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‘Classroom Observation’
(essay)
student: Svetoslav Georgiev Botev, Faculty No 0061-АЧО

I.Introduction:
Observation plays a central role in practice teaching. In observing my tutor
teachers' classes, my focus was on how English teachers work with students, as well as, on
how these teachers create a positive atmosphere for learning. Furthermore, I was interested in
the strategies and procedures used by English teachers in setting up activities, and in the
way they give instructions and explanations. Besides, I was very pleased to learn how they
give feedback to students.

II.Exposition:
I had an opportunity to initiate observation experiences in English classes myself, but
the number of observations I took part in depended on practice-teaching arrangements
in the host school, namely – 33rd Language School ‘St. Sofia’ in the city of Sofia.
I attended all in all 15 English lessons, including 9 lessons in 8 th – ‘V’ grade (26 students)
with English teacher Miss Milena Danailova and 6 lessons in 8th – ‘D’ grade (17 students) with
English teacher Mrs. Yolina Milanova. Before observations in English classes I h a d h a d a
preobservation meeting with the aforementioned English teachers to decide on the focus for
m y observations and the procedures I would use to record my observations.
Before beginning of observation, my tutor teachers Miss Milena Danailova and Mrs.
Yolina Milanova just said to watch their classes in general and how they started the classes
and went through the various activities.
My first impression in class was that teaching is, in fact, a complex and dynamic
activity, and, during a lesson, many things occur simultaneously, so it is i m possible to
observe all of them. On principle, a great number of students in a class may respond to the
lesson in many different ways. Some may find the lesson stimulating and may have a clear
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sense of what the purposes of activities are and how they are supposed to carry them out.
Others might find some of the activities insufficiently challenging or motivating and
might pay minimal attention to the teacher or the lesson. And, at the same time, the
teacher must struggle mentally to maintain the flow of the lesson.
Miss Milena Danailova’s lessons were very interesting. In the first lesson, which I
attended, she started with a teaching technique, related to team work of students in her English
class. She organized a competition between students, divided into four groups. She gave each
group several sheets of paper, containing different paragraphs of parts of a book about Harry
Potter. The students had to arranged them like in a puzzle game, working in groups. The winner
was the fastest group. In the second lesson, the same four groups, but then with specific names –
1-Gryffinder, 2-Ravenclaw, 3-Stytherin and 4-Hufflepuff had to present and explain in English,
and translate into Bulgarian as many words and expressions, connected with one of the four
characters, mentioned above, as they possibly could for four consecutive intervals of 10 minutes
for each group. The winner was the group with the greatest number of words and expressions. In
the third lesson, there was a test-quiz on one of the four characters, given from a representative of
each group to other groups. Thus each group had to do 3 quizzes of the other three groups. The
winner was the group with the best answers. In the fourth lesson, there was a Dictation for all
students, but only 4 representatives of each group gave their sheets of paper to the teacher. Miss
Milena Danailova read three times a text about Harry Potter and then explained unknowns words.
In the fifth lesson, students listened a part of an audio book about Harry Potter, while Miss Milena
Danailova was checking the triple quizzes of each group from the third lesson and the dictations
of the representatives of four groups from the fourth lesson. In the end of this lesson Miss Milena
Danailova announced the group-winner. In the sixth lesson, a Test on the whole Unit 1 of the
Student’s book A2 (Pearson Focus for Bulgaria, 2017) was given to all students in the classroom.
The seventh lesson was devoted to Speaking about Teenage Dreams and Ambitions and it
finished with a Hangman game on the whiteboard, related to words on the topic of conversation.
In the eight lesson, the students had to write a composition on the same topic. In the ninth lesson,
there was a Power Point Presentation on Past Simple and Past Continuous Tenses, diligently
prepared by Miss Milena Danailova.
Mrs. Yolina Milanova’s lessons were quite different in comparison with those of Miss
Milena Danailova. In the first Mrs. Yolina Milanova’s lesson, her students did 6 grammar
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exercises (4 – in Grammar book and 2 – in Student’s book), connected with adverbs of manner,
time and place. The second lesson continued with 4 grammar exercises (2 – on forming adverbs
from adjectives in Student’s book and 2 – on comparative and superlative form of adverbs in
Workbook). In the third lesson the students did 2 exercises in Workbook and played 2 Bingo
plays, choosing only 3 and 6 words respectively from arrays of 12 and 24 words. In the fourth
lesson, there was a reading exercise – the students read the article ‘Houston, we have a problem’
(about the mission of Apollo 13) in Student’s book. Then Mrs. Yolina Milanova wrote on the
whiteboard and explained a lot of unknown words in the text. Afterwards the students had to
listen on the same text for proper audial perception of the article. In the fifth lesson, the students
did several gap and multiple choice exercises as well as matched the words in the text of the
article from the previous lesson with their synonyms. In the end of that lesson there was a
Speaking exercise – the students discussed in pairs the theme of Space Exploration. In the sixth
lesson, a Test on the whole Unit 1 of the Student’s book A2 (Pearson Focus for Bulgaria, 2017)
was given to all students in the classroom.
What impressed me most in the process of observation was the fact that Miss Milena
Danailova and Mrs. Yolina Milanova have, on principle, very different styles of teaching and I
will try to present shortly my attempt of comparison between the usual activities in class of both
English teachers.
As far as personal and professional qualities are concerned, Miss Milena Danailova
motivates all learners avoiding monotony through the means of game-like activities and
demonstrating qualities like friendliness, supportiveness and enthusiasm about teaching, while
Mrs. Yolina Milanova establishes good rapport with students, but she builds on students’
previous knowledge of the language and general knowledge of the world.
Miss Milena Danailova demonstrates accurate and fluent use of language. She increases
students’ talking time through encouraging students to ask questions and supports every
opportunity for real-life meaningful communication in the classroom. What is more, Miss Milena
Danailova uses non-verbal communication as eye contact, gestures and movement around the
classroom to communicate with her students. On the other hand, Mrs. Yolina Milanova is
familiar with the material and demonstrates professional confidence, and she also tends to adapt
the language of teaching to the level of the learners.
Regarding aims, content and organisation of lessons, as well as teaching materials and
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skills, Miss Milena Danailova has planned aims of the lesson which are clear to the students and,
at the same time, she contributes to the development of students’ skills, presenting new language
material in context and providing enough opportunities for communicative practice. Miss
Milena Danailova selects and adapts materials according to students’ needs and she competently
uses additional materials such as audio-visual materials and multi-media products to facilitate
students’ learning. She tends also to encourage use of students’ own materials: photos, project
products, etc. However, Mrs. Yolina Milanova has planned aims of the lesson which exactly
correspond to the curriculum. She stages all activities carefully and provides relevant pre-, while-
and post-tasks in logical sequence, ensuring continuity with previous and next lessons. In
addition to her activities, she uses the whiteboard in an organised way to visualise learning
points.
In relation to classroom management, Miss Milena Danailova uses the working
environment effectively to achieve the aims of the lesson – for example, wall space – poems or
short stories, written by students in the same class. She applies a variety of interaction patterns
(T-S, T-Ss, S-S, S-Ss) that involve active participation of all students and attracts learners’
attention and makes sure everyone is listening to the instructions. She also monitors students’
individual performance and uses different techniques to indicate and correct errors. Miss Milena
Danailova maintains discipline in class to ensure working atmosphere and organises group and
individual feedback on tasks. In contrast, Mrs. Yolina Milanova’s working environment is
characterised only by whiteboard in the classroom, Grammar books, Student’s books,
Workbooks and notebooks of the students. She applies predominantly traditional interaction
patterns T-S and T-Ss and uses rarely interaction patterns which are appropriate to the nature of
the task (e.g. pair work for making a dialogue). Mrs. Yolina Milanova adapts the pace and
timing of the lesson to ensure maximum efficiency and stages the instructions, which are
introduced in steps. She monitors students’ work according to the interaction pattern, reacts
appropriately to unexpected situations and deals with errors systematically and relevantly to
lesson aims. Mrs. Yolina Milanova uses praise or constructive criticism when it is necessary to
emphasise learning points.

