Annex II: classroom observation tool To be used by program staff during classroom monitoring
Teacher (male or female) School Grade/classroom Subject Attendance/number of students1 /male-female Seating arrangement Equipment (blackboard & others) Classroom cleanliness/ decoration/visual aids Date/time QUESTIONS TO GUIDE THE OBSERVATION:
1 Has the teacher made a lesson plan with clear objectives, methods to be used, sequenced steps, also describing how to respond to the “special needs” learners?
2 How does the teacher gain attention of ALL learners at the beginning of the lesson and throughout the lesson (e.g. What is (s)he doing or saying to gain attention? How does (s)he engage children at the back of the classroom or those with “special” needs)?
3 How does the teacher interact with different learners (e.g. Does (s)he observe his/her students? Does (s)he smile or make jokes? Does (s)he encourage quiet children to also try and participate? Does (s)he know and use the names of all her/his students)?
4 How does the teacher explain the learning objective(s) of the lesson (and also link to previous knowledge)?
5 What kind of teaching methods do you observe is the teacher using during the classroom observation (ways of providing new information)?
6 What learning activities have you seen learners involved in during the lesson(s) you observed (variety/engaged time/differentiated activities/adaptations to individual needs of learners)?
7 How does the teacher pose his/her questions to learners (e.g. open questions; closed questions)? 8 How does the teacher provide feedback to learners (e.g. on participation; on given answers; on efforts; on performance)?
9 How does the teacher assess whether the children have understood (e.g. formative/summative; observation; children working together on review exercises; questions; written tests)?
10 How does the teacher manage the classroom (e.g. maintain on-task behavior; discipline)? 11 What books have been used during the observed lesson (e.g. including for children with disabilities)? 12 Do all children have textbooks (book-pupil-ratio), exercise-books, pencils? 1
50
Compare with official enrolment figure for this class