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DIVISION OF TEACHER EDUCATION

COURSE JBTE/ECP 201: Extended Classroom Practicum

NAME OF ASSIGNMENT: Teaching Practicum Portfolio

STUDENT ID: 1907037

DATE: May 21st, 2021

LECTURER: Mrs. Bernisa Roberts

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Table of Contents

Category 1 - Guiding Principles

Artefact GP1: My Teaching Philosophy............................................................................. 2

Artefact GP2: Concept Map................................................................................................ 4

Category 2 - The Learning Environment

Artefact LE1: The Learning Environment........................................................................... 5

Category 3 - Instructional Focus

Artefact IF1: Mini Case Study ............................................................................................. 7

Artefact IF2: Classroom Management ................................................................................ 11
Artefact IF3: Assessment Technique .................................................................................. 13

Category 4 - Teacher’s Self-Assessment of Performance

Artefact SA1: Aha! Moment .............................................................................................. 15

Artefact SA2: Reflection on Feedback ................................................................................ 17

Category 5 - Teacher’s Professional Development

Artefact PD1: Professional Development Activities .......................................................... 18

References ........................................................................................................................... 19

Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………….. 20

Teaching Portfolio Rubric …………….………………………………………………… 28

Online Teaching Assessment Tool ………………………………………………………. 30

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Artefact GP 1: My Teaching Philosophy

Having been taught at all levels of my education via direct instruction, I conceived the idea
that I had all the knowledge and the students before me were simply empty vessels that had to
be filled. ‘Chalk and talk’ was the sole teaching method and the strap – for corporal
punishment – was ever present to ensure that we listened attentively. After much experience,
I have come to realize that students do not come to the classroom as ‘blank slates’, but with
prior knowledge and past experiences. Thus, my view of the teacher has changed drastically
and I can now repeat with confidence the words of Albert Einstein, “I never teach my pupils,
I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” Consequently, my teaching
philosophy found its core within the constructivist theoretical framework through the
establishment of a safe and positive learning environment; the creation of a classroom
community and the development of motivational strategies to provide the conditions
necessary for learning to take place.

The establishment of a safe and positive learning environment is foundational when

creating an atmosphere fit for learning. To achieve this, I must be transparent with my
students and be willing to connect with them. When I began my teaching practicum at the St.
Vincent Girls’ High School, I was quite hesitant about teaching Form 3 Browne because I
had no prior interaction with them. Additionally, some complained about the prospect of
being taught by the ‘practice teacher’. At the commencement of my first class, I introduced
myself fully; highlighting my academic achievements and strengths and weaknesses in the
teaching of Business. I made connections by announcing that I am an alumnus of the school
and shared details about my school life. Thereafter, Form 3 Browne became my most
interactive form during the practicum. It was wonderful to hear them challenging me on the
business entity concept; asking questions or simply saying “Miss, I don’t agree with that
because . . . .”. I was even asked about becoming their teacher after the practicum. When
students understand that their learning environment is safe and positive, they feel comfortable
asking questions and making mistakes in order to learn something new.

The creation of a classroom community is another important aspect in fostering a

condition for learning. Most of the students in Form 2 Jacobs were weak in literacy so I
created a strong classroom community by providing opportunities for them to be a part of a
collaborative learning effort during several English B classes. Vygotsky’s theoretical concept
of cooperative learning purports that children learn best when they are with their peers due to
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the fact that they work within each other’s Zone of Proximal Development (Moreno, 2010).
Additional opportunities were given to orally critique each other’s work using speaking
prompts from an ‘accountable talk’ (See Figure 1.0) chart. Students’ involvement in these
activities helped them to see their need for each other, and held them accountable for their
own learning. When students enjoy working with each other, they value each other more and
hence, the classroom community becomes a conduit for learning.

An environment where students are motivated heightens the condition for learning. As
a teacher, I firmly believe that I must motivate my students to keep them interested in their
learning goals. Form 2 Jacobs was hesitant to participate in class so I instituted a reward
system for participation (See Figure 1.1) which resulted in the active involvement of more
students. I gave praise for every attempt to answer a question, refute a statement or to
constructively criticize an answer given by a fellow classmate. Furthermore, I sent ‘praise
cards’ for students who completed assignments in a timely manner (See Figure 1.2). I also
did ‘Teams call’ (See Figure 1.3) where I met with students individually to review or teach a
lesson as a result of a student not grasping a concept or simply being absent from the class.
Finally, I allowed them to make personal connections with the topic that I am teaching and
thus, learning becomes authentic. A classroom that is highly motivated encourages self-
efficacy in students and promotes learning.

In my quest to create a positive learning environment, I used formative assessment

during each class. My strong belief in the power of questioning resulted in the frequent use of
questions for which there were no “right” answers (See Figure 1.4) but responses which
required critical thinking. The use of graphic organizers, checklists, 3-2-1 strategy and
written quizzes caused students to become actively involved in their learning. These also
acted as a benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of my teaching strategies. Formative
assessment is quite advantageous for assessing students’ condition ‘for learning’.

Overall, I have grown tremendously as a result of this teaching practice. I see myself
as becoming one of the best Literature teachers in St.Vincent and the Grenadines although I
failed the subject at CSEC. My desire is to pursue a master’s degree in English Language and
to keep abreast with the latest trends in teaching. As a result of using the constructivist
approach to teaching, I was able to create an atmosphere fit for learning through a safe and
positive learning environment, a class community and strategies to motivate students.
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Artefact GP2: Concept Map

The Horizontal Flowchart below shows the misconception that Form 3 Browne had in
preparing the Horizontal Balance Sheet in Business Studies

Non-current Assets:
Types property, furniture,
of vehicles
Types
assets
of Current Assets:
Assets
assets Stock, debtors, bank
Parts of the balance
sheet

Types of
Parts of liabilities
The the
Liabilities Non-current
Horizontal balance
sheet Liabilities: Mortgage,
Balance Sheet Current Liabilities:
bank loan
Types of Bank overdraft,
liabilities
Parts of the balance Capital creditors
sheet

key

Having taught that there are two

topics types of Assets and Liabilities,
parts of the balance sheet students recorded the figures for
Profit/Loss and Drawings as
types of assets types of Capital in the Balance
types of liabilities Sheet. These figures (Profit/Loss
and Drawings) are only
misconception adjustments to the Capital.
Capital has NO Non-current or
Current accounts.

Artefact LE1: The Learning Environment

Educators have argued that the learning environment has both a direct and an indirect
influence on student learning. When we speak of such an environment, we refer to the diverse
physical locations, contexts and cultures in which students learn (The Glossary of Education
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Reform, 2013). This artefact seeks to explore the physical, cognitive and psychological
factors in the context of the students with whom I worked during the teaching practicum.

