• Be sure to be on time. School principals, secretaries and teachers have a lot to do, and we don't want to abuse their hospitality by creating extra work. At least for the first week that each group (A,B,C) goes to a new school, wait until most or all of your colleagues are present and go in together.

• When you enter a school building always go directly to the office and sign in using that building's procedures.  Typically this will include your wearing an identification badge before you go to your classroom.  (Not all schools have a badge type system).  Don't forget to sign out when you leave the school as well.

• Remember, you will be observing in pairs at each site.  In the Fall quarter, you will visit each site 3 times; an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school.  Your observation period will be a half day, beginning at the start of your teachers day and ending at lunch time.  You will need to take the time at the end of your day to complete your observation reflections in your journal.

• In order to explain your presence in the classroom, ask the teacher to introduce you to the students in the class. Let them know that you are also students who are here to observe their class and learn about teaching X grade. Also, let the teacher know what kinds of things you will be observing each day.

• Do not sit next to fellow MIT students in the classroom. If you are able, sit in different parts of the room with different views of the classroom.

• Do not initiate conversation with the children, nor interfere as they do their work. If the children engage you, be polite but not engaging. If you avoid most individual eye contact, scan the room as you observe and take notes, the students probably will ignore you after they get used to your being there. Remember, your task is to focus on observing and taking notes.

• You may see things in the classroom that you don't agree with. These observations will give you your first chance to control your body language -- your non-verbal responses. If you see something you are uncomfortable with, describe it in your journal and don't discuss it with anyone but the MIT faculty. Remember you are a guest, not a classroom parent nor paid evaluator.

• You have the responsibility for letting the teacher know that you understand they will talk with you for 5 or 10 minutes after each observation day to answer any questions or discuss the day from their perspective. Your observation time will be completed when the teacher you are with dismisses the students to go to lunch. If you have questions, you might frame them as, ' I noticed a student doing x today. I wondered how 1, as a new teacher, would deal with that. What is your view on working with x behavior?"

• At the end of each observation session, plan to meet with your observation partner for 20 to 30 minutes. Go out of the school, and find a spot to have a cup of coffee and debrief what you each saw and what questions you may have. You may want to begin your writing on page two of your field journal after these conversations -- reflecting on the meaning of what you saw.

• At the end of your 3 weeks at one school, be sure to let the teacher know how much your appreciated your opportunity to observe. A note or card is always appropriate. If you can think of one or two things that you learned or thought were particularly good, let the teacher know.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Here's to a great experience!

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These formal classroom observation tasks will help you to focus directly on the classroom environment, which includes the physical arrangement and teacher -- student interaction.  Rather than engaging in teaching or tutoring experiences, which may limit focused observation, these tasks promote very centered looking, listening and reflecting experiences.  Record your observations in a journal devoted exclusively to this assignment.  Observation journals contribute to the structure and content of the Thursday integration seminar discussions.

You will be using the observation guidelines below on Thursday mornings at each of the three school sites: elementary, middle school and high school. You may observe and record events in addition to those listed below, but this format will assure that you have observations that can be compared with those of your written reflection, in some cases specific reflective information is requested.  Be sure to leave enough pages in-between each observation for your regularly written reflections, and for your response to the reflections of others in your seminar.
 

Classroom Context- Record the following information for each classroom you visit.

 
• The physical environment of the classroom - make a drawing of the room layout: size, location and arrangement of student and teacher desks or tables; shelves and other large equipment; windows and doors.  Bring to emerging seminar a redrawn picture of the classroom in ink on 8 1/2 x 11 paper.  In your written reflections include what you interpret as opportunities and limitations of the physical space.

• Specific diagrams and descriptions of classroom walls and other surfaces including: student work, commercial posters, lists of rules, reward charts, photos, plants, "holiday" pictures, etc.  In your reflection, consider what "messages" you get from these artifacts.

• The ebb and flow of sounds in the room throughout the observation period.  In your reflections, consider how you react to the sounds that you hear.

 

• Pay attention to any strong responses to the school, the classroom, what is being done and what is being said.

• Interrupt your journal descriptions at any time with an asterisk (*) or some such sign, and write down at once anything to which you strongly react -- it may make you feel uncomfortable, surprised, alarmed, shocked, delighted, sad, happy. These are important reactions, because they will contain messages about your own perceptions. It is important to go back to your notes and reflect what you were responding to and why.

Observation and Description of Teachers and Students  In week two of your observations at each. site, you will be focusing on teachers and students and their interactions with each other. Select at least two of the observation tasks below to include in your journal for this week. You may do more than two of those tasks or you may choose to observe and describe something else that Interests you. You may want to design an observation chart ahead of time that will make your recording of observations more efficient.

