Sunjung Baer Classroom Observation Report

Class observation is critical for everyone who wants to be and who is in the education field. As teachers who are currently in the field will be able to learn from other teachers and apply what they learn into their own teaching, and as students who want to be in the field will be able to be ready to know what they should do and what they should avoid when they start teaching students. Since we are students who want to be teachers someday, we have observed several classes during this semester. This observation is the last observation for this class, and I organized what I learned from the classroom observation by tasks.

1. The Learner Attending to the Learner The teacher only called three students names during the class. Also, I was able to find out through the camera angle that the teacher did not care about the students at the back if the teacher cared about the students at the back, the camera angle would have moved following the teacher. It seemed like the teacher knew all the students names, but she was not very good at making all students pay attention during the class, and she only interacted with the students in the front. If I were her, I would try to call the names of students who were sitting at the back so that they can participate in class and do not feel left out during the class. Seating Arrangement The sitting arrangement in class was effective for group activities, but it was not good for lecturing. Some students needed to turn their body in order to see the blackboard and the teacher. Since it was a communicative class, it was acceptable, but if it was a class that focused mainly on presentations the teacher should have changed the seating arrangement so that all students could see the teacher and the board without a problem. Learner Motivation The motivation level for learning in this class seemed high because students tried to answer the questions from the teacher. I think the subject of the class had the biggest impact on the students motivation. Since the students were in the target language environment, they would have many chances to use English in their daily lives, and the subject was how to change clothes to the different size at the store, which could definitely happen frequently.

Learner Level I was able to know that the class was mixed with students with multiple levels through students comprehension level. However, the difference between their English proficiency levels was not large enough for them to be needed to be taught separately. Thus, I think the level of learners were suitable for each other, and with the class. The Learner as Cultural Being Compared to other observation videos that I watched, the teacher called the students by adding Mrs./Mr. in front of their last name, and through this, I was able to see that the teacher was applying one of her students cultural aspects that old people needed to be respected by younger people in Asia. I assume that the teachers behavior toward students might be one of the causes for the students motivation to learn the language.

2. Language The Teachers Meta-language While explaining the story about exchanging a blouse to a different size, she used an actual small blouse and big blouse to help students to understand the story better. Also, the gesture and body language that she used made the story more understandable. However, while she was giving instructions about the activities to students, she used distorted language such as Two pictures, one word, put down, and Here, Mrs. Lee, talking to the clerk. Using distorted language with students is not acceptable during the class because teachers should be a language model for students and students tend to copy what teachers say. It will also cause students to not respect their teachers. Thus, as a teacher, we need to be careful with usage of language. Modifying language to fit with the students level is acceptable, but distorting language is not. The Language of Questions The teacher mostly used WH- questions. I think it was suitable for the students level, but I wish the teacher used various kinds of questions in order to enhance the students comprehension about the subject. Language Echo There was no language echo during the class because students speaking level was not high enough to be copied by the teacher in an exact way. For example, the teacher repeated the words that students said, but the intonations and pronunciations were totally different than what the students said.

3. Learning Learning Environment The rapport of the class was positive. Students were interacting with each other well, and they were also willing to participate during the class. There might be several reasons for the positive rapport but the biggest reason that I think is the students ages were similar and they were in the same ethnic group. Checking Learning The teacher checked students learning by asking WH- questions to students. She mostly asked all the questions to students after she told the story about exchanging clothes at the beginning of class. I think the reason why she checked the students comprehension about the story is that the story was based on the lesson for the day, and by understanding the story well before the lesson started, students would be able to understand the lesson and activities more clearly. Since the teacher asked questions to all students in class, the responses about the questions were from everyone in class, and if the responses were correct, the teacher gave positive responses to students such as Right, Correct, and Good job. Through this learning check, students were able to gain a general understanding about the whole lesson. As I mentioned before several times, I wish she could have used different kinds of questions to check the students learning. I do not think that teachers should check students learning by only asking WH- questions because WH- questions are too shallow to check for a deep understanding about learning. Learning and Teaching Compared Even though there were some misunderstandings while giving instructions to students about the activities, since the class was easy, students seemed like they understood most of the things that they learned in class.

4. The Lesson Lesson Planning The teachers language use during the class was not meaningful and relevant because she kept using distorted language with students. Through this, I was able to see that she did not plan for her language usage before she came to class. Also, one thing that I noticed was that she did not prepare for the questions that she wanted to ask during the class in order to check students comprehension about the lessons. Thus, even though there were various kinds of questions that she could use during the class, she only used WH- questions with students. Another thing that I noticed was she used real materials such as small and large blouse and a bag for carrying the

blouse. Since they were authentic materials I was able to see that she planned to use them in class, and brought them with her. I understand that teachers should not put too many details in their lesson plan. However, I personally think that the language use should be adjusted before the class through the lesson plan so that we can use modified language that suits with the students level. Also, the questions for checking students comprehension for the class should be prepared before the class so that teachers can check their comprehension in various ways. Lesson Breakdowns While the teacher was explaining the story about exchanging clothes at the beginning of the class, she crushed the bag by putting the blouse in it for about five seconds. During that time, the silence breakdown happened, but the teacher was able to move from telling the story to a group activity naturally since there was no language used for repair, and the seriousness of the breakdown was minor. Since it was minor breakdown, the teacher was able to move the lesson from another activity naturally, but for the case that serious breakdowns happen, teachers should be able to be ready to make a quick decision during the lesson.

