Observe a lesson and write a commentary on planning and timings

For the observation task this week I observed a year eleven set three group and I will be referring to section four (‘plan and teach well structured lessons’) in the Teachers' Standards, specifically, 4.a, 4.c and 4.d. The class are preparing for their English Language exam in November and are taking the foundation paper. The learning outcomes for the lesson were: “to understand what inference is and be able to use it in your responses; to be able to explain and evaluate how writers use linguistic, structural  and presentational techniques to achieve effects; to be able to support comments with quotations.”

At the start of the lesson (9:10) Mrs F gave feedback to the group for the work they had completed in the previous lesson; they had attempted to answer questions 1.a, 1.b and 2. During the exam the pupils should spend roughly thirty-five minutes to complete these questions so Mrs F emphasised to those who hadn’t completed their answers they must be aware of the time restraints in the exam. One issue Mrs F found with the work was that they were not making enough inferences in their answers. Mrs F asked members of the class to give a definition and they made notes in their exercise books. This process related to 4.d in the TS: “reflect systematically on the effectiveness of lessons and approaches to teaching.” After assessing the quality and quantity of work from the previous lesson Mrs F made the class aware of what they needed to improve on.

At 9:20, using purple pens, the group had to identify and make improvements to their answers from the previous lesson. Mrs F had to warn the group about low level disruption; the exam is on the 5th November so it is imperative that they are aware of the time restraint. Mrs F also spoke to the pupils who, in the previous lesson, had wasted time and had not completed enough work further enforcing the importance of time management. After another ten minute period Mrs F put example inferences up on the board and with the purple pens the class added any inferences they had missed. 

 

At 9:40 the class moved onto exam timing which was broken down in a diagram on the board and Mrs F emphasised the importance of streamlining planning and writing time in the exam. At 9:45 the class read the source together and underlined sections. Question three is a language question and they should spend around eighteen minutes. The class were given five minutes to do this and they worked in silence of their own accord presumably because Mrs F had mentioned time management several times. At 9:50 the group discussed their ideas and made inferences. Mrs F let the class know that they would be given a question from a past paper as homework next lesson. This linked to 4.c in the TS: “set homework and plan other out-of-class activities to consolidate and extend the knowledge and understanding pupils have acquired.”

It was evident that extensive planning had gone into the lesson and that Mrs F was aware of the fifty minute time period. Breaking the lesson up into ten minute segments worked well as the class is susceptible to low level disruption; this relates to 4.a in the TS as Mrs F did “impart knowledge and develop understanding through effective use of lesson time.” By breaking the lesson up in ten minute blocks she kept them focussed and from my observation it was apparent that all pupils made progress with their inferences.