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:

1. Know students and how they learn

2. Plan and implement effective teaching and learning

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?

The questions that I gave to the students were used without jargon,
trick questions or questions that were too advanced for the class.
I believe the questions were structured in a way to promote
learning. The questions were used in scaffolded way so the
students had to opportunity to learn from the questions.
The questions were mostly understood by the classroom. As a
practice teacher I was often unsure whether the class had learnt a
particular topic and therefore I had to regularly ask the class
whether they had learnt certain subjects before I continued with
my lesson.
I used a variety of questions to the classroom. If I asked a
particular question and the class did not appear to understand I
would rephrase the question to give the students the opportunity
to answer the question.

The students were given a variety of open questions and closed

questions. For example, for mathematics I would ask a student to
explain in detail how he/she might solve an equation. This was an
open question and the student had the opportunity to give a
detailed answer. I would then ask a student whether the question
was correct or incorrect. This was a closed question so the lesson
flow was now interrupted but the student was able to give their
opinion. If the answer was incorrect, either the same student or a
different student was able to explain how the equation should have
been answered. This gave all students the opportunity to critique
their own work and encouraged the students to all pay attention so
in case they were asked the next question.
I used open questions to allow students to work through their
answer and talk through the problem. It gets the students thinking,
rather than answering a question purely on recall knowledge. I
asked closed questions when I did not want the flow of the lesson

to be broken but wanted the opportunity for all students to critique

the work and give their opinion.

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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 questions that I asked were often reflective of what the

students had been learning. I would teach something, and then
ask the students to answer questions about that subject. The
questions were scaffolded to build from one question and lead in
to another. This allows for all students to follow what is being
discussed, rather than skipping parts and the more advanced
students moving forward leaving struggling students behind. I
would ask different students questions and not just ask the same
students. Sharing the questions around allows the teacher to see
who understands the subject and who still needs help.

I have asked the questions in an interesting manner, sometimes

starting with I wonder if. Or Do you think.. This opens up
the imagination of the students and gets them to think of their
own questions about the subject. During English class I would ask
the students to extend their answers. For example, if the question
was Do you think the blanket was a real blanket and why? and a
student replies no, I dont think the blanket was a real blanket I
would ask them to remember to extend the answer with words
such as because to get them to give more information.
I often used wait time when asking a question. I would start the
question by saying Im going to ask a question and I want you to
think about the answer and have it ready in 5 seconds. This gives
the students a chance to not rush the answer to compete with the
other students and helps them clarify in their heads what they
want to say rather than rush it when saying it to the class.
Eye contact was given to the students while I was asking the
question. This helped me see whether the students appeared to
understand the question and also who was listening. I also used
eye contact when the students were talking out of turn, distracted
or misbehaving. This was a silent way to tell the student I was
aware of the behaviour but didnt want the class to be interrupted.

Reactions to Students Responses

How do you deal with
correct responses? Do you

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Praise was given for a correct response with the praise

containing a brief explanation of what was correct. For

qualify any praise given?

How do you deal with

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

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?

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example, I would say That was a good answer because you

said rather than saying that is correct and moving to
the next question. Clarifying this to the students helps the
students who didnt know what the answer was and also
saying the answer out loud allows all students to hear the
answer.
When an incorrect answer was given I wouldnt usually say
No, that is incorrect. Who has the correct answer? I would
ask them why they came to that conclusion. Giving the
student the opportunity to talk through their answer often
makes them see where they have gone wrong. Asking
another student to give the correct answer does not allow the
incorrect student to understand why they were wrong. With
limited time and for simple addition/subtraction questions I
may ask the student who doesnt know an answer to phone
a friend and pick a student to help answer the question. The
students appear to enjoy playing the game phoning a
friend.
Another way I would help a student who is stumbling
through an answer is to give small prompts such as The
word I am looking for starts with M. This doesnt give the
answer away but helps the student recall information.

When the student gave a response I would ask for them to extend
on the answer. I would often grab parts of what they were saying
but had not learnt in class and extend myself on that topic. For
example, when looking at the book My two blankets By Irena
Kobald and illustrated by Freya Blackwood I asked the students
whether they thought the blanket was real or not. Some of the
students were able to say they didnt think it was real but more a
feeling. I continued on this theme and discussed metaphors. I
then asked the students to think of another metaphor in the book
and others that they may know. This used the students answer
and developed from that idea.
This activity redirected from the book which was part of the
reading lesson and moved into English but I thought the reference
to metaphors was too good an opportunity to miss.
I believe I am not the only evaluator of the students answers.

Are you the only evaluator

of the students answers?

Overall Comments

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Evaluating the answers are also the mentor teacher, other students
and the student giving the answer. The answers build on the
knowledge base the students have and will eventually be
evaluated in the form of their yearly grades.

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

Was your lesson plan

effective for managing the
class?
e.g. How did the students
react to your lesson overall
and to your planned
activities?