5. Teaching Skills and Strategies Presenting Since the class video that we observed during the class was a communicative class, presenting did not occur during the class. Eliciting: Teacher Prompts/ Responses The teacher did not use various kinds of questions because most of the questions that she used in class were WH- questions. Since the questions were suitable for the students level, the responses that students gave to the teacher were short and immediate, and the wait time for the responses was only about two or three seconds. For the responses to the students responses, the teacher usually nodded her head or gave short responses with praise such as Good job, or Right. Even though she gave responses to students with various words, I did not really like her responses because, in my opinion, her praising responses to students seemed like meaningless repetitions. I wish her reactions to the responses could have been more real and big so that her praising responses did not lose meaning. Giving Instruction Her instruction about the activity that used card readers for Group A was clear and had a chronological order. She put students into groups first, gave instruction about the activity, and let

students to start doing the activity. However, her instruction about the activity that required pair work in front of the class was not presented in a chronological order. I was also able to notice that she was using foreign talk to students when students did not understand the instructions for the activities at first. I personally think that she should have brought two students out, let them know who was going to be a clerk or customer, and explained to them the instructions for the activity. Besides, as I learned in class, teachers should be a language model for students so that students can learn the language from the teachers. Also, by not using distorted language with students, students can feel that their teachers respect them. Thus, I think that the teacher should have not used distorted language with her students but used authentic language instead. Even if the purpose of using the distorted language was adjusting the language level to the students level, she should have not used distorted language or foreign talk, but she should have modified her language to make it more suitable to the students level. Managing Error During the pair activity, there were some pronunciation and grammar errors that students made. However, the teacher did not respond to the errors. I think it was because the teacher wanted them to keep speaking so that they can improve their fluency of speaking. I think she dealt with it well because in order to improve the fluency, students should be able to be free from the worries about making errors.

6. Classroom Management Managing Pair and Group Work When the teacher was moving into the activities, she put students into each group according to the seating arrangement. Then, the teacher gave instructions about the activity to each group. During the pair activity in front of the class, the teacher assigned students who would come out of class and stay in their seats. She appointed who was going to be a clerk or a customer for the pair work, but she did not appoint the leader for the group activities. When she was monitoring group work, she was participating in the group work by nodding and fixing students pronunciation. Also, when she was checking the pair work, she talked quietly so that she would not interrupt other students. When she was moving out of an activity, she said shhhhh to students so that students could be aware that they needed to move to another activity. From observing this task, I was able to see that the instruction that she gave to the students about the activities were not prepared well enough to make students understand the activities fully. Thus, students were having a hard time understanding the activities with the instruction that was given at the beginning. The teacher should have given instructions more clearly with more information about the activities. Also, I was able to see that she did not put students into groups or pairs by their proficiency level. Rather it was done randomly. I think it

would be better to consider students proficiency level before the teacher put them into groups or pairs in order to make the group or pair works more meaningful to the students. Timing and Pace The speed of the teachers speaking was a little bit fast when she explained the activities to students. Thus, students were not able to understand what they needed to do by listening to the instructions about the activities the first time. For timing, I was not able to tell clearly from just watching the observation video because it was edited. I think the teacher should have been aware of her speech speed and adjusted it through practice. Students with lower levels cannot catch the speed of native speakers speaking and it will obviously bring the result that students cannot understand the lesson or instructions that are given from the teacher.

7. Materials and Resources The Board as Resources Instead of drawing or writing on the board, the teacher attached the picture about the story of exchanging clothes on the board. Since I know that teachers should not use tape on the board to attach something on it because it will ruin the board, I tried to see what the teacher used to attach the picture on the board. However, because of the quality of the video, I could not see it clearly.

In conclusion, through this observation, I was able to learn that I need to be careful with the language that I use in class. I should not use distorted language but use modified language with students because I am a language model for them, and students are frequently copying teachers words. Thus, the language that I use should be authentic. Moreover, I was able to learn the importance of a lesson plan. If the lesson plan is not fully prepared, there is a high possibility that teachers might have a hard time carrying the lesson in an effective way. Also, I was able to learn that the lesson should be able to motivate students. In order to do that, teachers should prepare a lesson that is relevant and meaningful to students. I will make sure to apply what I learned through the classroom observation into my teaching, and I will keep reflecting on my teaching so that I am not a teacher who is fossilized.