The physical setting of the St.Vincent Girls’ High School (GHS) is conducive for
learning. Located in the capital – Kingstown, GHS is a public secondary school that houses
over six hundred females. Established in 1911, GHS has built a reputation for academics and
hence, is the top school on the island. There are twenty-five classrooms, three science
laboratories, a computer, business and music room and a theatrical center. The staff of fifty-
eight teachers teach from three main buildings which host the form ones, twos and three to
five respectively. Apart from academics, the school possesses a netball, basketball and tennis
court. Adjacent to this playing area is a large seating area for spectators. In light of all of this,
GHS provides numerous facilities that facilitate positive learning among students.
Unfortunately, students were unable to access these facilities due to the COVID -19
pandemic and hence, had to resort to online classes.

The virtual classroom setting impacted many students negatively. The online platform
used was Microsoft Teams; a system software implemented by the Ministry of Education.
Students participated orally, in written form and through the use of iconic features such as
‘hand raise’ to communicate their feelings and opinions. These students read from their
textbooks during English B and power point presentations presented during class. Although
this was not the first time on the online platform, some students performed poorly during the
online sessions. They refused to submit assignments, respond when questioned or asked to
read while others were absent for class. The constant technical issues: no internet, Teams
freezing, tablet sticking; little or no home supervision and the policy of ‘no camera on’,
deemed the virtual learning environment as one which negatively impacted the students at
GHS. The virtual classroom ‘forced’ many students to become responsible for more of their
own learning, a task for which many were not ready.

Most students in Form 2 Jacobs are below their grade level as it relates to literacy
skills. This was quite evident when students were asked to read passages from the textbook or
from information on the slide. They skipped words, mispronounced others and substituted
some. It was also evident when they shared answers orally and in written form (See Figure
2.0). This inability to read well directly affected their comprehension level and their ability to
write appropriate responses to questions asked. On the other hand, Form 3 Browne rated
highly in basic numeracy skills. This became apparent at the rate at which they were able to
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prepare a Trial Balance and Balance Sheet after having one or two class sessions. This
implies that students with a thorough understanding of basic numeracy skills are able to grasp
concepts at a faster pace than those who do not.

Additionally, the psychosocial stage of development of the students also played a

negative role in their ability to learn. Research done by Erik Erikson reveals that, students at
this level (ages 12 - 18 years) face a challenge in developing a sense of self - ‘identity versus
role confusion’ (Slavin, 2018). As students struggle to weather this crisis many come away
not having a strong sense of self and thus a clear picture of their future which directly
challenges their ability to learn.

Furthermore, the psychosocial environment of some of the students in Form 2 Jacobs,

did not support their ability to learn effectively. This became evident from my involvement
in a Parent – Teacher meeting held on Monday March 8 th, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. to make parents
aware of the delinquent behavior of nine girls (represents one-third of the class) in the form.
It was noted that all nine girls reside in a single-parent family. One parent confessed that she
has seven children. Another mother reported that access to the internet was only possible if
the girl visits a neighbor’s house. Two fathers spoke openly about working late at nights and
thus, unable to help their daughters. This low socioeconomic background means that these
girls lack the basic amenities needed for school, and that the parent would not be able to
assist them with school work due to their busy work schedule. Research from Gonzalez-
DeHass, Willems, & Holbein (2005) reveal that increased parental involvement is
significantly related to a child’s increased academic performance. Hence, this lack of support
from the home resulted in poor academic performance for these girls.

In summary, although the physical environment at GHS is conducive for learning, the
onset of the virtual classroom, the poor literacy skills of Form 2 Jacobs and their psychosocial
atmosphere all challenged their ability to learn. On the contrary, Form 3 Browne’s
understanding of basic numeracy skills aided them in grasping the concepts taught in
Business Studies. Teachers are cautioned to take these factors into consideration as they plan
to meet the needs of each student in their classroom.

Artefact IF1: Mini Case Study

Introduction
One of the most satisfying moments in teaching comes when students fully
understand the concepts that have been taught. When this happens, it is safe to conclude that
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the strategies and teaching methods that were employed by the teacher along with his/her
management techniques were effective. However, there are times when students may not
grasp a concept and thus, it becomes incumbent that the teacher re-teach the concept, using a
different but effective teaching strategy. “Teaching strategies, also known as instructional
strategies, are methods that teachers use to deliver course material in ways that keep students
engaged and practicing different skill sets” (Study.com, para.1). These strategies are
dependent on the subject matter to be taught and the learning style of the learner. This
artefact is a case study. According to McCombes (2020), “a case study is a detailed study of a
specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon.” (p.1)
As such, the main purpose of this mini case study is to identify a challenge, outline an
appropriate intervention strategy and assess the feasibility of the strategy in teaching
Dialogue to a group of form two students.

Focus of the case study

Form 2 Jacobs ranks third in the academic ranking of the four form twos at the
St.Vincent Girls’ High School. When compared to the other two forms ahead of the rank,
Form 2 Jacobs differs widely in its students’ ability to read, write and speak using Standard
English. Many struggled with reading: fluency, pronunciation and comprehension. They also
have difficulty writing complete sentences and spelling sight words. They use the Vincentian
creole often both in and out of class. Many also come from a low socioeconomic background
with few from the middle class. This is evident from the fact that many live in a single-parent
family and some were absent from class and missed assignments due to the absence of the
internet at home.

The challenge identified

Writing verbal conversations or dialogue is often one of the most difficult parts of
creative writing. Effective dialogue should do many things at once, not just convey
information. It should set the scene, advance action, give insight into each character, and
foreshadow future dramatic action. Although dialogue does not have to be grammatically
correct; it should read like actual speech. Hence, formatting effective dialogue within the
context of a narrative requires much more than following one quote after another. The
challenge lay in the fact that Form 2 Jacobs was unfamiliar with the rules that govern
dialogues within a narrative. As a result, dialogues were written within paragraphs instead of
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on separate lines (See Figure 3.0). Additionally, the class was unable to punctuate the
dialogue – using quotation marks, comma and end marks. I recall that in the second lesson (in
teaching dialogue), from the introductory activity, I spent twenty-five (25) minutes
explaining direct speech and indirect speech and the use of quotation/speech marks to show
the exact words spoken by someone.

