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?

Yes I feel the students understood my questions as I made them

very age appropriate and engaging for the students. The questions
were clearly structured to make them easily graspable for the
students of all learning abilities. It is very important for pre-primary
students in particular, to have explicit and simple instructions to
ensure all students know and understand what is expected of them.

Yes I used both open and closed ended questions. This variety of
questions allowed all students to have their own opinions values
and heard. I would use a lot of recall questions with the pre primary
students as these are the easiest to answer, for example, what colour
was the car? and for those students who were able I would apply
this knowledge through comprehension questions, Why do you
think it was that colour?
There were more open ended questions asked to allow the students
to express their opinions in their answers unless there was a specific
answer necessary, at which time I would use a close ended
question. When I wanted students to further the depth of their
answer I would use comprehension or application questions
however these weren't used as often as the more basic questions.
There was a healthy balance between all question types.
I used open ended questions to allow for different answers and to
show that there is no one correct answer for some questions. This
also allows the students personal feelings towards to the question to
be taken into account. Close ended questions were used when there
was a specific answer to a particular question needed. Application
and comprehension questions were used after closed ended or recall
questions to extend on what the students had already answered.

Distributing and Directing Questions

Yes I recognised a pattern in the distribution of questions, I
Did you recognise any
consistently used more open ended questions for all students, until
pattern in the distribution of I needed a specific answer I would use a close ended question. For
your questions amongst the students who struggled to grasp concepts I would ask both open
students? Consider
and close ended questions and use these as prompts towards the
reasons for this pattern?
correct answer. The recall questions would be asked before the
application questions to ensure students had a basic
understanding before asking a more in depth question.

How have you directed

questions to the group?

I directed questions at the group both verbally and on occasion

written on the board, while directed questions at the students
verbally I would maintain eye contact and ensure all students could
hear me. When writing on the board I would ensure all students
were focused on the board and paying attention.
Yes I used to wait time after answering questions to allow students

Have you used wait time? to think of their answer in more depth before expressing it. This

was particularly important for me dealing with pre primary

students as they need time to think about their answer before
speaking. For this reason I would wait at least 5 seconds before
allowing students to answer.
Did you make eye contact
with the group as you
directed your questions?

Yes I maintained eye contact with the group when directing my

questions. When asking questions to an individual I would focus
eye contact on them momentarily before going back to the whole
group. When directing questions to the whole group I would scan
the class so everybody had eye contact and felt valued and as if
their answer was important.

Reactions to Students Responses

How do you deal with

correct responses? Do you
qualify any praise given?

How do you deal with

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

Dealing with correct responses involved positive affirmation

expressed both verbally and in body language. This praise gives the
students confidence and shows you appreciate them which is why I
qualify this praise. Pre primary students were very eager to do well
in order to receive praise which is why I valued it so highly during
my time with the pre primary students.
When dealing with incorrect responses I would try to prompt them
towards the correct answer without answering the question for
them. Students who stumble for an answer would get further
encouragement and prompting towards the correct answer and at
no time would I put students down or tell them that they were
wrong, instead I would say try again or prompt them towards the
answer why do you think this happens

I would use the students responses as an example to further the

teacher point which shows them their opinion is valued and
What use do you make of
the students responses to developing the teaching point. If students initial response wasn't on
develop the teaching point? the right track I would direct a questions that points them in the
right direction, or if a student grasped the concept straight away I
Have you redirected any
questions in order to add to would extend on the original question. When I felt questions
weren't achieving their purpose I would redirect questions to
an initial response?
ensure that they were matched to the learning objectives.

Are you the only evaluator

of the students answers?

No I am not the only evaluator of the students responses, they are

able to evaluate their own responses as well as their fellow
students, the mentor teacher and educational assistant.

Overall Comments
When addressing pre-primary students it is extremely important to ensure all students attention is
directed towards you whole heartedly before asking any questions otherwise students will miss out
on questions and fall behind in the lesson. I found that once the students were engaged by the
questions they were more attentive and eager to listen and answer the next question, this is why I
valued engaging questions so much during my primary placement.

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?

Yes my lesson plan was effective for managing the class as they
were all kept engaged and eager to learn. The students were all
excited to answer questions but had to put their hands up to
answer. This stopped people from calling out and encouraged a
respectful manner in the class which went a long way to managing
all the students.

The students reacted well to the overall lesson plan and activities.
The students enjoyed the activities and were engaged in the
questions and worksheets. The learners were eager to finish and
Did anything unexpected
answer correctly. The students enjoyed the planned activities and
happen?
this was evident in the way they behaved as they stayed on track
Did you provide a variety of during the lesson.
activities?
Were you satisfied with
your timing, particularly for
the end of the lesson?

One of the students was misbehaving with scissors during the

lesson. I took the scissors off him and cut out the work sheet so that
he could still participate but there was no longer a hazard to him
or others.

Did you feel you were able

to change things if needed? Yes there was a variety of activities, students could draw, colour in
or answer questions using sentences. This allowed students of
diverse abilities to participate and if students weren't engaged or
enjoying one activity then there were others to go on with.
Yes I was satisfied with my lesson timing as it started and finished
on schedule with my lesson plan. We were able to tidy up the room
and pack up for the end of the day in time for the parents arriving.

