TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook

Observation Report Form

Name of Observer: John Park Observation # 1

Date Observation Class Skill/Content Level Teacher
Environment*
4/4/1 Classroom Intermediate Intermediate 400 Debbie Peterson
7 Grammar

*Include the URL if the class was online

WRITE THE OBJECTIVES ACCORDING TO THE OBSERVATION GUIDELINES:

-Students will be able to identify the grammar structure of present perfect vs. the simple
past with a 100% accuracy.
-Students will complete the worksheets by distinguishing the use of the present perfect
vs. the simple past with a 100% accuracy.

Notes while observing:

Last Updated: 6/14/2017 6:40 a6/p6

Lesson begins very relaxed and starts off with a basic example

Goes over last lesson briefly

Then moves onto giving examples involving the present perfect vs. simple past

Plenty of examples together

Teacher Debbie Peterson is very vocal and a hands on teacher, tries to get the students to
speak

Dealt with questions and mistakes regarding to grammar and occasionally helped
students out with pronunciation

Performs the exercise with the students during the time allotted

After finishing the exercise, gets up and walks around to help students.

Mechanical, and meaningful exercises.

Not enough time for the communicative exercise.

What did you learn about teaching or learning from this lesson as it relates to the
theory you have studied in your TESOL classes? Include at least one reference (with
an in-text citation) to support your response. (250-500 words)

In this observation, I focused on the several factors of the classroom setting,

specifically on the lesson plan and the teaching. This is a level 400 grammar class,
instructed by Debbie Peterson, and the lesson topic was on the simple past vs. the present
perfect. The classroom had a variety of students from different backgrounds, from the
Middle East, China, and Japan. The teacher followed the PPP model and the lesson plan
was set for a more student based approach, which involved task-based exercises. The
teacher's demeanor throughout the whole lesson was straightforward, clear and very
precise in explaining the lesson topic aforementioned above. In the lesson plan, she was
able to put together and utilize the eight steps needed in producing a good grammar
lesson plan.
To begin the lesson she handed out a pink packet that had a short dialogue,
presenting the pattern in context, along with many examples comparing the present
perfect and simple past. When going over the pattern in context, the teacher was very
active with the students and drew many examples on the board. By drawing it on the
board, she pointed out the time in reference and the relation to the grammar use of the
present perfect vs. the simple past. After a going over some examples, she went on to the
mechanical drills and did the exercise together with the class, while giving them time to
figure it out before getting called on to answer. Soon after the class moved on to the next
exercise which was a meaningful exercise. During the functional explanation and the
meaningful exercise, she utilized previous lessons and the focus on time frames, whether
it finished or not, to help the students in understanding the grammar and filling the words
in the blanks with the correct grammar tenses. Not only was the time frame discussed, the
main focus to help the students understand time frame, was to look at the time references
within the sentences. Before the exercises were all finished, the class only had five
minutes left, which made the teacher wrap things up and assign the rest of the exercises
and a communicative assignment, as homework.
My observation of this grammar class allowed me to see a lesson plan in action.
In a lesson, it is important to make your learners the focus of your teaching and the
instructor, Debbie Peterson, was able to show this clearly (Richards, Farrell 120). As
mentioned in Paulston and Bruder, The teacher should serve primarily as a resource
person, helping the students when they get stuck and turn to [them] for help (46). The
teacher was able to do this during the students exercise and dealt with mistakes and
questions that the students had. Though the lesson was cut before the introduction of the
communicative exercises, I saw the eight pieces of the grammar lesson plan at work.

References

Richards, Jack C. Practice Teaching A Reflective Approach. New York: Cambridge

University Press, 2011. Print

Paulston,Christina Bratt. Bruder, Mary Newton. Teaching English as a Second

Language: Techniques and Procedures. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Winthrop Publishers,
Inc. Print.