The intervention used

I chose to use the visualization strategy to help my students to learn how to format
and punctuate a dialogue within a narrative. Beqiri (2018) opines that visual aids are items of
a visual manner, such as graphs, photographs, video clips etc used in addition to spoken
information. Visual aids not only enhance a lesson but they can increase students'
understanding of the topic, explain points, make an impact and create enthusiasm. For these
reasons, it is expected that the use of visual aids will assist the students in overcoming this
challenge regarding the formatting and punctuating of dialogues within a story.

I implemented this strategy after my students submitted the first draft of their story. I
taught two forty-five minutes lessons on the topic. During my first lesson (See Figure 3.1),
apart from discussing the uses of dialogues and when to use them in a story, I taught dialogue
tags. The knowledge of dialogue tags was very important because the ‘tags’ introduce the
speaker and each tag indicates a new line in the layout of the story. To assist my students, I
began with a video – ‘What is a dialogue?’ where students made mental notes and several
recordings in their books about dialogues from the information shared in the video. I also
shared several pictures/images with them that showed the three types of dialogue tags.
Finally, I used the Literature novel to show them the layout of actual dialogues in a written
text. I found this one to be very effective because the students were very familiar with the
story in the text. They were able to use the text and identify examples of each dialogue tag.
This proved beneficial also in reading because when the dialogue tag was found, students
stated the tag type and read the line. The students enjoyed this activity the most.

In my second lesson (See Figure 3.2), I began with a picture/image of a dialogue

between a customer and a clerk and reviewed the previous lesson in an attempt to activate
students’ prior knowledge. I then proceeded to question the students regarding the layout;
use of punctuation marks; length of the dialogue and the placement of the dialogue tags. The
students responded by giving answers; two were incorrect. One student confused the
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apostrophe with the quotation marks and most students thought that punctuation marks were
used in indirect speech. To clarify these two errors, I used the picture in the introduction to
identify the direct speech and indirect speech and to distinguish between the quotation mark
and the apostrophe. Half of the allotted class time was utilized for this purpose. Thereafter, I
explained the five (5) rules for formatting a dialogue in a story. To prevent monotony and
boredom, after each rule, the students were given an activity to apply the rule. For example, a
sentence was given on a slide and the students were asked to apply the rule to the sentence by
punctuating it correctly. After students shared their answers, a slide with the correctly
punctuated sentence was shown to the students. This was done for each rule. At the end of the
lesson, the students were asked to punctuate and format a short dialogue. To close the lesson,
a video was shown which served as a summary of the lesson’s content.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the strategy used

After the completion of the two lessons, the students were asked to revise their drafts
paying close attention to the dialogue in their stories. These drafts formed part of their
assessment. From those who submitted their revised drafts, I was very pleased to see that the
punctuation marks were correctly used and that a much better attempt was made at putting
each dialogue tag on a separate line. Unfortunately, all did not apply all of the rules to the
dialogue but it was a tremendous improvement from the first draft (See Figure 3.3). When I
met with them on Teams call, two students commented that the story “looks professional”
when the dialogue tag is on a separate line and it’s correctly punctuated. This was certainly
an indication that learning took place. On the other hand, owing to the fact that the time for
classes was significantly reduced to facilitate the online classes, the issue of the strategy
being time consuming was indeed a drawback. Additionally, there was a lot of information
and videos on dialogues. I had to look at several videos before choosing one that was quite
appropriate for the class - too much talking and graphics will bore and distract the students.
Furthermore, I had to ensure that the videos coincided with each lesson’s objectives.

Overall, the use of visual aids proved to be very effective in the classroom because
students were able to correct their drafts on their own regarding the formatting and
punctuating of dialogues. The constant view of images with the correct information served as
enforcement to that which was explained and is the most effective way to make sure that the
information gets stored in the long-term memory (Jandhyala, 2017). Though the use of the
teaching aid was time consuming, the constructivist nature of the classroom allowed the
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students to make their learning more meaningful and effective. After using visual aids, I saw
improvement in the students’ narratives.

The feasibility of the strategy for other classrooms

How effective can visual aids be outside of my virtual classroom and furthermore,
outside of St. Vincent and the Grenadines? Am I the only teacher who can use them?
Certainly not, within the Caribbean classroom, teachers can use visual aids to help enhance
their lessons, appeal to visual learners and help store information in their students’ long-term
memory. Therefore, visual aids are important and work best when they are carefully chosen
to align with the lesson’s objectives.

Artefact IF2: Effectiveness of a Classroom Management Technique

How am I going to manage a class while being physically absent and without a camera to see
each student? Would my students participate or would I be the sole talker – giving
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information after information? I revisited these questions over and over in my mind as I tried
to think of the best strategy that can be used to effectively manage my new classroom –
online. Brophy (2006) defines classroom management as “actions taken to create and
maintain a learning environment, establishing rules and procedures, maintaining students’
attention to lesson and engagement in activities (p.17). To achieve this, one must understand
that the foundation of good classroom management rests on supporting and developing an
orderly and productive classroom environment. During the first two weeks of teaching, my
Form 2 Jacobs class was not as participatory as I had hoped. As a result, I instituted a reward
system for participation (Refer to Figure 1.1). This solved the problem, however, students
wanted to share so much and so often that several students wanted to speak at the same time
which caused a new problem. In an effort to counteract this, I employed the use of
participation structures for the entire class which proved to be the most effective technique
for classroom management during my online teaching practicum at GHS.

Participation structures are established rules and processes that determine who can say
what, when and to whom during classroom discourse (Arends, 2012). This is a type of
classroom structure that is controlled by the teacher and thus, influences the teaching and
learning process. Simply put, participation structures outline the channel of communication
between me (as the teacher) and my students and among the students themselves regarding
responses to questions; making comments or suggestions and or agreeing or disagreeing with
responses made by a fellow classmate.

These participatory structures established order in my virtual classroom. At the

beginning of the third week, I introduced the subject of ‘accountable talk’ then we made
some rules that guided each lesson as it relates to participation. We made three (3) simple
rules: 1. Show a ‘hand-raise’ to indicate your willingness to speak; 2. Respect your
classmates’ responses by using an appropriate response from the ‘accountable talk’ chart and
3. Write your thoughts in the chat group if you are unable to speak. It was unanimously
agreed upon that I will be responsible for selecting the order in which the students with a
‘hand-raise’ will be allowed to speak. Failure to comply with the rules, resulted in the
student’s microphone being muted by the teacher. According to Denscombe (2012) when
rules are clear and concise a platform for behavior is established as well as their enforcement.
He also posits that rules are set up to create a safe and positive environment and should be
referred to often until all rules are known by heart. The formulation of those simple rules and
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the use of the ‘accountable talk’ brought order and created a smooth flow of questions,
answers and comments that were quite productive and engaging in both English A and B.

