Teaching Observations
Record confidential notes about students during live lessons and track learning history.
Who this is for
Teachers conducting live lessons and Academic leads reviewing student learning progress.
What this page answers
- How do I take private notes about a student during a live lesson?
- How do observations work in 1:1 lessons versus group classes?
- Where do past notes live, and who can see them?
Prerequisites
- An active teacher account with assigned students or classes
What Are Teaching Observations?
Teaching Observations are confidential, staff-only notes you can write about a student's progress, speaking habits, grammar challenges, or personal interests.
Key benefits:
- Private and secure: Observations are strictly visible to school teaching staff and leadership. Students never see these notes, and they are never shared on live lesson whiteboards or student dashboards.
- Accessible during class: Take quick notes directly from the Notes pill on the live dock without switching browser tabs.
- Long-term memory: Notes are tied to the student's learning profile, building an ongoing record that helps you (or a colleague teaching a substitute class) understand how the student learns best.
Taking Notes During Live Lessons
During any live video lesson, look for the Notes pill positioned first on the live dock. It appears as a prominent filled pill displaying a notebook-with-pen icon, the text label "Notes", and a count badge for existing notes (collapsing to an icon pill on narrow mobile screens). While labeled simply "Notes" on the dock for quick access, it stores your confidential teaching observations:
In 1:1 Lessons
- Click the Notes pill first on the live dock.
- A flyout panel opens showing the student's name, recent past notes, and a note composer.
- Type your note (for example, "Struggling with irregular past tense verbs, practiced -ed endings").
- Click the round Send button (with a paper-plane send icon) located right inside the bottom-right corner of the text field, just like a chat message box. The note is saved immediately and automatically linked to the current lesson.
In Group Classes
When teaching a group class, keeping track of individual students is easy:
- Click the Notes pill first on the live dock.
- The panel displays an accordion list with every student present in the room, complete with their photo or avatar.
- Click any student's name to expand their personal note feed.
- Type your observation and submit it using the round Send button inside the bottom-right corner of the text box. The note is stored directly in that specific student's profile.
Viewing Student Notes in the Dossier & Subject Isolation
Outside of live classes, you can review and organize all past notes for any student:
- Click Classes in the sidebar, switch to the Students tab (
/platform/students), and open the student's profile. - Select the Observations tab.
- You will see a chronological feed of all past notes, who wrote them, and which lesson they were attached to.
Scoped by Teaching Subject
Observations are strictly partitioned by Teaching Subject:
- Subject Isolation: Notes recorded during Language Learning lessons appear exclusively in the student's language dossier. Notes taken during Mathematics lessons appear only in the math dossier.
- Cross-Subject Protection: Math instructors do not see grammar and accent observations, and language teachers focus strictly on language acquisition, keeping records clean, organized, and relevant.
You can also add standalone notes here that are not tied to a specific lesson—useful for recording conversations with parents, scheduling preferences, or long-term learning goals.
Authorship protection: Each observation clearly displays the teacher who wrote it. If a class is transferred to another teacher, historical notes remain credited to the teacher who originally wrote them.
Related pages
- Running Live Sessions for overall live lesson tools and controls
- Managing Enrollments for student profile details and learning plans
- Classes for managing class cohorts and rosters
Q&A
Can students see my observations?
No. Observations are completely confidential and accessible only to teachers, Academic leads, Operations admins, and Owners. They are never sent to students or displayed on student screens.
What happens to observations if a student changes teachers?
When a student is assigned to a new teacher, the new teacher can read past observations to maintain continuity. However, only the teacher who wrote a specific note can edit or delete it.
Can I edit a note after saving it?
Yes. On the student's Observations tab, hover over any note you authored and click the edit or delete icon.