III.Conclusion:
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Observing the way the English teachers Miss Milena Danailova and Mrs. Yolina
Milanova had been working with students in class before beginning my practice-teaching
session helped me anticipate some of the issues involved in teaching and assisted me
better prepare for my practice teaching. In this way, I learned from watching other
teachers h o w t o solve problems during lessons in class as well as to apply useful teaching
techniques.
These observations i n m y practice-teaching gave me a chance to familiarize myself
with such things as the course materials the English teacher is using, the teaching
methods and strategies he/she uses, how he or she interacts with students, how the
learners respond and interact with the teacher and among themselves, and the kinds of
language they understand and produce. These observations helped me prepare myself for
some of issues and problems that I may have to face while teaching an English class. I
was able to see what methods and strategies the English teachers employ and decide if I
would be able to use these myself when I come to teach an English class. I also learned
more about the students (e.g., their interests, motivations, and learning styles).

Literature:
Newby D., R. Allen, A. Fenner, B. Jones, H. Komorowska, K. Soghikyan, ‘European
Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL).’, European Centre for Modern
Languages of the Council of Europe, 2019.
O’Farrell C.,‘Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement.’, University of Dublin, Trinity
College, 2019.
Richards J., S. Thomas, C. Farrell,‘Professional Development for Language Teachers
Strategies for Teacher Learning.’, Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Velikova, S., ‘Classroom Observation – Instructions.’, University of Veliko Tarnovo,
2019.
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‘Quality in Foreign Language Teaching: Assessment Criteria for Secondary Schools.’,
British Council – Bulgaria, 2006.
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