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Session 2. One Lens and Simple Tools
Objective. Choose one observation lens (questioning, pupil talk or time on task), match it to a paper tool and record facts without judgement.
A whole lesson holds more than anyone can see, so unfocused notes end up as a pile of impressions. One lens and one simple tool turn a visit into evidence the host can use. The skill is small but it needs practice: counting accurately, writing what you saw and leaving out what you think of it. This lesson goes beyond the key ideas to show how to choose between lenses, and how to read the numbers carefully once you have them.
Key ideas
A lens is a question about pupils
- A whole lesson holds too much to see. A lens narrows the view to one thing that matters to the host, phrased about pupils: 'Who gets to think aloud?' not 'Am I a good questioner?'
- Three common lenses: questioning (what kinds of questions, how long the pause), pupil talk (who speaks, how much) and time on task (what pupils are doing every two minutes).
- The host owns the lens. If the visitor has a different worry, she keeps it for her own lesson, not for the host's.
Match the tool to the lens
- Tally: marks in boxes to count things such as types of question. Seating chart: a map of the room on which you mark who speaks, who is on task or where the teacher walks.
- Scripting: write exact words in a chosen category, for example every question the teacher asks (selective verbatim). A time log: note every two minutes what most pupils are doing.
- Use one tool, two at most. Practise the tool on a written example first so that on the day your eyes are on the pupils, not on your sheet.
Facts first, interpretation later
- A fact can be checked by anyone in the room: a time, a number, an exact sentence. A judgement is an opinion: 'boring', 'weak', 'favours'. Record facts only.
- Turn a judgement into a fact by asking 'what did I see that made me think so?'. 'Boring' becomes 'at 6:30 five pupils had their heads down'.
- Meaning comes after, and the host speaks first about what the numbers might mean. She knows the class; you know only ten minutes.
Keep it small and fair
- Watch the same 10 to 15 minute slice in both visits, such as the first part after the starter. A repeat slice makes before and after comparable.
- Your presence changes behaviour a little. Note it ('pupils glanced back at me three times in the first two minutes') and do not treat the slice as proof of everything.
- Decide in advance what you will not record: names, anything about families, and anything unrelated to the lens.
From opinion to fact
Choosing between lenses
Let the host's worry point to the lens. If she says 'they are quiet', choose pupil talk and count who speaks and for how long. If she says 'they do not think', choose questioning and record the types of question and the pause after each. If she says 'they drift', choose time on task and scan the room every two minutes in the same order, counting pupils working on the set task.
Be careful with time on task: a pupil looking out of the window may be thinking, and a pupil writing may be copying. Record the visible behaviour ('pencil still, looking at the desk') and not the label 'off task'. Also note what task was set at that minute: a long wait for one set of equipment is a design problem, not a pupil problem.
Reading numbers with care
A number only means something against a question. 'Four of eight pupils spoke' is neutral until the host says what she hoped for. Ask her before you show it: 'What number would have surprised you?' A ten-minute slice says little about the whole year, so treat it as one photograph, not a film. Comparing the same slice before and after a change is stronger than comparing different lessons.
Small counts can mislead. If one pupil answers six of eight questions, the host should hear that fact, but not conclude that the class always works like that. Never rank pupils or compare two colleagues' numbers: the point is the host's own question about her own pupils.
Examples from the classroom
Counting the pause
Scene. Sardor teaches Grade 6 in Bukhara and wants to know whether pupils get time to think. Malika scripts each of his eight questions in the 10-minute slice and counts the seconds before anyone speaks or the teacher continues. Six of eight pauses are under two seconds. Sardor decides to count silently to three after each question next week.
Insight. A script plus a stopwatch turns 'I think I rush' into a number that suggests one small change.
Waiting for the equipment
Scene. Aziz visits Malika's Grade 9 chemistry practical in Samarkand with a time-on-task sweep every two minutes of 30 pupils. At minutes 4, 6, 8 and 10 he counts pupils waiting for the single set of scales: 5, 7, 6 and 3. Malika sees the pattern at once and adds a second station for the next practical.
Insight. Time-on-task counts often point to materials or design, not to pupils' attitude.
The chart that pointed at the teacher
Scene. Dilnoza in Fergana worries about the back row of her Grade 4 class. Nigora marks who answers on a seating chart for 12 minutes. The answers come from the left side of the room, where Dilnoza stands; the back row is no quieter than the right side. Dilnoza starts walking along the right side for the next lesson.
Insight. A seating chart can show the teacher's own movement pattern, not only pupils' behaviour.
Common pitfalls
- Choosing a lens about the teacher ('my voice') when the question is about pupils.
- Writing 'off task' without describing what the pupil was actually doing.
- Using two or three tools at once and watching the sheet instead of the pupils.
- Showing the numbers before asking what the host expected.
Observe a Ten-Minute Lesson on Paper
- Open the Activity Kit: a ten-minute transcript of a Grade 5 fractions lesson. In trios, one person reads it aloud at lesson pace (teacher and pupils by seat number); the other two observe, one with the question tally and one with the seating chart (15 min).
- Compare your sheets with the answer note (10 min). Ask each observer what the other tool showed that hers could not.
- Fact or judgement (15 min): sort the eight sentences, then rewrite each judgement as a fact the observer could really have seen.
- Second short activity (20 min): in pairs, fill in the lens card for your first real visit: the host's question about pupils, the lens, the tool, the slice and what you will not record. Swap cards with another pair and ask 'could I carry this out tomorrow?'
- Alone (5 min): write your school-based task from the Kit and the date of your visit.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- What did the tally show that you had not 'felt' while listening to the transcript?
- Which judgement was hardest to turn into a fact, and why?
- Is the lens on your card really about pupils, or about the teacher?
Reflect
- What do you most want to know about your own pupils that you cannot see while teaching?
- Which tool would you find easiest to use with 35 pupils in the room?
- When did someone last give you an opinion when you wanted facts?
Try it tomorrow
- Practise a tally on 10 minutes of a colleague's lesson (or your own with a helper) before the real visit.
- Take any note you wrote last term and rewrite each judgement as a fact.
- Ask the host: 'What number would surprise you?' before you show the sheet.
Further reading and links
One lens, one tool, facts first: the host chooses a question about pupils, and the visitor records what can be counted or quoted.