The implementation of this technique was quite easy and extremely beneficial to both
the students and me. After the rules were made, I wrote them on a slide along with the
accountable talk prompts. That slide became the first slide of each presentation (See Figure
4.0) - a reminder of the expectation regarding class participation. I can recall a class session
in ‘Writing Dialogue in your Narrative’ when a student unmuted her microphone and
proceeded to speak without using her ‘hand-raise’ feature. She was scolded immediately by
another classmate. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside; that moment showed me that the creation
of the rules was beginning to make a positive effect on my students. Thereafter, I never had
any reoccurrence of a similar nature. Each student ensured that each one adhered to the
structure and it was pleasing to hear them respond to each other’s comments. For example, in
responding to the question, “Why do you think Debbie threatened to take Rami away from
Sun-Sun?”, a student responded to a classmate’s answer and said, “I agree with ______
because Debbie is from the upper class.” This participation structure also allowed students to
be ‘on their toes’ because after each response, I randomly selected a student to comment on
her classmate’s answer. This meant that the entire class had to be attentive because no one
knew who would be called on to speak. Shortly after I implemented the participation
structure, a student wrote to me concerning the positive impact the structure was having on
her. She was “gaining up” her self-confidence (See Figure 4.1). Overall, class discussions
were very engaging and there was no need to mute anyone. The participation structure was
advantageous to me and my students.

Having had such tremendous benefit from this structure, I will recommend it to other
teachers and I will certainly use it again in the future. Students were now able to develop an
understanding of order and respect for another’s opinions. They gained a greater appreciation
for freedom of speech and as such, allowed the classroom to become extremely dynamic.
Participation structures as a classroom management technique not only allowed me to control
the class, but it allowed me to give my students an opportunity to make valuable
contributions in the virtual classroom.

Artefact 1F3: The Effectiveness of an Assessment Technique

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One of the realities of classroom teaching is the need to respond to several questions: How
well are my students learning? Is my teaching effective and if so, what is the extent of my
effectiveness? In an attempt to answer these questions, the importance and relevance of
effective classroom assessment becomes paramount for educators like myself. Moreno (2010)
purports that assessment refers to all that educators do to determine students' readiness for
higher level of learning, acquisition of skills, progression of learning and
educational/academic needs. It is an integral, critical and vital part of teaching due to its
promotion of learning; increase in motivation and its ability to hold educators accountable for
students' learning. During my lessons, I employed the use of formative and summative
assessment as a means of measuring my students’ understanding. This artefact will evaluate
the summative assessment technique of testing (See Figure 5.0) which allowed me to assess
students’ knowledge, understanding and application of concepts taught.

Testing as an assessment tool aided me in monitoring my student’s knowledge with

efficiency and reliability and thus, provided a rich context for evaluation, decision-making,
and recommendations. A test refers to a tool, technique or method that is intended to measure
students’ knowledge or their ability to complete a particular task. Tests are always associated
with a cognitive objective so each test acted as a review of my students’ achievement with
respect to a common body of knowledge. In light of this, I used quizzes to assess my
students. A quiz was given at the end of every sub-topic in Language and after every two
chapters in the area of Literature. In using this tool, I had to ensure that each test was both
reliable and valid, as well as fair and practical. Due to its online nature, I also had to ensure
that sufficient time was given to complete the test and that the test items were higher order so
that the students would not use their textbooks for answers. They had to either explain,
interpret, apply their knowledge or analyze the information – no memorization.

Before using this technique, I was mainly using oral questioning to assess my students
at the end of my lessons. However, some students refused to respond, others merely recalled
exactly what was written on the slides and those who spoke were only a small minority. This
proved to be meaningless and ineffective because there was no real proof that the students
really understood what was taught. Additionally, because we were absent physically, I was
unable to see them write so I had to resort to a technique that will aid me in multiple ways.
Thus, I was able to gain a deeper insight into their literacy skills especially in the areas of
spelling and vocabulary. I also saw their strengths and weaknesses, and I was able to
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ascertain those who understood the concepts (See Figure 5.1). From my experience, testing
proved to be much more efficient than oral questioning.

Furthermore, students were already familiar and were accustomed to testing as a

means of assessment. Although in the online environment, the school still adhered to their
monthly ‘mark reading’ which rests heavily on marks gained through written tests/quizzes.
This custom cultivated an air of expectancy among the students so that they began to question
me regarding their tests. Consequently, at the end of each topic, few students were found
revising and preparing themselves for a test.

Testing also gave me the opportunity to analyze the data that I collected from my
students’ test scores. To do this, I developed a marking scheme by which each student was
graded and averaged. The students’ percentile scores were recorded and each test item was
scored separately for later comparison among students. For example, in the case of a multiple
choice - the most and least popular responses were noted then the number of persons who
chose each option was also recorded. One test result showed that some students were unable
to differentiate between the active and the passive voice. Consequently, I was able to plan
extra class sessions via Microsoft Teams for these students. This assessment technique
allowed me to improve my teaching methods and to utilize more meaningful and engaging
activities to promote learning in the online environment.

To sum it up, testing as a summative assessment tool helped me to gauge my students’

learning and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Some were strong in organizing their
responses to questions while others were very weak in spelling and vocabulary. I was able to
assess their knowledge of a particular concept or topic, along with their level of
understanding and ability to apply these concepts in a given task. Above all, testing allowed
me to move a step closer in my quest to become a proficient teacher. I was able to use the
quantitative data from the test results to inform the way I teach and the activities that I
employed in each class session. I will recommend the use of testing as an assessment tool to
be used by other teachers. It will help them to assess their students’ knowledge and
understanding and to effectively plan to meet the students at their cognitive level. The use of
this technique gave students the ability to not only define and recall information, but perform
various tasks at the higher order level with the information that was taught in class.

Artefact SA1: Aha! Moment

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The Cambridge Dictionary defines the word teaching as “to give someone knowledge or to
train someone; to instruct”. Considered an action, teaching in its context constitutes an act of
giving to or endowing an individual with something of value, namely; a set of skills.
Learning, on the other hand, is “the act or process of acquiring knowledge”. In this
transference relationship – teaching and learning – there is no more gratifying experience
than that moment of “sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension”
when teaching or learning a concept (Pilcher, 2015). Normally, teachers are the ones who
look for these in their students but quite often, teachers’ light bulbs do go off during and after
the teaching session. In the third week of my teaching practicum, after an English A class I
suddenly realized that a story mountain graphic organizer is an excellent tool for teaching
‘Elements of Plot’. This artefact will discuss this particular ‘aha’ moment.

