To evaluate the beginning of a session and to consider areas for improvement

Aim

To evaluate the beginning of a session and to consider areas for improvement.

Evidence and reflection

Video record a session you have taught or observe someone else’s lesson. Consider what happened in terms of the following questions:

• How did the teacher attract the students' attention?
• Did the teacher explain the objectives of the session?
• What did the teacher use as a stimulus at the start of the lesson and how effective was this?
• Were the instructions to the class clear?
• Did the students know why they were doing this activity?
• Did the students know what they were going to learn from it?
• Did the students know if any follow-up is expected?
• Did the students know on what criteria their work was to be assessed?
• Did the students know how this activity links with other work they had done or would do next?

Extension

What specific actions could be taken for improvement? What general skills need to be worked on?

More in this chapter

• To understand student behaviour in our classroom circumstances
• To explore and understand a school's policies and practices with regard to behaviour management
• To review the repertoire of strategies for managing behaviour which we typically use
• To consider strategies appropriate to managing different behavioural challenges
• To investigate one's classroom management skills
• To pre-empt general misbehaviour and to reduce incidents of inappropriate behaviour
• To monitor periods of transition in your own teaching
• To review the end of a session and identify areas for improvement
• To monitor responses to a classroom crisis
• To consider your view of disruptive behaviour
• To record incidents of ongoing 'problem' behaviour
• To analyse and reflect on your management of specific behaviour
• To consider the range of sanctions operating in your school
• To reflect on classroom management and discipline