

Were you aware of what
was happening in all parts
of the classroom? Did you
know what each student
was doing?

Most of the time I was aware of what was going on.

Although at the beginning of my lesson while I was
focusing on another student, there was one girl
sitting at the back drawing on her pencil case. This
made it clear to me that not only did she not
understand what she needs to be doing, but I had
stopped paying attention to the rest of the class. I
went up to the girl put her back on track and then
ensured that I was always paying attention to the
whole class.

Did you take any action

when you observed poor
behaviour? Why? Why
not?

I never had any poor behaviour that would force me

to take extreme action. The students could be
disruptive at times but all I needed to do was get
them back on task. However, prior to my lesson my
teacher told me that if anyone behaves so bad that I
need to send them out, then I could.

Did you use non-verbal

cues? e.g. Contact, pause,
gesture, movement toward
student/s concerned.

If the students would start to play up I would just

pause. I stopped what I was doing until they were all
paying attention again. I found this to be the most
effective way. I also used the hand up cue, when the
students saw my hand up they knew they had to put
theirs up and it meant be quiet. It never took too long
to get my students back on task.

Overall Comments

Schools as text looking at the whole school

Describe the school in terms of
its demographics, appearance
and resources (be general here
and do not name the school).

What were the roles and

responsibilities of the teaching
staff you observed?

After discussion with your

mentor teacher describe how
policies and processes of
government, administration and
schools have an affect on the
work of the teacher?

In terms of demographics, the students came

from a range of different backgrounds. After
observing behaviours and appearances I could
easily pick out those who were probably from a
well off family. I could also pick out those who
were not. After a discussion with my mentor
teacher I found out that a vast majority of
students came from troubled families. This
clarifies some of the behavioural issues I
witnessed.
According to appearance, I could tell the school
was quite old. There were a lot of dodgy doors,
windows, desks, chairs etc. The classrooms had
very little resources, they had TVs however if
students needed access to a computer, the
teacher would have to move the entire class to
a computer room.
During non-teaching periods I sat around the
staff room and observed different teachers.
Most of the time the teachers were either
marking or providing work that they are going
to use for their next lesson. A lot of the
teaching staff worked together on how they are
going to approach assignments with their
students, this is so all the students are doing
the same work. At the end of the week I got to
observe different teachers in different
classrooms and observe the different teaching
styles, this was a beneficial part of my
experience.

Of course every teacher must follow the

curriculum, this is how the government assists
teachers. The work that teachers provide for
students must follow the curriculum. All schools
have different policies, whether they be
uniform, different virtues, disciplinary policies

etc. My mentor teacher discussed with me that

those things affect the work of a teacher
because you have to follow the schools policies
whether you agree with them or not.

What did you observe non-teaching

staff doing to support teaching and
learning in the school?

During some classes there were some

assistant teachers who came in to the
classrooms and helped those students who
needed it. I also observed the administration
workers and the student services workers.
The student services workers support
teaching in the school because they were the
ones who sorted out any issues or conflicts
between students, students and teachers or
students and parents. The student services
purpose is to support the students with
anything that goes on at school or at home
that may disrupt their learning. Student
services is where teachers send the students
who may need some assistance or just help
for getting back on track.

Students
You will have observed the
diverse nature of your classes.
How was this diversity
supported?

Just like primary school, the diversity in the

classrooms was supported by a seating
arrangement. Though the biggest way
diversity was supported was by classes. For
example there were 8 groups of each year
group. In the groups there is one group that is
full of students who are more academically
gifted, a group for those who arent as gifted
and the rest of the classes were full of
students who were in between. This was so
the kids who are not interested in learning are
not going to disrupt those kids who are.

Function of Schools
Did you observe the connection
of your schools with the broader
community? How did this
happen?

In the week that I was at my secondary school, I

got to attend the sports carnival. This is where I
got to observe the school and its connection
with the broader community. On the day of the
sports carnival parents came to support their
kids. There were also teachers from other
schools who came to help out and make the
day successful. At the end of the day parents
stayed back and helped teachers and workers
pack away the sports carnival gear. That is
when I got to see how the school connects with
not only students and teachers from the school,
but also parents and other locals.

What do you think the function

of school is?

The function of school is to create a safe and

healthy learning environment for students and
teachers. Schools create a respected
community where students, teachers and
parents can all come together and learn. During
my professional experience I observed schools
and how they are as not only a school but a
community. It is a place where parents send
their kids and trust that they are in a safe
place.