Teaching writing and more specifically Narrative Writing was my greatest fear in
using the online platform. Many questions plagued my mind as I planned my lessons each
week. I crafted each lesson so that the previous one became the foundation on which the
other will be built. I tried desperately to teach my students how to write good stories; little did
I know that I would benefit as well. On Wednesday, February 17 th, 2021, I taught my English
A class the elements of plot. Having activated their prior knowledge, the students discussed
confidently the elements of plot and further identified each element by using a fairy tale.
Additionally, they ably generated several story ideas based on a given picture prompt and
drew a mind map to visually represent these ideas. While the students shared their responses,
it became evident that they struggled to create the mind maps. As I reflected on the lesson, I
wrote in my evaluation, “Many students had difficulty in designing their mind maps, namely:
events for the rising action and the climax”. It was then that I realized a story mountain
graphic organizer would have been more beneficial to the students. I was stunned.

This ‘aha’ moment caused my role to change; I became the student and the students
became my teacher. I learnt two very important lessons that afternoon. First of all, a teacher
must do thorough research before teaching a concept. Simply put, master the understanding
of your content before you attempt to teach and do not pride yourself that you know it all.
According to Smithers and Robinson (2005) subject knowledge plays a critical role in
teaching because high-quality teaching rests on teachers’ understanding of the subject matter
that they teach.
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Secondly, graphic organizers are of various types and each serves a different purpose.
Each type is geared towards achieving a specific objective and as such, the most appropriate
graphic organizer would be that which is aligned with the lesson’s outcome. A story
mountain graphic organizer would have given my students the opportunity to record their
ideas for their story and organize these ideas in a logical order as they would occur in the
story. Consequently, the recording of their ideas would have resulted in the building of their
stories.

Thereafter, these lessons became my guide for future lesson planning. A few days
after this ‘light – bulb’ moment, I made a conscious and intelligent decision to use a
‘compare and contrast’ writing frame instead of the usual Venn-diagram graphic organizer to
compare the characters of Debbie and Sun-Sun Johnson in my Literature class. The results of
such a tool were positive and generated more responses than the Venn-diagram would have
done. I intend to continue to do this type of ‘best tool’ research for the remainder of my
teaching career. Therefore, I conclude that a teacher must always choose the best
tool/strategy to produce the best possible outcome in his/her students.
 17

Artefact SA2: Reflection on Feedback

Feedback is one of the most important components of the teaching and learning process, and
hence, it becomes critical for both new and experienced teachers. As an individual who is
always open to constructive criticism, I embraced wholeheartedly the feedback that was
given during the first three weeks of the teaching practicum – the developmental phase. I
received several commendations and were given suggestions and recommendations from both
my assessors and my students. These sessions benefited me greatly and thus, helped in the
selection of teaching strategies as well as the types of activities and questions that were used
in my lessons. One of the most crucial feedback that was given by my English assessor was
the need to individually assess the literary devices using the questioning technique to aid
students in commenting on their effectiveness as intended by the author.

The feedback was given in the first week and directed me to the art of questioning. It
exposed the fact that I had not learnt the skill of asking and selecting appropriate questions.
Consequently, I became aware of the direct correlation between my competence at selecting
and asking questions and my students’ ability to respond critically. During the feedback
session, I was told to address each figure of speech individually and to ask questions that
were relevant to stimulate critical thinking. For example, in the metaphor, “Giant
cabbage . . . into solid balls”, I can ask: 1. What are the cabbages compared to? 2. What
unique features of a ball can be used to describe a cabbage? 3. What can we infer about the
cabbage?
I saw and reaped the benefit of this feedback in week four (4) on February 25 th, 2021
when I asked the students to comment on the effectiveness of the literary devices used in
Chapter – 7 of the same novel (My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson). Instead of presenting all the
figures of speech together, the students selected one and I asked several questions of an
evaluative and divergent nature. When I did this, the change in the level of participation was
immediately noticeable. The students became more engaged in their own learning, and the
learning process became more meaningful. This also helped my students to demonstrate a
greater sense of critical literacy. As I reflected on the advice given, I began to modify my
own perspective of how teaching and learning should take place in the classroom. I could not
help but be irritated at the thought of not allowing my students to be thinkers and valuable
contributors to their learning and development. Today, my assessors and I rejoice in the
 18

marked improvement in my mode of lesson delivery, writing of lesson plans and ultimately,
my use of questioning as a teaching strategy.

Artefact PD1: Participation in Professional Development Activities

In general, professional development refers to any form of training, certification and or
education that a worker needs to succeed in his profession. In education, the term speaks
directly to “the set of tools, resources, and training sessions for educators to improve their
teaching quality and effectiveness”. At GHS, I had the privilege of participating in several
professional development activities. However, conferencing with my business cooperating
teacher and my involvement in the annual sports day were my two most impactful
professional development activities.

My business cooperating teacher and I conferenced before and after every lesson.
This may sound like drudgery but the conferences were extremely helpful. First of all, she
introduced me to Microsoft Teams. I learnt how to schedule meetings, assign quizzes and
assignments, play a video and share a power point presentation. Before each lesson we met
via Zoom and wrote our lesson plans. We shared power point presentations, gave ideas
regarding activities and forms of assessment, wrote test items and spent time after each lesson
to evaluate our teaching methods. Working together as colleagues made me aware of the
value of teamwork and the importance of experienced teachers. These conferences helped to
boost my self-confidence and provided me with an avenue where I can relate my fears,
express my concerns and weaknesses as a business teacher without the fear of being judged
by another teacher. When I go to my new school, I plan to transfer that same teamwork and
collaborative effort to other members of staff.

On Thursday 18th March 2021, GHS held its annual sports day activity. This virtual
sports meet was the first of its kind both for the school and for the entire country. As a former
house captain for Staff house and working along with two cooperating teachers from Staff
house, I was naturally assigned to that house. I worked feverishly and tenaciously to get
students and friends to participate in several activities in order to gain points for the house.
As I encouraged others, I took some time to contribute some points by participating in the
‘Iron Woman challenge’ and the ‘Book challenge’ (See Figure 6.0). As a result of this
activity, I was able to form a closer bond with both cooperating teachers and to establish a
professional relationship with others with whom I was not assigned to work. The formation
of these ‘new’ relationships taught me a new feature (Insight) on Microsoft Teams.
 19

Participating in this extra-curricular activity revealed the need to develop a child holistically.
It also assisted me in realizing the importance of having positive relationships with my co-
workers.

References
Arends, R. (2012). Learning to teach. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Companies, Inc

Beqiri, G. (2018). Using visual aids during a presentation or training session. Retrieved from
Using visual aids during a presentation or training session (virtualspeech.com)

Brophy, J.E. (2006). History of research in classroom management. In C. Everston & C.

