Classroom Observation report of English Level II - Reflective journal of ELT

Classroom Observation report of English Level II

Panyapan Panchana

Mahidol University

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dtx0ugs-P-1WrCJq_v_9p4J5y7KC-xOST999PIiJRgE/edit
Classroom Observation report of English Level II

Introduction
This reflective report is based on “Practice Teaching: A Reflective Approach” Jack & Thomas, 2011, pp. 90 - 105) which was used as the checklist for observing the online class of English Level II of Mahidol University. The objective of the class observation is to learn and observe the teaching techniques, methods, or approach, classroom management, activities, the use of language that the professor used throughout the class including the student interaction to learn from it and use it in the future teaching. This report describes the characteristics of the classroom as well as the analysis of the instructional practices and their applications to my future classroom practices.

The characteristics of the classroom
This course is a course for a freshman student of Mahidol University which provides four courses including English Level I, Level III in the first semester and English Level II, Level IIII in the second semester. The English Level I and Level II are for the students who got a score lower than 60in the ONET test. The English Level III and Level IV are for the students who got a score higher than 60 in the ONET test. The observed class was English Level II of the freshman students from different faculties whose proficiency level is between elementary and intermediate. There are three classes every week which are usually held in Webex Meet. There is only one professor in this class and she mainly uses Thai for teaching. The number of students in this class is 52. The students came from many different schools throughout the country, both public and private schools. Therefore, their background knowledge and frame of references might be different and diverse.
Analysis and application of the instructional practices
At the beginning of the class, the professor opened the class by using a famous song in social media called ‘twelve’ as a warm-up activity and greeted everyone with a vivid tone of voice which was a building rapport technique because the professor used something that the students could be relate so the students felt more relaxed and ready to learn the lesson. She talked a little bit and then the professor just went straight to the exercises from the previous/last class.
The professor used the application GoodNotes for teaching by sharing her screen so the whole class can catch up with the lesson. In this class, the professor mainly used the technique of scaffolding from Lev Vygotsky’s Socio-cultural Theory. According to Lev Vygotsky‘s The Zone of Proximal Development, this technique helps students achieve the level of potential development and expand our frame of reference. For example, the professor used questions to guide the students to recall their background knowledge or let them try to answer the right one. However, the professor also explained the grammar and vocabulary to the students when they didn’t know about those rules or words. After the explanation, she asked some questions to check their understanding which is a great way to know if the students can truly understand and learn the lesson. Some students were More Knowledge Others (MKO) which helped to scaffold other students as well.
Most of the activity in this class was the whole class activity in which the professor let

students do the exercises together and randomly asked some of them to answer and read

the texts. The professor used B.F. Skinner’s Behaviorism which learning proceeds by

producing a response to a stimulus and receiving either positive or negative reinforcement.

After those students read or answer the exercises, the professor used positive

reinforcement by ringing the bell, praising and telling other students to press the thumbs up

or clapping sign for them in which that student would feel encouraged and added their

self-esteem so they will be more confident to answer next time. The number of activities in

this class is appropriate, the professor could maintain order and manage the time well.

The students also participated with every activity well, they talked with the professor

pleasantly. The professor used some jokes and gave funny examples to the students which

made the atmosphere relax.

Conclusion
To sum up, the professor has an eclectic art of teaching which she used both explicit and implicit learning with the students. Although it was an online class, the professor can make an environment like a traditional class. In my future teaching, I will consider many aspects of teaching such as techniques, the use of language, and activities during the class because I think the online classes might be harder in terms of concentration, distraction or other factors which can affect the students. I will essentially consider the learners first so I can prepare the best lesson plan for the learners. The learners must gain more knowledge and develop their language skills which they can apply in the future.
References

Jan, M. (2018). Building Rapport In The Online Classroom. Retrieved from
           https://blog.alo7.com/building-rapport-online-classroom/

Keya, M. (2016). Theories of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Retrieved from
           https://vdocuments.site/theories-of-second-language-acquisition-sla.html

Kurt, S. "Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding," in Educational
           Technology, July 11, 2020. Retrieved from https://educationaltechnology.net/
            vygotskys-zone-of-proximal-development-and-scaffolding/

Richards, J., & Farrell, T. (2011). Classroom Observation in Teaching Practice. In Practice
            Teaching: A Reflective Approach (Cambridge Teacher Training and Development, pp.
            90-105). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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