OBSERVE 3.

LEARNING CONDITIONS

A positive classroom atmosphere that encourages risk taking would affect students’ involvement in the
lesson without a doubt. The teacher’s behaviors toward the students and his/her actions as well as the
activities chosen would either increase or decrease students’ involvement in the lesson. Unless the
learners feel as a part of the classroom they would feel hesitant to contribute to classroom activities. In
addition, being an adolescent is an important factor that would increase the affective filter. It is the
teacher’s one of the most important jobs to create a warm and flexible classroom environment.

Task Objective:

This task aims to analyze classroom conditions (positive and negative), teacher’s behaviors and students’
reactions to these behaviors.

Procedure:

Before the Lesson:

Before the lesson interview your cooperating teacher about the factors (teacher attitudes, methodology,
activities, …) that have a role on classroom conditions.

During the Lesson:

1. Observe the negative and positive aspects of the classroom conditions that the teacher creates as
well as the physical ones and note them on Table 3a provided below. Concentrate on the aspect(s)
of the classroom that hinder or enhance learning.
2. Observe and describe the teacher’s behavior toward the students (friendly, strict, flexible, serious,
business-like, …) by using Table 3b and note the students’ reaction to the teacher’s behavior.

After the Lesson:

Compare the teacher’s comments from the interview with your observations and identify the factors
that seem to have a major impact on students.

Reflection: What is one thing that you would take as an example/model from your cooperating
teacher’s lesson and implement in your future classes?

What is the role of the teacher in setting the appropriate classroom environment? Discuss.
Table 3a. Classroom conditions

Positive Factors Negative Factors

The Classroom: The Classroom:

The Teacher: The Teacher:

The Students: The Students:

The Activities: The Activities:

(Table taken from Somogyi-Tóth, K. (2012))

Reference:
Somogyi-Toth, K. (2012). Observation tasks: A workbook for student-teachers. Retrieved from www.tttjournal.co.uk/uploads/File/ttj_plus/Observation
%20Tasks.pdf
 Table 3b: Teacher behavior and student reaction

Situation/Critical Incident Teacher’s behavior Students’ reaction (upset, silence,

joy, increased participation …)