Weinsein (Eds), Handbook of Classroom Management: Research, practice and
contemporary issues (pp. 17-43). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc

Denscombe, M. (2007). The Good Research Guide. Retrieved from

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1434480.The_Good_Research_Guide

Gonzalez – De-Hass, A; Willems, P. & Holbein, M. (2005). Examining the Relationship

between Parental Involvement and Student Motivation. Educational Psychology
Review.17, 99-123

Jandhyala, D. (2017). Visual learning: 6 Reasons why visuals are the most powerful aspect of
eLearning. Retrieved from Visual Learning: 6 Reasons Why Visuals Are The Most
Powerful Aspect Of eLearning - eLearning Industry

McCombes, S. (2020). How to do a case study? Retrieved from How to Do a Case Study |
Examples and Methods (scribbr.com)

Moreno. R. (2010). Educational psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons

Pilcher, J. (2015). A Modified Delphi Study to Define Ah ha Moments in Education Settings.

Educational Research Quarterly. 380, 51-65

Slavin, R. E. (2006). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Boston, MA: Pearson
Education, Inc

Study.com. (n.d). What are teaching strategies? Retrieved from Teaching Strategies |
Instructional Strategies & Resources | Study.com

The Glossary of Education Reform. (2013). Learning environment. Retrieved from

Learning Environment Definition (edglossary.org)
 20

Appendix
Figure 1.0 shows an ‘Accountable talk’ speaking prompt. Students use these to respond to their classmates’ answers during
class.

Figure 1.1 shows Form 2 attendance and participation record. The letter P shows participation for each class.

Figure 1.2 shows a ‘praise card’ that was given to a student for completing her assignment in a timely manner.
 21

Figure 1.3 shows a picture of the calls made to students using the calling feature.

Figure 1.4 shows a slide from an English B lesson with the prime focus on the questions asked.
 22

Figure 2.0 shows the written work of a student which indicates her literacy skills. The quiz was based on the elements of
narrative writing.

Figure 3.0 shows a student’s narrative with the dialogue forming part of her paragraphs.

Figure 3.1 Lesson plan #1

DATE: March 8th, 2021 DURATION OF LESSON: 45 mins

FORM: 2 Jacobs AVERAGE AGE: 13 – 14 years

NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 28 LESSON NUMBER: # 7

TOPIC: Dialogue in Narrative Writing SUBJECT: English A

OBJECTIVES
 23

At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Define the term dialogue as a literary technique.

2. Discuss four (4) major uses of dialogues in a narrative.
3. Recall at least four (4) instances when a dialogue can be added to a narrative.
4. Identify the three types of dialogue tags in writing from the book, “My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Speaking, Listening, Reading

PREVIOUS/PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Students are quite aware and familiar with dialogues in narratives. This exposure will aid them in defining the term, listing some of its uses
and stating rules which govern the formatting of the dialogues in a narrative.

SUMMARY OF CONTENT

What is a dialogue? Dialogue is a conversation between two or more characters in a story. A written composition in which two or more
characters are represented as conversing.

How are dialogues useful? Dialogue can improve your writing in several ways:
(i) It establishes and enhances the mood of the story – setting (ii) It reveals the characters
(ii) It moves the plot forward (iv) It helps to create conflict

When do you add dialogue to a story?

More than one person is in the scene A new character enters a scene

A character leaves the scene A character talks/thinks to him/herself

A character can say it better than the narrator There is too much narration and not enough speaking

To move the plot forward

Dialogue/Speaker tags or Tag line

Dialogue tags are the statements that identify a speaker within a written dialogue. There are three different types of dialogue tags.

1. When the dialogue tag is in the front: Christina said, “Call me tomorrow.” Melanie replied, “Sounds great!”
2. When the dialogue tag is in the middle: “Call me tomorrow,” Christina said. “Have a nice evening.” “Okay”, Melanie replied.
“Sounds great!”
3. When the dialogue is at the end: “Call me tomorrow,” Christina said. “Sounds great!” Melanie replied.

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL/ TEACHING AIDS/RESOURCES: Powerpoint presentation, My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson (textbook),
What is Dialogue? - YouTube, pics of dialogue tags

TEACHING STRATEGY: Explicit Instruction

INTRODUCTION (5 mins)

Set 1

Teacher Activity: Teacher presents a video on dialogue – What is dialogue?

Student Activity: Students look at the video and make notes on:

✔ Definition of a dialogue

✔ Features of a dialogue

✔ Dialogue tags
Set 2 - Teacher introduces the lesson’s topic and declares its objectives.

PROCEDURE

Step 1 (5 mins)

Teacher Activity: Teacher presents a conversation between two frogs and facilitates a very brief discussion on the comic strip. Teacher then
asks the students to define the term dialogue in their own words. She defines the term after the students would have responded with their
definitions.
Student Activity: Students respond giving various definitions of the term dialogue.
 24

Step 2 (12 mins)

a. Teacher Activity: Teacher presents the story of ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ and uses the story to highlight the points of: establishing
mood, revealing characters, moving the plot forward and creating conflicts.

Student Activity: Students read several conversations between the hare and the tortoise to show the four uses mentioned above.

b. Teacher Activity: Teacher then presents the literature textbook – ‘My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson’ and directs the students’ attention to
page 54, 55.

Student Activity: Students read the dialogue between Rami and his mother – Debbie Johnson that took place at the market. From the
dialogue, students show the major uses of the dialogue that were discussed previously.

Step 3 (8 mins)

Teacher Activity: Teacher presents a list of several ways when a dialogue can be added to a story.

Student Activity: Students recall from memory at least 4 instances when a dialogue can be added to a story.

Step 4 (8 mins)

Teacher Activity: Teacher explains what a dialogue/speaker tag or tag line is. She then explains the three different types of
dialogue/speaker tags in dialogue writing using the pics of the dialogue tags.

Student Activity: Students use the same dialogue passage from ‘My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson’ to identify the three types of tags used by
Palmer within that designated dialogue.

ASSESSMENT (4 mins) Oral Quiz

1. What is a dialogue? 2. How can dialogue help to improve a piece of writing?

3. At what point can a dialogue be added to a story? 4. Name the three different types of dialogue/speaker tags.
CLOSURE (3 mins): Teacher corrects the quiz and provides correction and or reinforcement to responses given from the quiz.

Figure 3.2 Lesson plan #2

DATE: March 10th, 2021 DURATION OF LESSON: 45 mins

FORM: 2 Jacobs AVERAGE AGE: 13 – 14 years

NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 28 LESSON NUMBER: # 8

TOPIC: Writing Dialogues in your Narrative SUBJECT: English A

OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Explain five (5) major rules of creating dialogues in stories.

