1. Seating arrangements - every teacher is so different, so you may find that each teacher you observe will have his or her class arranged a different way. You may even want to sketch out in your notebook what you see. Also, you may observe different student groupings - pairs, quads, etc. Pay attention to what kind of teaching is going on and how the students are grouped according to the activity. If you will be observing very young grades, such as Kindergarten and 1st grade, seating arrangements may be non-existent because the classroom may be more center-based, so look more at how the room is arranged into centers or different activity areas.

2. Procedures - spend a lot of time watching the various classroom procedures, this could be anything from how the students line up, enter the room, leave the room, how attendance is taken, passing out papers, handing papers in, sharpening pencils, asking a question, asking to go to the bathroom, etc. You can get so many cool ideas by just seeing what other teachers do. You can also see what is not working so well.

3. The Walls - you might be thinking, "what? look at the walls?" but what I mean is look at what is posted on the walls (in and out of the classroom). Look at the variety of posters and bulletin boards (more good ideas to jot down in a notebook). Look at where emergency information, menus, and other important information are posted. Does the teacher display student work? How so? How about rules, consequences, and rewards. And how about all the other things I have not even mentioned. Does the teacher have motivational posters up?

4. Outside the classroom - if at all possible, spend some time seeing what goes on outside of the classroom. I'm talking about lunchroom procedures, how children travel to various classes, what are the teachers doing during passing periods, recess or playground procedures, etc.

5. Learning materials - ask the teachers to look at some of the textbooks (including the teacher editions). You may not have had a chance to even see school textbooks yet, and you can really learn a lot by looking at what will be available to you. Many textbooks also come with a variety of specialized manuals, workbooks, or even technology (strategies for ELLs, test-making software, etc.). What is the teacher using and what are they not using and why? Also, what technology is the teacher using? Do you know how to use a document camera? Do they use a lot of technology or not?

6. Discipline methods - how does the teacher deal with discipline issues? What steps are taken when students don't follow the rules? How does the teacher document behavior issues? What rewards are used? How do the students respond to discipline and praise? Is what the teacher doing working?

The first rule of teaching is beg, borrow, and steal. This is one of the reasons you do observations - to see the variety of styles, methods, materials, etc. If you see something you like (or don't like) take special note of it. I might even suggest you start creating an "ideas book" or "file" for you to use when you are a teacher. You might even ask some of the teachers if you can take pictures of their rooms or something specific in the room that you liked (bulletin board, seating arrangment, etc.). I often do this in my own classroom to remember something I liked or something the kids liked.

Good luck! I hope this helps!