FIELD OBSERVATION JOURNAL
As
you spend your time in your field experience assignment, you should have
specific goals as you observe. Each
time that you do a FOCUSED OBSERVATION, select a topic from the list attached
and use that as your journal assignment.
You may want to select a primary and secondary choice so that you
may have a “fall back” position of sorts depending on what occurs in the
classroom. If you are observing a class
which runs longer than the typical 45-50 minutes, you may complete two observations
but be sure that you have two different topics. If you need to refer to a particular teacher or student, please
use initials in order to maintain the privacy of the individuals.
You
should have a different topic each time you observe and you should have a
MINIMUM of 2 different tasks in each group (THEORY / PLANNING AND TEACHING /
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT / READING). The
remaining two observations may be from any group.
Please
remember that you are a guest in the classroom (or other environment) and that
you are there to observe a particular behavior and to describe what you saw,
not necessarily to evaluate what you saw or the people observed.
For
each journal entry, please include the following:
1. your name
2. date and time of observation
3. place of observation
4. type of class / number of students
5. question selected
a. answer(s)
/ analysis
b. commentary
based on conversation with teacher
c. reflective statement indicating how what you observed might
influence you as a teacher in your own classroom
Please
put your journal entries in a folder.
SAMPLE ENTRY
Jane Doe
October 30, 2000 / 7th
period – 2:10-3:00 pm
Wicomico High School
Level I Spanish – 27
students
PT1 – As you observe, can
you identify the various parts of the lesson plan as we discussed it in class
i.e. indication of objectives, anticipatory set, introduction of new materials
and / or practice, summary, homework?
Answer: The overview which
the teacher did in English at the beginning of class kind of described what the
students would be doing today regarding objectives (but they weren’t written anywhere). The anticipatory set was a review of
colors which was later recycled after the new vocabulary had been
presented. The new material was
vocabulary associated with clothing and practice involved learning the
new items via pictures and then practicing with what classmates were wearing
and then some exercises in the book were done.
Colors were used to describe particular pieces of clothing as well as
other adjectives (new / old / cool). As
a summary, students were asked to write on a piece of paper a
description of what they were wearing today and turn it in as they were
leaving. Homework was written on
the board.
Conversation with the
teacher: I asked Ms. P. where she had gotten all the pictures. She said that she had collected them over
the years and was constantly updating her file. She said that she liked to do a lot of practice WITHOUT using the
book until students had a decent idea of what the new vocabulary was. She thought that the lesson had gone well.
Reflection: I was impressed
at how much L2 was used, even in a Level I class – I guess it is possible! I would like to be able to have a variety of
activities like I saw and be able to move from one activity to another so
easily. I liked how all the students
were actively involved throughout the whole class. They seemed interested in everything that was happening. I know that I must start collecting
materials and ideas in a more organized manner to help me in my own classroom.
THEORY
TH1 As you observe a class, what elements of particular language learning theories can you identify? Discuss these with the teacher after class and write a brief résumé of your conversation as well.
TH2 Krashen stated that a low affective filter would encourage and /or increase second language acquisition. What features of a learner-friendly classroom did you observe? What other steps could you take to make this classroom more learner-friendly?
TH3 What examples of comprehensible input did you observe? Did you observe any examples of “intake”? What examples of i + 1 did you observe? Were these strategies effective? Why or why not?
TH4 What kind of error correction techniques did you observe? Were they theoretically sound? Were they effective in practice? Why or why not?
TH5 During the class you observed, how did the teacher manage individual differences? Consider differences caused by gender, race, ethnic background, age (at the high school level), ability and physical challenges.
PLANNING AND TEACHING
PT1 As you observe, can you identify the various parts of the
lesson plan as we discussed it in class i.e. indication of objectives,
anticipatory set, introduction of new material and / or practice, summary,
homework?
PT2 What bottom-up and / or top-down approaches did you
observe? Were they effective? Why or why not?
PT3 What kinds of authentic materials were used in the class
you observed? Were they effective? Why or why not?
PT4 Pair and group activities give learners
opportunities for meaningful interaction.
What kind(s) did you observe?
Were they effective? Why or why
not?