2. Create a dialogue by applying the rules to a written piece.
3. Willingly share their ideas on the importance of dialogues in a narrative.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing

PREVIOUS/PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Students are quite aware and familiar with dialogues in narratives. This exposure will aid them in
stating some of the rules which govern the formatting of dialogues in a narrative.

SUMMARY OF CONTENT

Rules in Formatting and Writing dialogues in a Narrative

What is dialogue? It is a conversation between characters in a story and is very important to add interest to the piece and to move the plot
forward. There are some rules to dialogue, however, that you want to make sure you know.

RULE #1: A direct quotation begins with a capital letter. Jimmy shouted, “See you at the game!” “Is it true?" asked Cindy.

RULE #2: When a quotation is interrupted into two parts with words like “he asked” or “the teacher demanded,” the second part begins
with a lowercase letter. “What are some of the things,” Mrs. Baskin inquired, “that make school so much fun?” “One thing I like,” replied
Sarah, “is recess!”
 25

RULE #3: When writing dialogue, all punctuation marks at the end of the quotation go inside the quotation marks. “Let's visit the museum,”
suggested Samantha. Jon replied, “Didn't we go there last weekend?” “But when we did,” Beth added, “we didn't see the Ancient Egyptian
exhibit.”

RULE #4: Do not put a period at the end of a quotation followed by things like she said, mom asked, he explained, etc. Use commas,
question marks, and exclamation marks but not periods. Periods end sentences. “My Algebra class is driving me crazy!” Paul yelled. “That's
my favorite class,” Becky replied.

RULE #5: Make a new paragraph (indent) when a different person begins to speak. "Last night, I dreamt that I ate a giant marshmallow,"
Kevin said. "Was that anything like the dream you had about eating your way through a mountain of fruit cocktail?" asked Suzy. "Scarier,"
Kevin explained. "This time I woke up and my pillow was gone."

OTHER REMINDERS: -Always make it clear who is speaking in the dialogue. -Try to avoid using the word “said” repeatedly.

Directions: Read the following piece. Then rewrite it correctly using the rules learnt to create a dialogue.

I love to go to the movies Cameron said but there is nothing good showing at all I know Marcie replied it is crazy how many silly romantic
comedies they churn out tell me about it Cameron exclaimed if I see one more stupid Kate Hudson/Matthew McConaughey puke-fest I will
personally poke my eye out with an ice-pick and perform my own lobotomy I think that may be a little bit outrageous Marcie pointed out
but I can get behind the sentiment my big beef, though, is the atrocious horror movies lately what happened to scaring us rather than
grossing us out would you rather go out to dinner tonight Cameron asked sounds like a plan Marcie agreed they left to go to the corner deli,
walking arm in arm.

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL/ TEACHING AIDS/RESOURCES: Powerpoint presentation, video - Rules for Punctuating Dialogue -
YouTube, picture of a punctuated dialogue

TEACHING STRATEGY: Explicit Instruction

INTRODUCTION (5 mins)

Set 1

Teacher Activity: Teacher presents a short dialogue to the class between a customer and a clerk. Teacher gives several things to look for in
the dialogue.

Student Activity: Students read the dialogue and record several things from the dialogue based on observation.

Set 2 - Teacher introduces the lesson’s topic and declares its objectives.

PROCEDURE

Step 1 (20 mins)

Teacher Activity: Teacher allows students to share their findings from the introductory phase of the lesson and reviews the previous lesson.
She then presents five major rules in the creation of dialogues.
Student Activity: Students share their findings and correctly punctuate a sentence after each rule is explained by the teacher.

Step 2 (10 mins)

Teacher Activity: Teacher presents students with a written piece involving characters in a conversation.

Student Activity: Students apply the rules to the written piece to create a corrected dialogue.

Step 3 (3 mins)

Teacher Activity: Teacher presents two questions to the students.

● How important is dialogue in a narrative?

● How can it help to improve your story?

Student Activity: Students share their thoughts and feelings to the two questions asked.

ASSESSMENT (4 mins)

1. Explain any two (2) rules that must be considered when writing a dialogue in a narrative.
2. State one thing that a writer must remember or try to avoid when writing dialogues.

CLOSURE (3 mins): Teacher consolidates the responses given in the assessment and summarizes the lesson’s content by showing the
video.
 26

Figure 3.3 shows the student’s narrative after the implementation of the visual aids. Notice the dialogue tags are written on a
new line and that the student has improved significantly regarding her use of speech marks and other punctuation marks.

Figure 4.0 shows the rules and Accountable talk chart that constituted the participation structure used as my classroom
management technique. Note that this is the first slide – 1.

Figure 4.1 shows the message that a student sent stating how she had been posiively impacted by the participation structure
used in the class.
 27

Figure 5.0 shows a copy of a Literature test on chapters 5 and 6 of ‘My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson’.

Form 2 Jacobs My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson - Chapters 5 & 6

NAME________________________________________ DATE__________________

A. Explain each of the following quotes as they relate to what is happening in the story. Use evidence from the text to
support your explanations. (12 marks)
1. “A beautiful day and a disastrous one.” (3) p. 57
2. “Father is such an earthy type . . . Ma is a gown type” (3) p. 52
3. “Wasn’t it the crowning insult to Father and me?” (3) p. 61
4. “I’ll show them yet, Rami. We’ll show them, won’t we?” p. 66

B. Answer all the parts (a, b and c) as thoroughly as possible and give examples from the text to support your answer.
(8 marks)

5. In these two chapters (5 and 6), money and status play a very important role.
a. Name two persons who are affected by money and status? (2)
b. Using one of the persons named in (a), say how he/she is affected. (3)
c. What does Sun-Sun mean by the expression ‘money talks’ as cited on page 60? (3)

C. Find the meaning of the following words that were used in the chapters. Then select one word to complete each
sentence based on its meaning. (10 marks)

Nonchalantly incompatible jocund perturbed statuesque

6. I enjoyed the party. Everyone was in a ___________ mood.
7. Mother became very ___________ after the children did not return on time.
8. She does not have a boyfriend because it is ________________ with her academic goals.
9. The winner of the beauty pageant was praised for her _____________ beauty.
10. The victim ______________ approached his abuser and said, “I forgive you.”