I believe my lesson plan was effective as far as budgeting time and

lesson structure goes. I allowed time for questions, an introduction
and conclusion to my lesson. The lesson plan enabled me to keep
focused on what the activities were and what I needed to teach so
if I went off topic the lesson plan was there to help me remember
what I was doing.

I think the students reacted positively to my lesson plan. At the

beginning I went over the activities for the lesson so the students
were prepared for what was expected from them and what they
Did anything unexpected
were going to learn. At the beginning of the week I discussed with
happen?
the mentor teacher exactly what she was planning to teach for the
Did you provide a variety of week to make sure I was not disrupting her lesson plans. This also
activities?
helped the students by not confusing them with a different style of
teaching or different subjects.
Were you satisfied with
your timing, particularly for
Nothing particular happened during my teaching that was
the end of the lesson?
unexpected. I expected some students to struggle a little with the
MAB block activities so I allowed extra time for me to go into more
Did you feel you were able
to change things if needed? detail about the activity. The reading lesson ran very smoothly as
the students were excited to read the stories I chose and were very
focused on discussing the story with each other and myself.
I used a variety of activities in my two classes which bridged the
last maths/English lessons to the one I was teaching. The maths
game was used on the interactive whiteboard playing subtraction
games and the English lesson activity to tie in with the previous
lesson was discussing the previous book using who, what, when,
where, why and how questions.
I was not particularly happy with my timing. I believe my timing
skills could use some work in that I did not allow enough time for
a conclusion and summary to the lesson. I think in my next lesson
plan I will allow enough time to summarise the lesson and also
find a game that makes it fun.

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I had to change my lesson during my maths class to suit the

students. The lesson on the previous day was using popsicle sticks
to subtract double digits. The students appeared to work through
the activities with ease. In my lesson I was planning to use MAB
blocks. Some of the students transitioned with ease to the new
activity but others struggled. When I gave the advanced students
the activity with the MAB blocks I discussed the subtraction rules
to the students who were struggling to understand. This did not
disrupt my lesson.

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?
What strategies did your
observe your mentor
teacher using to maintain
this?

My mentor teacher discussed with me early into the week the

disciplinary actions the school uses. This involves a warning and
strike policy. It is scaffolded into different steps such as taking a
student to another classroom to work through going to the
principal. Small warnings were given to the students on occasion
when they were disrupting the classroom but there were no
behaviours of concern that required further action.
The mentor teacher maintained a safe learning environment by
having rules set out to the students and regular reinforcement of
these rules. For example, students had to hold scissors correctly
when moving about the room, no food or drink to be had around
the computers and no running on the pavement during recess and
lunch times.

Maintaining a Positive Attitude in the Classroom

How did you demonstrate to
the students that you valued
them, and enjoyed
learning?
e.g. Tone of voice, facial
expression, sense of
humour, introduction to
students and topic.

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I used simple but effective gestures to indicate to the students that

I appreciated their hard work and acceptance of me in their
classroom. I used eye contact to show I was interested and cared
about what the students were saying, I gave positive feedback to
work they had produced and I showed enthusiasm when they
sang me a song they had performed as their assembly item the
previous week. I made an effort to remember all names within the
first two days of being in their classroom and always made sure to
use their names when talking to the students. I also asked lots of
questions about the students to build a relationship with each
student.

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

energies of attention

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I think my teaching style was energetic but relaxed. I allowed the

students to get excited and discuss subjects amongst themselves
without reprimand. If the students became too loud and
disruptive to the other classrooms I would quietly explain to the
students that their enthusiasm was great but the volume needed to
be turned down. I was not negative to students who gave an
incorrect answer but encouraged them to have another go and
praised them for having a go with a hard question.
If the students because disinterested in the lesson I would ask
them all if they would like to move on and play a game that
related to the subject they were learning. This stopped the
students from thinking the subject is boring. Allowing for regular
group discussions was enjoyable for most students as they
appeared to like being independent in their learning.

I believe the students knew what was expected of them as at the

start of the day the outline of the lesson were written on the board
and at the start of each lesson it was mentioned exactly what they
were going to learn and what the activities would be. Telling
students the game they were going to play at the end of the lesson
made them excited to begin the lesson so they could play the game
sooner. It encouraged the students to complete their work in a
timely manner so they had more time to play the game. It also
encouraged the advanced students to help the struggling students
during the class time.

I asked the disruptive students to do particular chores throughout

the class to keep them on task such as write things on the
whiteboard, check that the equations the students were working

seeking students? Did the

students have enough
to do?

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on were correct and handing out books etc. I did not only favour
the misbehaving students but gave all the students who requested
the little activities the chance to do them too.

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?

I was aware of what the students were doing around the

classroom. We had 4 groups of tables and a good view of the
classroom as a whole. Because the activities were interesting there
were very limited disruptions in the classroom. There was noise
and activity but because it was all on topic it did not appear to me
that I needed to discourage the behaviour except to remind the
student to keep the volume at a reasonable level.

Did you take any action

when you observed poor
behaviour? Why? Why
not?