Yes if things needed to be changed I was confident I had the ability

to do so. When students were getting distracted I was able to
refocus them to the task.

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?

Yes I was aware of the classroom procedures and disciplinary

policies. I was informed of both of these on arrival at the school
and during the lesson observations I was able to see them
implemented. I knew quite a lot about the students as I was with
them all day for a week, by the end I knew all of their names and
their different levels of ability which was extremely useful when
planning and implementing my lessons.
The mentor teacher maintained the safe learning environment by
removing any hazards that were in the classroom, maintaining a
constant awareness of what all students were doing, and reiterating
classroom rules such as, hands to yourself. One student who
repeatedly got in trouble for physical contact with other students
was given his own mat on the corner to stop him from hitting other
people and this plan was successfully implemented and stopped
other students getting hurt or distracted.

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.

I demonstrated that I valued the students by remembering their

names, and what they like and enjoy. I would greet each student
by their name and smile at them each morning when they arrived
at school. To show the students I valued them and there learning I
would sit with them before school and play games or help with
spelling.
I would greet the students with a smile and laugh, also exhibiting
positive body language and having a joke with the students.

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
seeking students? Did the
students have enough
to do?

I feel that my questioning was a main focal point that kept all
students engaged and interested on the learning subject. While
questioning the students I would keep it at a class level for the
majority of time allowing all students to be heard and then take it
to an individual level for struggling students which assured all
students were being attended to. I would show the class I was
interested in what was being taught which allowed them to keep
their attention focused. The diverse range of activities I had
planned for students allowed everybody to participate.

The students knew what was expected of them at the start of

lesson as I gave them explicit instructions in very clear and
understandable language. I also gave the students goals to achieve
which helped them stay on track.

Yes I was able to redirect the energy of students who lost focus on
the task by asking them questions and helping them towards the
right answer. The students always had something to do if they
finished early there were extension activities or free time,
depending on the task.

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?

Yes I was aware of what was happening in the class, even when
dealing with individual students I would constantly scan the class
to ensure all students were properly cared for. Each student knew
what they were doing as they were issued clear and simple
instructions, if they needed further they would be spoken to
individually once the class was on task.

Did you take any action

when you observed poor
behaviour? Why? Why
not?

Yes when students behaved poorly I would use the disciplinary

actions put in place by the teacher. When students misbehaved
consistently I would put them in to timeout, this is important as it
keeps the discipline consistent and students know what is
expected of them.

Did you use non-verbal

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

Yes I used non verbal cues, I would pause after asking questions,
allowing students to think of their answers. Gestures were also
used when prompting students towards answering questions.

Overall Comments
When dealing with misbehaving students in the pre primary year it was important to be firm with
them but also to reiterate what they have done was wrong and it wasn't acceptable. A lot of the
disciplinary strategies I observed during my placement in pre-primary seemed to be aimed at
preparing students for good behaviour in the future. A very influential factor I notice when
addressing students to show them you value you them was by learning their names, on the first day
when I did not know their names there attention and levels of comfort in comparison to the last day
when I could refer to each of them on a name basis was enormous.

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).

The school was a low socioeconomic school with majority

of parents not having any higher education. There were
enough resources in terms of equipment and teachers, but
some classes lacked educational assistants when they were
needed. The school was quite old any many of its buildings
were run down. Overall the school was quite small with less
than 600 students, the year levels ranged from kindergarden
to year 6.

What were the roles and

responsibilities of the teaching
staff you observed?

The roles and responsibilities of the teaching staff I

observed was to create a safe learning environment for the
students. The teacher needed to teach the curriculum
provided by the government and assess them against this.
The job of the teacher was to prepare the students for future
years of schooling in an emotional, physical and intellectual
sense. The responsibilities of the teacher were to discipline
students when necessary and maintain a duty of care over
all students.

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 policies set by the school and in particular the principal

have a major impact on the teacher and the way they teach
the children, for example a particular principle encourages
more book learning as opposed to play based learning. The
government is always changing the curriculum which
means teachers need to alter there lesson plans and learning
objectives. The learning objectives also need to address the
new teaching standards put in place to assess teachers
against.

What did you observe non-teaching

staff doing to support teaching and
learning in the school?

The administration staff printed off resources and arranged

for resources to be ready, e.g. the library or computer labs.
The educational assistant would set up the classroom for
the days activities while the teacher was addressing the
students. The educational assistant would also circulate
the class and assist learners who were struggling when the
teacher did not have time.

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

The diverse nature of the class was supported by speaking

with very generic language and giving basic instructions
that are easy to follow for all students. The students were
put into groups based on their ability so each group got
work tailored for their appropriate needs. Students who
struggled and needed extra individual time with a teacher
were addressed by the educational assistant to try and stop
them from falling behind and remaining focused.

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

Yes I observed a connection of the school with the wider

community, as they had regular meetings with parents and
the council. There were competitions run that allowed
students from different schools around the same community
to compete for prizes including sports carnivals and arts
competitions.

What do you think the function

of school is?

The function of Primary school is to prepare students for

later in life by developing them emotionally and
intellectually. The students learn basic responsibilities and
respect as well as gaining social skills that allow them to
succeed in later schooling. Students learn basic literacy and
numeracy skills that are necessary for them to communicate
with other and participate in school. A large part of
schooling is also to teach students basic human qualities
and make them a contributing member of society.