Reading 6: Observation Instructions

Welcome to your first teacher observation!

At the end of each module, we will be providing you with 50-75 minute
videos of one of our own ASU teachers teaching a real class. The
purpose for this is twofold: Firstly, this course is aligned with the TESOL
International guidelines, which entails that certification courses must
require participants to observe at least 10 hours of ESL classes. This
capstone offers 6 hours of observation and the second specialization
will offer the final 4 hours through the peer-reviewed micro-lesson
videos that you will watch throughout the courses. Secondly, these
observations are for you, the participants, to observe and analyze
teachers, a variety of teacher techniques, classroom interaction, and so
on. TESOL and other teacher training programs often require
participants to observe other teachers in action, and we
wholeheartedly see the value of observing other teachers. In fact,
whether you’ve never taught before, or if you’ve been teaching for
more than 20 years, observing other teachers provides you with fresh,
new ideas and perspectives that you might be able to incorporate into
your own lessons.

However, instead of asking you to find your own teachers to observe—

and for some of you in the farther reaches of the world, or who don’t
know any ESL teachers, that would be quite difficult—we’ve brought
the teachers to YOU! Our hope is that you’ll notice some techniques,
activities, or styles in each class that you may be able to incorporate
into your own classrooms. In order to make your experience more
authentic, as if you were actually in the classrooms observing these
teachers, these videos are raw and unedited, instead of our normal,
polished videos. While the videos may seem long, they provide you a
glimpse of REAL teachers teaching their classes. These lessons, while
planned, are unscripted, and anything can happen in these videos, so
notice how the teachers react to unplanned occurrences.

We are also including the teachers' lesson plans, if you want to follow
along with the activities. Try to notice if the teachers follow their lesson
plan exactly, or if the teachers deviate from the lesson at all. Remember,
sometimes well-planned lessons don't always go as planned, so
teachers have to be ready to adapt and improvise.

For Module 1, we’re asking you to observe two different teachers. As

you’re watching each lesson, consider the following questions, which
you’ll be asked to answer in a peer review activity after the video:

1. Which approach(es) do you think these teachers’ teaching style

most closely aligns with?

2. Discuss some aspects of this teacher’s class that you liked.

3. What are some techniques/activities that you might be interested

in incorporating into your own teaching?

So, kick back, relax, and consider the above questions while you check
out what our first two teachers, Nancy and Karen, have to offer!