During the week at the primary school I saw a limited amount of

poor behaviour. During lunch duty, I had to call out to some
students to stop running on the undercover area. This was for
safety and I believe I needed to take action straight away. I
explained to the students in a friendly manner about the dangers
of running on concrete.
In the classroom some students became disruptive to the class at
different times. I used low-key responses such as giving eye
contact to a student talking or using their name when giving an
example to something. I used these low-key responses so that the
situation would not escalate and also to keep the flow of the
lesson. The behaviours of concern that I witnessed did not warrant
further reprimand.

Did you use non-verbal

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

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I used low-key responses such using a students name and eye

contact to gain the students attention. This allowed me to give a
subtle look to the student to show him/her that I was aware of
what was happening. During all of the occasions I used a low-key
response I had a positive outcome from the students.

Overall Comments

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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?

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The school appeared to be in a great location with a council

owned oval that was joined to the school for use. There
seemed to be adequate parking and pick up and drop off
areas did not seem crowded or chaotic. The school is close
to 10 years old, so very new. From looking at the history of
the school it has tripled in size from its first opening. This
created the need for more classrooms and 4 demountable
classrooms were added. I was based in one of these
demountable rooms. It was very cold first thing in the
morning and very stuffy in the afternoon. While it had
heating and air conditioning it did not appear to be
adequate. The playgrounds inside the school were
excellently set out with a large array of playground
equipment. There was an edible Aboriginal inspired garden
being built in one part of the school. The gardens, the
artworks displayed in and around the classrooms and the
general architecture of the buildings were all inviting.
The classroom I was in had lots of resources available to
the students. Often different resources such as books, MAB
blocks, popsicle sticks and sports equipment were brought
in to the class for use. The computer laboratory did have
enough computers for our class, but not enough for many
other classes. Not all computers were in working order and
this was disruptive to the lesson that was planned. The
network used in the IT rooms could not withstand a large
amount of log-ins and often the computers froze or turned
themselves off in the middle of an activity the students were
working on.
The teachers all worked together in their year group but
appeared separated from the rest of the school. Being such
a large school, assemblies were separated into year groups
only. The head of the year would lead the assembly. There
were two science teachers at the school and three sports
teachers. There was a strict lunchtime and recess duty
timetable for the teachers to follow.

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?

The budget plays a big part in the daily workload of a

teacher. Each teacher has $800 to spend for the year and
$250 needs to be saved to spend on the resources to stock
the class for the following year. Some teachers go over
budget and extra money is taken from other teachers who
keep their budget low.
I worked in a year 3 classroom which meant there was
NAPLAN testing earlier in the year. This appears to be a
contentious subject amongst the teachers who believes the
structuring of the yearly lesson plan difficult. This is
because NAPLAN testing is usually completed at the start
of the second term but the students are expected to
understand everything at a year three level even though
they have not learnt more than half of the framework for the
year. This leaves the teachers with no choice but to teach
the whole years curriculum in the first term. This not only
causes confusion for many students but does not give the
students enough time to fully understand all the content of
the subjects. Then later in the year when they go over the
work again there is misconceptions on what they have
already learnt and they bring that to the classroom which
creates more confusion for students.

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What did you observe non-teaching

staff doing to support teaching and
learning in the school?

I observed the school groundskeeper discussing the

name of newly planted trees to some of the students and
explaining how much water they will need to grow. I saw
many education assistants throughout my week at the
primary school who assisted students with learning
difficulties in the classroom and also taken out of the
classroom for 1:1 learning. They also assisted the
teacher by photocopying worksheets, being a runner for
passing information from one teacher to another and
keeping the class under control. Guest speakers came
into the school to teach the students about geography
and the name of rocks and how they were formed. The
librarian showed students how to look up books and find
them in the library.

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

There were many students whos second language was

English. This was discussed when reading the book My
Two Blankets. The book was informative for the whole
class to understand what it may be like for an international
student to move to their school.
Students whose second language is English had an ESL
teacher take them for an hour once or twice a week to
help them with their English studies.
The diversity was discussed openly amongst the class
and the students were encouraged to tell the other
students their experiences in another country and the
different customs they have at home.
During lessons the teachers were considerate to cultural
differences. Teachers were also aware to not use
references that international students may not understand.

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

I noticed that many parents were encouraged to help out at

the school. Many parents came to the assembly even
though there was no assembly piece for that week. The
sports carnival was being organised for the following week
and the sports teacher noted that there were a lot of
parents volunteering that year. Guest speakers were
organised to come and teach the students about their field
of work. Kalamunda House Museum was contacted and
historical items were on loan for the students to understand
what it was like to live in Australia 100 years ago.

What do you think the function

of school is?

I believe the function of school is for growth, learning,

education and independence.
It encourages independence of students to be in control of
their learning experience and growth as a person.
It teaches what is socially acceptable in society, how to
behave and follow rules.
It instils cultural diversity and acceptance of all people.
It gives opportunities for students to achieve their goals and
work towards those goals.
It helps build relationships with the community.
It prepares students for the working world.

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