3. Observing the student teacher’s lesson

During your visit, you will observe the student teacher to assess their teaching skills. If you have been able to use the TESSA materials with student teachers in the college or university, you should be able to observe your student teachers trying out different active-learning strategies in their lessons. Remind them that trying out new strategies may be difficult and that it may be easier to start with areas of the curriculum they are most familiar with. Encourage them to take small steps and make small changes. Organising pair work is easier than organising group work, for example.

You can capture your observations by making notes and taking photographs or videos with your mobile phone. These can then be reviewed with the student teacher during feedback. In your notes, record the questions you want to ask the student about the decisions they made. Remember to ask permission from the head teacher before using any recording equipment in the classroom.

You might find it useful to record your classroom observation on a 7.3 Lesson Observation Form, an example of which is provided at the end of this section. An agreed form that everyone in the college uses helps to ensure that the same type of information is collected and that key aspects of student teachers’ performance are not overlooked.

2. Meeting with the student teacher prior to observing the lesson

4. Discussing the lesson with the student teacher