TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook

Observation Report Form

Name of Observer Yiyuan Zhang (Tiffany)_ Observation # 4

Date Observation Class Skill/Content Level Teacher

Environment*
07/27/2017 Face-to- UCR Extension IEP, Reading and Writing: Advanced Patrick
face 711 Research paper review (700 level) Wood

*Include the URL if the class was online

WRITE THE OBJECTIVES ACCORDING TO THE OBSERVATION GUIDELINES:

STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE ERRORS IN THEIR CLASSMATES RESEARCH PAPER.
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO READ THEIR CLASSMATES RESEARCH PAPER AND WRITE
COMMENTS ON THE PAPER DEMONSTRATED IN THE EVALUATION HANDOUT.
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO WRITE REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH PAPER BY USING THE
EIGHT STEPS OF COMPLETING A RESEARCH PAPER WITHIN A PARAGRAPH.

Notes while observing:

Classroom Diagram

1min
Warm up
T briefly talks with Ss what did they do last weekend.
Ss have a variety of answers.

2-18min
Research paper reading
T hands out a folder to each S and asks Ss to put their research paper in the folder.
Ss put their research paper in the folder and give it to T

T gives Ss the main part of the research paper of one of their classmates.
T gives Ss around 15 minutes to read their classmates paper and asks Ss to
underline when they see any mistakes.
T recommends Ss to correct the mistakes with pencils and tells Ss if they finish
reading the paper, raise their hands.
reading the paper, raise their hands.
T keeps monitoring Ss and answers S5s and S9s questions when they ask for his
help.

19-44min
Research paper evaluation
As Ss all raise hands, T hands out the evaluation handout (see Appendix 1) to Ss
and gives direction to the next activity. T gives Ss 20 minutes to complete the
evaluation handout.

T keeps monitoring Ss and answers Ss questions when Ss raise their hands.

T reminds Ss of the last two minutes.
T uses a timer to show Ss that time is up.
T asks Ss to sit next to their partners and discuss the research paper.
S5 & S8 sit together as Group 1.
S7 & S10 sit together as Group 2.
S3 & S6 & S9 sit together as Group 3.
S1 & S4 sit together as G4.
T monitors Ss and explains to them that a research paper is different from an
essay: in a research paper, Ss need to find resources to match their ideas, while in
an essay, Ss state their own ideas.
T explains to S4 what is APA style.

45-55min
Reflection journal writing
As the discussion ends, T turns on the screen and asks Ss to write a research
paper reflection journal using complete sentences and write only 1 paragraph.
Research Paper Reflection Journal
Please write a paragraph response to the following questions:
1. What steps did you use to complete your research paper?
2. What did you learn from the research process?
3. What helped you to complete the research?
4. How did you manage your time while working on your research assignment?
5. How satisfied are you with your final research paper?
6. What would you do differently next time?

T plays the PPT and gives Ss 10 minutes to write the journal.

T reminds Ss of the last four minutes.
T reminds Ss of the last 60 seconds.
T uses a timer to show Ss that time is up.

56-68min
Reflection journal discussion
T asks Ss to sit with their partners and to share their journals.
As Ss share their ideas with their partners, T writes OTB the 8 steps of writing a
research paper.
 T asks Group 1 to answer the second question of the reflection journal.
Ss in Group 1 answer the question. T then reviews the eight steps of writing a
research paper.
T explains the eight steps of writing a research paper.
T: How many steps do we have for writing a research paper?
Ss: Eight!
T: After you finish writing the paper, what should you do?
Ss: Proofread the paper.
T: Should you write a paper before finding the sources or after finding the
sources?
Ss: After (finding the sources)!
T: Very good. Very good.
T asks Group 2 to answer the third question. Ss in Group 2 answer the question. T
comments on Ss ideas about their processes in writing the research paper.
T asks Group 3 to answer the fourth question. Ss in Group 3 answer the question.
T comments on Ss ideas.
T asks Group 4 to answer the fifth question. Ss in Group 4 answer the question. T
comments on Ss ideas and talk with S2 by using some humor in pointing out that
she should not waste her time in chatting but should focus on the research paper
writing.
T asks Ss in the class to answer the sixth question. Ss answer the sixth question
one by one.
T then asks Ss to hand in the journal.

69-72min
Warp up
T goes through the process of writing a research paper and summaries Ss
response to the research paper writing reflection.
T explains two errors he found in this lesson during the discussion to students.
I keep chat (chatting) with my friends.
I am not satisfied with my paper for that (for which/in that)

T then assigns Ss the homework.

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 the present observation, I concentrated on teaching, in particular, teaching

methodologies in the reading and writing lesson. In this class I observed, all students are
advanced-level English learners coming to the UCR Extension IEP program to improve
their academic performance in English. For this lesson, I focused on observing how the
instructor Patrick Wood employed teaching methodologies to teach high-level English
learners to achieve his teaching objectives. For this lesson, the instructor incorporated the
student-centered teaching method and the classroom management techniques in his class.
student-centered teaching method and the classroom management techniques in his class.
To make the classroom a more student-centered one, the instructor Patrick Wood
used three approaches for the ten advanced-level English learners to have them be
engaged in the reading and writing class. Firstly, the instructor Patrick Wood behaved like
a facilitator in the learning process instead of being the authority of the classroom.
During each of the activity, the instructor kept monitoring students and answered
students questions only when they asked him. This approach maximizes the amount of
student talking and gives the teacher the role of guiding and facilitating students
language learning. Secondly, the instructor assigned several discussion activities for
students in the class. These activities is not only a means to have students exchange ideas
but also learn to negotiate meaning for academic purposes. For advanced-level English
learners, they need to know more about conversational skills and are required to be aware
of different language functions to cultivate communicative competence. In Patricks
class, he intended to give students opportunities to interact with their classmates and to
learn to communicate for academic purposes. Lastly, the instructor checked students
comprehension of the content of the lesson by asking specific questions rather than
simple Yes/No questions. For instance, after the instructor explained the eight steps for
writing a research paper, he did not ask simple questions such as Do you understand?.
By contrast, he used specific questions How many steps do we have for writing a
research paper?, and After you finish writing the paper, what should you do? to get
specific answers to check students understanding of the content. This comprehension
check technique is also an effective way to build up student-centered classroom and to
check whether the instructor could move on to the next content of the lesson.
Moreover, the class I observed was a warm but firm one because of Patricks
classroom management techniques. For one aspect, the instructor used a timer which can
produce hilarious sounds to make the classroom with some humor. In addition, the
instructor tried to make the academic content more interestingly demonstrated in his
conversation with students in the reflection journal discussion period. For the other
aspect, Patrick did not immediately correct students errors in the class, but kept them
until the wrap up phase of the class. This largely mitigates students anxiety in L2
learning.
To sum up, the instructor Patrick Wood successfully utilized the student-centered
teaching method to give students an adequate amount of time to express their ideas and
negotiate meanings. Moreover, he employed the task-based language teaching approach
to have students use the target language through meaningful tasks.

Grade: 10/10
 References

Jones, L. (2007). The Student-Centered Classroom. Retrieved from

http://elearn.extension.ucr.edu/pluginfile.php/229368/mod_resource/content/1/Student-
Centered%20Teaching%20%28Jones%29.pdf.
Richards, J. (2006). Communicative Language Teaching. Retrieved from
http://elearn.extension.ucr.edu/pluginfile.php/229372/mod_resource/content/1/Communi
cative%20Language%20Teaching%20%28Richards%29.pdf.
Last Updated: 9/8/2017 6:14 PM