School of teaching, Health and Care
PCET – Subject Specialist Mentor Observation Form
Teacher Observed: Dale Cotton
PCET course and year: PG Dip Pre-Service Full
Time
Observer: Leanne Clark
Observed course/ level: 3
Date: 8/5/14
No. of students: 6
Session Focus (context):
This lesson will be for my first year music video production class. The class if full should consist of
8 students but may be less. The classroom is a computer lab and I will look to utilise the open
plan nature of the classroom to work with students one to one or in groups when the tasks are
set.
The lesson is coming towards the end of the year and much of the learning associated with the
module has already taken place. The students are actively engaged in the process of producing
their practical music video assignments and the lesson will look to follow on from this and link to
the post production phase to come. The lesson will focus on editing and the techniques and
processes involved in relation to music videos. Many if not all of the students should have prior
knowledge and experience in relation to the editing process and this lesson will look to apply this
knowledge and use it in conjunction with music video codes and conventions learned previously
in this module.
The class is a generally good and attentive class and no students give me any disruptions or
trouble. Some students are generally more engaged in the lessons than others and I shall look to
employ peer interaction to help the inclusion of every student.
I shall look to use this lesson to improve upon previous observations and link the learning
outcomes of the lesson clearer to the specific tasks and look to achieve a much more clearer
picture of the learning process displayed by the students.
Summary of any outstanding features and particular strengths:
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Some good use of questioning; you pick up on points they’ve made and refer
back to them by name well.
Good recap activity.
Good attention to detail during task
Summary of areas for development:
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Need to work on direct questioning; make sure it’s tailored to their ability.
Need to ensure that they take notes; it says that they should be doing this in the
lesson plan but not a single one did. It’s very hard to tell what they are retaining.
Keep breaking up presentation element, there was supposed to be an activity
that you bypassed.
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Issue 2.0
School of teaching, Health and Care
PCET – Subject Specialist Mentor Observation Form
How has the trainee planned effectively to deliver the subject specialism?
(Consider how planning take into account curriculum and learner needs, while remaining flexible.)
You had some good resources for this section but as always I would say that you need to test
your technology prior to the lesson starting. I think the vimeo clip could have been really good but
without being able to hear it very clearly it fell a bit flat. I would also suggest that you prepare your
resources a bit better, you commented that the paper you used for the activity wasn’t “very well
done”, why not? I liked your use of clip, you have clearly listened to the feedback you’ve received
from Hilary and are now using clips that the students can identify with better.
In terms of the lesson working within the curriculum, I definitely think it was well placed but also
definitely think that you need to consistently ensure that they make notes. You were teaching
them information that they could use in a practical context therefore they would have benefitted
from taking notes to look back at.
How effective are the resources in supporting learning in the subject?
(Consider how they made links between specialist area and its wider context (e.g. work, legislation, current issues)
and helped learners identify transferable skills.)
There wasn’t much room for this in this particular session but you did consistently link what you
were talking about back to their own work that they will be completing in the near future.
Describe the range, and quality, of teaching techniques used in the subject and how the
trainee established a purposeful and motivating environment?
(Consider how the trainee used a range of appropriate, flexible and varied teaching and learning techniques, and
motivated all learners.)
The initial tasks worked really well, they engaged all of the students (possibly except for Jaid) and
got them up and moving. I still feel like you do need more activities. You stated in your lesson
plan that there would be 10mins of you going through different elements of editing, this turned in
to 30 and as a result you missed out an activity you had planned. Although you used a clip
towards the end of the 30 mins, I really felt like the session could have benefitted from more of
this or from including the exercise you had originally planned to do.
The final task you set just before I left could have been introduced and set up more clearly. In this
group I would seriously consider orchestrating the paired work, try to think of some pairing
exercises that wouldn’t make this too obvious. Jaid and Adam both struggle to work with others
so it would have been useful for them to have been placed with someone that would have worked
well with them. Adam sat for 10 mins after the task had been set not doing anything because the
other three had turned their backs on him and Jaid seemed to send up working on her own.
How did the trainee use formative assessment to check all learners’ progress and was this
assessment accessible?
(Are the assessment records are accurate, standardised and relevant to awarding bodies?)
There was no evidence of this in this session but I have seen recent records of assessment. It
seemed that they were all on track and were clear how the lesson would help towards their
assessment.
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Issue 2.0
School of teaching, Health and Care
PCET – Subject Specialist Mentor Observation Form
How were questioning and answering used effectively, and describe how the trainee gave
constructive feedback?
(How has the trainee encouraged reflection amongst learners, supported and promoted inclusivity and diversity?)
On the whole feedback was good, you mention the students’ names when responding to the
points they have made which is good. You opened with open and questions and then moved
more to direct questioning and you did ensure that everyone took part in the question and
answering process. The aspect that you do need to develop on is the structure of your direct
questioning. On several occasions you asked higher ability students really easy opening
questions, often something you’ve already covered in class and then asked the less confident
students the harder questions which they were unable to answer. It’s great that you are using
direct questioning more but make sure it’s tailored to the students. Your differentiation section of
your lesson plans is still quite basic despite feedback on this. Possibly if you ensured that you
covered this when planning the session you might find it easier to carry it out in lesson.
How has the trainee managed the classroom to support the learning of the subject?
(Consider how they managed behaviour and challenged discriminatory attitudes, while ensuring professional
boundaries are maintained.)
One issue that I have commented on before that you really need to address is that there is
absolutely no food or drink allowed in the classrooms. It’s not as important in rooms like B8 but in
a computer suite it is really important (I’ve made the mistake of letting someone finish a coffee
once, he spilt it and all the computers went down). Both Luke and Tom were drinking in the
session so this needs to be addressed in the next observation.
On the whole behaviour was good so there weren’t any situations you necessarily had to
‘manage’ but you did make sure that people were paying attention and instructed a couple of
them to move away from their PC’s for the initial task.
Circle as many of the following that best describes the trainee during this
observation:
Fluent
Articulate
Creative
Effective
Sound
Innovative
Secure
Original
Dynamic
Re-observation
needed
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Issue 2.0