PT5 Using your handout about Characteristics of Effective Second
/ Foreign Language Teachers, list which characteristics were present in
the class you observed. Was your
overall impression that the class was effective? Why or why not?
PT6 For this journal task, be sure that you sit near a student during
your observation. Take a sheet of paper
and fold it in half vertically. In the
left hand column, write down everything the TEACHER does; do the same
for the STUDENT in the right hand column.
At the end of this observation, consider the class from the TEACHER”S
point of view vis-à-vis what the student did and the STUDENT’s point of view vis-à-vis
what the teacher did.
PT7 What kinds of materials were used to complement the
lesson? How did the materials provide
opportunities for students to learn and / or practice the target language? Were all materials effective with all
students? Were any of the materials
authentic? Did they make a
difference? How?
PT8 How was technology used to enhance the learning and / or
acquisition of L2?
PT9 Select one or two of the national standards which we
discussed in class. What evidence did
you find in your observation that the teacher had integrated standards into the
lesson? What evidence did you see that
indicated that students could meet this / these standard(s)?
PT10 Select ONE of the 4 skills (listening, speaking , reading,
writing) and discuss how it was developed during the class you
observed.
PT11 How was culture taught in the class you observed? What it culture or Culture? Were comparisons and contrasts made with L1
culture(s)? Was the lesson
effective? Why or why not?
PT12 During how much of the class was L2 used? How many minutes did the TEACHER use L2? How many minutes did the STUDENTS use
L2? What kinds of interactions were
used i.e. greetings, directions, instruction, practice, communication?
CM1 We said that the teacher plays many roles in a
classroom. What roles did the teacher
play in the class you observed? Did
s/he seem comfortable in those roles?
Why or why not? Were there
additional roles that the teacher could / should have played? What was the relationship of those roles
played to effective classroom management?
CM2 How was the room arranged in the class you observed? Consider the seating arrangement, the
location of materials, the use of bulletin boards and / or learning centers,
the use of open space. How did it
contribute to effective classroom management?
CM3 What special classroom management techniques did you
observe? Explain the circumstances in
which each were used. Were the
techniques used effectively? Why or why
not?
CM4 Classes are becoming more and more diverse. Students come from a variety of racial and
ethnic backgrounds. Were classroom
management decisions influenced by the teacher’s knowledge of the diverse
backgrounds of students? Did age or
gender influence decisions?
CM5 What kinds of routines did you observe that would be
conducive to effective classroom management?
Consider how class began and ended, how attendance was taken, how
homework was checked, how materials were distributed and collected, how permission
was given to move around the room.
CM6 Describe the kinds of transitions you observed and describe
how they contributed to effective classroom management. Consider transitions from opening routines
to the start of the lesson, moving from one part of the lesson to another, from
an active to a more quiet learning experience, from large to small group
instruction.
CM7 If, during an observation, you find a disruptive child,
observe the teacher’s behavior (verbal and non-verbal), the student’s response
and the response of the rest of the class.
Were there other alternatives that could have been explored?
RD1 During the class you observed, can you identify the
elements of the
PAR framework as we discussed it in class
i.e. preparation,
assistance, reflection?
RD2 In
each chapter, we discussed a variety of activities that could be
used in any of the PAR
steps. Which one(s) did you observe?
RD3 What
examples of visual or technological literacy did you observe?
unconsciously take for
granted that students know how to read and to
learn and have the
motivation to do so. Did you observe a
class where
assumptive teaching occurred? Describe what you saw?
RD5 What
examples did you observe that support was provided for diverse
readers in the foreign language
classroom?
RD6 McDermott
suggested that “reading is as much a social event or
transaction as an intellectual
one.” What examples of this theory did
you observe?
RD7 The
authors suggest that “using multiple resources in the content
areas engages readers and
enables effective learning.” What
examples
did you observe? How much was the basic textbook used?
RD8 Good
questions can contribute to better reading comprehension. What
kinds of questions were asked in the class you
observed? Was
students’ comprehension
checked at the literal, interpretive and / or
applied level? What was the purpose of the
questions? Did students
have the opportunity to ask
questions? If so, what kind did they
ask?