Figure 5.1 shows the written response of a student who gained a total of 27/30.
 28

Figure 6.0 shows a picture of me taking part in the ‘book challenge’ for virtual sports. The goal was to have 10 books in
your subject area in the color of your house.
 29

EASTERN CARIBBEAN JOINT BOARD OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Guidelines for Assessment of the Teaching Portfolio Component of the Teaching Practicum & Grading
Rubric for the Associate Degree in Education Programme (v.4 Edited January 2019)

Criteria/ Artefacts to be Exemplary Competent Basic Inadequate Total

weighting out
of 40 assessed (≥70%) (≥57% <70%) (≥40% <57%) (<40%) Score

Meets & exceeds Meets criteria Meets some criteria Does

criteria not
meet
most
criteria

Content Entire 4-5 3 2 1

portfolio
/5 marks Portfolio Portfolio Portfolio contains Portfolio
contains all contains all 9 7 of the required contains 6
the required required artefacts; it is or fewer of
artefacts plus artefacts missing up to 2 the
required 9
creative artefacts artefacts.
student-
initiated
materials (e.g.
videos/

photos/
podcasts/blogs)

Reflection on Award 11-15 9-10 6-8 1-5

marks to
instructional each Thorough Good Moderate Poor
artefact and knowledge of knowledge of understand
practice insightful effective ing of
and then knowledge of effective teaching and effective
/15 marks effective teaching and learning based teaching
give an
overall learning on and
average teaching and based on learning
mark learning based research and best based on
on research, best research and
practice and best practice research and
GP2; LE1; IF1
personal insight best
practice
through IF3
practice

Reflection on Award 7-10 6 4-5 1-3

marks to
personal each All reflections Most Some Few
growth and artefact are insightful reflections are reflections are reflections
development and relate to insightful and insightful and are
/10 marks and then growth in relate to relate to insightful
give an growth in growth in both and relate
overall pedagogy and both to growth
average content pedagogy and in both
mark pedagogy content
knowledge as well and content knowledge pedagogy
as knowledge and
GP1; SA1; content
SA2; PD1 knowledge of self
knowledge
as a

teacher/learner.

Organisation Entire 4-5 3 2 1

portfolio
coherence, Organisation Organisation is Some attempt at Little
is coherent, attempt at
cohesiveness cohesive and coherent and organisation
imaginative cohesive E.g. organisation.
/5 marks includes a A
Table of
 30

Contents hodgepodge
of

materials.

Communication Entire 4-5 3 2 1

portfolio
skills- Clear expression; Good Some spelling Poor
expression, very few, if any, expression; and/or expression;
grammar, spelling and/or few spelling grammar
and/or mistakes. many
mechanics grammar mistakes. spelling
grammar Often difficult to and/or
/5 marks Appropriate to mistakes that follow as grammar
the intended do not affect language often mistakes.
audience. meaning. makes meaning Very
Appropriate to unclear. difficult to
the follow
meaning.
intended
audience
 31

Assessment Tool for Teachers

(Revised January 2021)

_________________________________________________
Date: _______
_________________________________________________
Teacher’s Name: _______
______________________________________________________
Name of School: __
Grade/Class/ ___________
Form: ________________ No. of Students: ___
Topic:
Subject: ________________ __________________________
Time Lesson ___________
Started: ________________ Time Lesson Ended: ___
Name of _________________________________________________
Evaluator: _______

COMMENTS:

Evaluator’s Signature: __________________________ Date: ___________________________

Teacher’s Signature: ___________________________ Date: ___________________________

 32

Instructions: Please rate the teacher on the given profiles.

Dimension Rating

NO
PLANNING [If there is no plan, the lesson will A
Little Well
NOT be observed and a grade of ZERO (0) Evidence
Evidenc
will be of e of Articulated
Planning Planning Plan
recorded for the lesson.]
- Objectives (Clearly stated learning
outcomes) 0 1 2 3 4 5

- Content (good match for objectives;

appropriate
0 1 2 3 4 5
for age and level of the students)

- Instructional activities (appropriate

strategies
for the subject being taught, as well as the age 0 1 2 3 4 5
and stage of the students)

- Instructional materials (appropriate

materials
0 1 2 3 4 5
identified and/or prepared)

- Organisation for instruction (reflects best

0 1 2 3 4 5
practices in the subject)

- Assessment (appropriate diagnostic /

formative
0 1 2 3 4 5
activities planned)

Total for _____

Planning: __

Poorly Very Well

EXECUTION Execut
ed Executed

- Teaching in harmony with objectives 0 1 2 3 4 5

- Knowledge of content demonstrated *** 0 1 2 3 4 5

- Administering assessment appropriately

(e.g.
0 1 2 3 4 5
to gauge learning; diagnose difficulties)

- Making instructional decisions based on

assessment outcomes (e.g. veering from
lesson 0 1 2 3 4 5
plan if necessary)

- Implementing best practices in the 0 1 2 3 4 5

subject as
 33

planned

- Using appropriate strategies and

materials
0 1 2 3 4 5
for the subject and the students

- Using questioning techniques skillfully

and
0 1 2 3 4 5
appropriately

- Allotting time adequately for various

0 1 2 3 4 5
activities

- Using appropriate classroom

management
0 1 2 3 4 5
strategies

- Using language appropriately and

correctly
0 1 2 3 4 5
in the classroom

Total for Execution: _____

* If a student delivers CONSISTENTLY incorrect content, then he or she

should be awarded ZERO (0) for the EXECUTION dimension.

Ratin
Dimension g
Very
Not Well
CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT Clearly Demonstrated
Eviden
t
- Displaying a caring and humane
attitude (e.g., the manner in which the
teacher 0 1 2 3 4 5
interacts with students)
Fostering a classroom
- environment
conducive for learning (e.g., by being 0 1 2 3 4 5
appropriately attired; if online, fitting visual &
auditory background)
- Fostering positive classroom
0 1 2 3 4 5
interaction (e.g., if online, has camera on)
Total for Classroom ______
Environment: _

Little Well Thought

Out
Eviden
and
ce Articula
REFLECTION of ted
Reflecti
on
Reflection

- Identifying strengths &

weaknesses
0 1 2 3 4 5
of the lesson
- Identifying students’ strengths &
0 1 2 3 4 5
needs
 34

Identifying alternative
- approaches
0 1 2 3 4 5
that might have been used
- Identifying appropriate follow up 0 1 2 3 4 5
actions

Total for Reflection: ______

Overall Total Score (Sum of all Ratings) =

Stage of Development =
(For Developmental Lessons)

Based on Total Score

(See Descriptions on following page).

NB: Highest Possible Total is 115.

 35

NB: The Mean Score for the EIGHT observations will be out of
115.

This is to be converted to a percentage (i.e. out of 100) so

that the final grade can be awarded (A+ to F)

35
36

36