Observation 101
Not many of my teaching colleagues know that I began my career as a PhD candidate in Molecular Biology. Going from research science doctoral candidate to special education teacher is not a clear path. And no one would think that my training as a scientist would help me as a teacher. The work of a scientist is based on keen observational skills. These are skills I often make use of as a high school special education teacher and I am surprised that they are not a larger part of teacher training programs. The importance of observation to me is the chance to focus on one student in order to add to my understanding of his/her individual and unique strengths, interests and weaknesses.
Observation skills are invaluable in the classroom:
as part of informal, formative assessment techniques
to determine what goals a teacher should have for each student
to determine if a student is making progress in a specific skill
Below I share five ideas on the use of observation in teacher practice. At the end of this post, I share with you a free copy of my observation log sheet that incorporate these five key ideas to help you make the most of observation in helping your students.
1. To note or not to note
When I set out to observe the learning of a particular student, I sometimes have pen and paper in hand ready to take notes on a student’s performance when I am doing a running record or when I am reteaching a math skill. But, other times, I find that paper and pen can separate me from giving my full attention and focus to analyzing the student. At those times, I quickly jot down notes later once I get a chance. I can then focus on trying to understand how the student is approaching a task and to decipher where their thinking might be faulty.
2. Sit behind my desk or work with the student directly
Sometimes I prefer to observe the student from a distance as I sit behind my desk. This gives the student the illusion that I am not watching him/her and hopefully the student will be more natural. Other times, I find I want to observe the student close up when I am working with him or her one-on-one or in a small group. It depends on the skill I am observing. Some skills like social interactions, focus/attention and work completion are better observed from a distance. Whereas when I am assessing reading fluency or decoding skills, it is better to be working directly with the student so I can see up close how the student is approaching the task or which errors he or she is making.
3. Pay attention
At times, an observation can happen when I least expect it. I always try to stay open to finding new data and information to get a more complete picture of a student’s unique needs and approach to learning. Sometimes observation occurs when I least expect it. I look for hints in different places. Once I noticed that a certain student entered my room and his eyes would look directly to that part of my board where the plan for the day’s class was written. This told me that this student who I knew liked structure appreciated knowing ahead of time what to expect in the class. It also let me know that the extra time it took to bullet point the 4 or 5 activities that would happen that day as part of the lesson was important to this student and I should continue doing it. I notice things during whole class discussions, during small group work when I overhear student conversations or when I am grading written work. Anytime is a good time to be open to observing my students.
4. Look for patterns
Sometimes my observation involves noticing a pattern. Be aware of any previous assessments of a student’s ability and observe anything that supports or challenges those previous assessments . Once, when working with a student on his decoding skills, I had noticed that this student would mix up the short /i/ and the short /e/ sounds when reading words in isolation. Later, when reviewing individual sounds, I noticed the student mixed up the same sounds when he saw the letter e or i in isolation. By remembering my earlier observation, I was able to add more evidence to my earlier assumptions about his skills and made me trust that initial assessment.
5. Test out theories
Sometimes I use observational skills to look for evidence of previous assessments I made or to challenge earlier assumptions I have about a student’s ability or skill level. In those situations, I need to be observant to either change a theory or gain more evidence to support it.
Observation requires the teacher to step back and let the student speak to them through their actions, questions, errors and work. I need to remember to always be open to these glimpses into my student; into how they learn, what motivates them, and what they need.
