Pre-Observation Interview

In the pre-observation interview, the observer obtains information from the teacher concerning his or her class goals, students, and particular teaching style. The interview schedule listed below provides a brief, structured way of obtaining such information.

1. Briefly, what will be happening in the class I will observe?

2. What is your goal for the class? What do you hope students will gain from this session?

3. What do you expect students to be doing in class to reach stated goals?

4. What can I expect you to be doing in class? What role will you take? What teaching methods will you use?

5. What have students been asked to do to prepare for this class?

6. What was done in earlier classes to lead up to this one?

7. Will this class be generally typical of your teaching? If not, what will be different?

8. Is there anything in particular that you would like me to focus on during this class?

Post-Observation Session

In this phase, the observer helps the instructor to analyze what happened in class. The following set of questions provides ways to initiate the follow-up discussion. The observer can reinforce and add to the instructor’s perceptions by referring to the log of class events.

1. In general, how did you feel the class went?

2. How did you feel about your teaching during the class session?

3. How did you feel about the students during the class session? (Relate to the teacher’s goals for students.)

4. Is there anything that worked well for you in class today – that you particularly liked? Does that usually go well?

5. Is there anything that did not work well – that you disliked about the way the class went? Is that typically a problem area for you?

6. What were your teaching strengths? Did you notice anything you improved on or any personal goals you met?

7. What were your teaching problems – areas that still need improvement?

8. Do you have any suggestions or strategies for improvement?