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Ed. 4262 General Science

Sept. 2014

SCHOOL VISIT OBSERVATIONS- Both Visits Combined

2 Sir Winston Churchill C.&V.I. visit and observation ~ Sept
22nd & Oct 22nd
130 W Churchill Drive

This is an observation reflection that should be included in your Portfolio. This page
is for your rough notes. Feel free to reorganize, type it up, add diagrams, modify the
categories etc etc. Remember to focus your observations on the teacher behaviour,
techniques, and classroom organization. Make this document useful for YOU.
1. Beginning of Class (5 mins. before start of class, as bell rings, first 10 minutes
of class):
-Many students were arriving late; the teacher didnt start teaching till about 5
minutes after the bell
-At the beginning of class the students were very talkative
-After about 5 minutes they seemed to have calmed down
-Attendance is taken right away
-No students were allowed to leave within the first 20 minutes of class
2. End of class routines (last 10 minutes, as students are leaving, after students
have gone):
-No students were allowed to leave within the last 20 minutes of class
-By the last 5 minutes, the students were already packing up regardless if they
finished their work or not
-After the students were gone, the teacher was getting set up for the next lesson
3. Physical interaction of teacher with the space of the classroom:
-For the majority of time, the teacher stood at the front of the room this allowed
the students at the back to get distracted
-When he or she stood at the front they did move side to side
-During work time, the teacher continued to circulate the classroom
4. Behavioural Interactions or Issues (between student-student, student-teacher,
groups):
-Students seemed to sit beside their friends or people they felt comfortable with
-The students at the front of the class interacted more frequently with the teacher
-The students that did not display a huge interest in school seemed to sit together at
the back of the room
-The teacher attempted to interact with all the students but some students didnt
show that they cared

5. Transitions between topics or learning activities:

-The students enjoyed switching between activities, it kept them more engaged and
got them refocused
-The transitions took up some time as students began talking to one another
6. Minimum two best practices:
-When students were talking during a lesson, the teacher would walk over to them
and teach from therethis got those students to refocus
-After explaining a concept, show them a video to help solidify the information
7. Effective/Ineffective components in the layout of the classroom:
-The classrooms were skinny and narrowThe students at the back of the classroom
seemed very far from the teacher at the front of the classroom
-There wasnt much space in between desks or rows to walk aroundThis made it
more difficult for the teacher to help students and/or monitor progress
-The students sat in benches, which seemed very helpful because they were able to
help each other (more interaction)
8. Teacher Dress, Presence, Composure etc.
-Teachers dress professionally, very few had jeans on
-Very friendly staff, knew when to be very strict and when to have fun with the kids
-Were very knowledgeable in their area of teaching, were able to answer the
students questions