Observation Report
Number: __2__
Date: ____3/4/2011___
Name: _Deniz Sen___
Name of School/Institution: LADO International College ESL Program
Class Information
Number of students__four__
Level__Four__
Age Average (estimate)__20___
Observation
What is the focus of the class (what do you think the objective is?)
This was an intensive class that meets every day for four and a half hours for a total of 16
days. The specific class I observed was a Level Four. The focus of the class was mainly
to learn English through grammar. The day’s lesson was Prepositions of Time and Place.
How does the teacher address that objective? (Are there activities? Lead-ins? Pair/group
work? What does the teacher do or set up?)
The first activity was one where the teacher wrote sentences with fill in the blanks on the
board and the students all came up to the board together to each complete a sentence with
the correct preposition. The teacher then checked and gave feedback. She even drew
pictures to explain concepts. A handout with the same type of exercises followed and
each student completed their own then the teacher corrected mistakes. There were also
passages on a CD that the students listened to and then repeated sentence by sentence.
Since there were only four students (three during this particular class), there was no
group or pair work.
What is the balance of teacher talking time to student talking time?
This was a very traditional class that strictly followed the LADO Method. The teacher
was the head of the class and the main provider of information. She led the lesson and
activities and took up a fair amount of talking time. She did, however, ask questions
regularly and turned to the students to complete the sentences in the exercises. The
students spent a few minutes asking and answering the same question amongst
themselves. There was heavy use of the whiteboard.
Does the teacher engage the students? Equally? Fairly?
The teacher engaged the students equally, giving each one a chance to do an exercise.
Although she answered all of their questions and provided extra help to those who needed
it, her main concern was getting through the material in the allotted time so there were
instances when she had to leave students with outstanding questions/issues.
Do the students seem comfortable with the teacher’s instructions? Why or why not?
It seemed like the students were comfortable with the instruction although there were
times when they seemed a little bored with the repetition and drilling. The teacher’s
general approach to her students was positive and supportive.
Does the teacher give feedback to the students? If so, in what form?
As students were reading out the exercises they had completed, the teacher made the
necessary corrections right away. She followed the book very closely throughout the
class and referred to her teacher’s book while giving feedback and told the students ‘this
is what it says in my book’. When some students were confused about a grammatical
structure, they were told that they needed to memorize things and do drilling activities.
Post lesson
What do you think the students can do now that they could not do before this class?
The students learned the rules for using prepositions. The teacher distributed a handout
which summarized where to use which preposition. The students will probably be able to
use the right prepositions some of the time, not the majority of the time, until they have
had a chance to practice some more.
What do you think the students liked/disliked about the lesson?
It seemed like the students were happy with their teacher in general. Since it was a very
small group, they had a nice dialog amongst themselves. They were enthusiastic about
the ‘Guessing Game’ that they play every day that was a version of hangman. Some
students seemed less enthusiastic about having to repeat every sentence they listened to
on the CD.
What did YOU like/dislike about the lesson?
I liked the teacher’s warm attitude in general. The class was a non threatening
environment and the students seemed relaxed. There was a genuine feel of cooperation
between students and teacher, and the students were not afraid to speak up or make
mistakes. The lesson was well structured and there were different activities such as
listening, games, personal discussions etc. that broke up the monotony that an intensive
structure based class can create. The students displayed good teamwork and helped each
other out. On the other hand, there was a lot of repetition. The teacher asking the students
‘repeat after me please’ took me back to the classes I remember from childhood. This did
not seem to have much of a purpose since the teacher could not her the individual
students and therefore, could not provide feedback. I disliked the fact that the main
objective of the lesson was teaching grammatical concepts and structures, and not
working on learners’ communicative skills.
What would you have done differently with this group of students, if anything?
The whole concept of the LADO Method at work was very interesting to watch; there is
not much I would change since the whole school is based on this approach. Although it is
very different from the communicative method of teaching, it has its proponents. It is also
true that some people prefer learning methods that are centered around the teacher and
that use repetition and drilling techniques.
Did you have a chance to speak with the teacher after or before the lesson?
I spoke with the teacher before and after the lesson. She gave me background information
about the course, the group and the LADO approach in general.