• Select three students to observe. At regular fifteen minute intervals throughout the morning, record what each of the three -- student A, B, and C -- is doing. In your reflections, consider how you were interpreting or evaluating each student's behavior.

• Observe and record "attention getting behavior". At regular intervals e.g. for 15 minutes each hour, observe and describe how students get the teacher's attention. In your reflections, what do you think the implications are for the students who get the teacher's attention? for those who don't? for the teacher?

• Observe student and teacher behavior and try to determine what classroom rules have been established. Often, rules are not evident until they are broken. Look at what the teacher and students say and do, and see If you can develop a list of 'rules' that the students have internalized about what is and is not O.K. to do in the classroom. You may find that dividing yourjournal page in half will facilitate recording those things that are OK and those that are not. As you reflect, be sure to make notes about what cues you picked up that revealed what those rules are.

• Observe and record "transition" behavior. At least once, record exactly what the teacher says and does, and what the students say and do, (and how many minutes elapse) from the moment the teacher suggests to the students that one activity is about to conclude and another activity will begin. As you reflect on the transition, why do you think it was successful or not so successful? What did you learn from observing it?

• Observe and record teacher one-to-one talk. Observe the teacher and students for 15 to 30 minutes and record who is called on or talked to directly by the teacher. Pay attention to which students e.g. girl with brown hair in blue dress; the teacher calls on or talks to more than once and for what reasons.

• Pay attention to any strong responses to the school, the classroom, what is being done and what is being said.

Interrupt your journal descriptions at any time with an asterisk (*) or some such sign, and write down at once anything to which you strongly react -- it may make you feel uncomfortable, surprised, alarmed, shocked, delighted, sad, happy. These are important reactions, because they will contain messages about your own perceptions. It is important to go back to your notes and reflect what you were responding to and why.

Observation and Description of Pedagogy There are many things that you might choose to observe about how a teacher approaches teaching. Think about some of them before you begin this observation, and set up any observation sheets that may help you record the observations of interest. Select at least one of the observation tasks below and record your observations in your journal. You may choose two or three others of your choice.

• Observe and record the teaching-learning strategies used by the teacher.  During your entire observation period, of for a half-hour out of each hour, identify and describe the classroom strategies that the teacher uses.  Some might be:

• Whole group direct instruction by the teacher: i.e., teaching content by lecturing in front of the whole class:
• Teaching consulting, i.e., the teacher consults with a small group of students about a project they are working on;
• Small group work, i.e., small groups of children are investigating something together , each student is writing up or drawing something about their own work;
• Cooperative group work, i.e., small groups are working toward a common goal.  The students make a plan about their investigation together, then each student takes a particular task responsibility toward the cooperative goal;
• Collaborative problem-solving in small groups, i.e., teacher presents a problem to a small group of students and they attempt to solve it together;
• Problem-posing and group exploration, i.e., teacher poses a problem and small groups explore process, content, goals and resolution, then return to the entire group for a sharing or debriefing session;
• Individual student-selected study, i.e., a student chooses a study of interest and works alone at a computer, at a classroom center, or at his or her desk;
• Teacher directed class discussion or media/film instruction.


You will see many other strategies, as well.  Describe them in terms of who sets the tasks (student or teacher), size of group, nature of the task, process.  Also note if all students usually do the same thing or different activities take place simultaneously.
 

Pay attention to any strong responses to the school, the classroom, what is being done and what is being said. You can interrupt your journal descriptions at any time with an asterisk (*) or some such sign, and write down at once anything to which you strongly react -- it may make you feel uncomfortable, surprised, alarmed, shocked, delighted, sad, happy. These are important reactions, because they will contain messages about your own perceptions. It is important to go back to your notes and reflect upon what you were responding to and why.
 
 Now, you will repeat the 3 week process of observations at your next school assignment.

A part of your required work this year will be to maintain a working journal of your classroom observations and your reflections on these observations. You will want to write down not only what you see in the classroom, and what teachers tell you, but also your thoughts about the meaning of these events. This journal will be the basis for Friday discussions, and will be an important part of your demonstration of your observation and assessment skills, as well as your ability to recognize theory into practice.

Use the following format, maintained in a fairly thin three-ring notebook, for the advantage of portability, flexibility and easy maintenance.  Divide your paper into two columns.  Record your observations in the right hand column, leaving the left hand column blank.  Then, afterwards, go back through your observations and record personal thoughts, feelings, reactions, and analysis of learning theory in the left hand column to correspond with what is happening on the right.

Your role in the classroom is a neutral participant observer, not an evaluator or critic. You should not use any full names in your journal, nor should you identify by name, the teacher in your descriptions. Your journal is a place to practice your own ability to describe what you see in one cultural scene, a classroom. You are a guest of the teacher and the children and you need to respect their hospitality by keeping your observations anonymous and confidential.