QCR520 Blog Entry 6 - Microteaching Tips on
Teaching, Classroom Management and Planning
- 3 tips for teaching/ classroom management/ planning gleaned from microteaching
- Give specific examples from your own or other lesson observation
There is no
doubt that we, as a class, have been exposed to a number of really interesting
lessons, activities and tasks during the course of these past few weeks as we
have experienced microteaching session after microteaching session. Of course
everybody did a great job and I learnt a lot from each of you guys. It’s been a
humbling experience to know that there are so many great teachers out there and
I will be privileged enough to stand shoulder to shoulder in august ranks such
as these.
There is no
particular order or merit that I describe the following activities and
microteaching sessions that made an impact on me (this list is completely
personal and biased to my own preferences. I found these particular methods and
activities of especial use to my own teaching style and philosophy which I in
turn attempted to incorporate into my own lesson).
1.
Linking physical actions with a lesson on discrimination (Andrea)
This particular activity which Andrea carried
was interesting to me as it allowed me to understand how kinesthetic learning
can be carried out. Andrea’s division of students according to the areas where
they stayed at—which in turn determined who was able to remain seated on chairs
or had to be relegated to the floor—was such a simple but powerful activity.
Even now, I still remember vividly the notion of discrimination that she was
teaching.
This is due to the fact that the content she
was teaching was directly related to a physical action and motion. Her use of tying
a lesson to a physical action was the impetus that got me thinking of physical
actions and motions that I could incorporate into my own lesson as well. I
think there is a lot of value to be had from linking lessons and physical actions
in the classroom together. Students might not be able to understand concepts
just from reading it on paper. But simple physical practical activities that
get them off their seats and onto their feet (or in Andrea’s case off their
feet and onto their butts) might serve to teach a particular concept a lot more
effectively than just teaching from pen and paper.
Obviously a lot of thought must go into
creating a physical activity that is simple enough to carry out in the confines
of the classroom but will at the same time concretize the essence of message
that the lesson is attempting to communicate.
2.
Taking the time to explain, clarify
and solidify students’ concerns and questions (Kit and Jiamin)
I found Kit’s and Jiamin’s use of detailed and
clear instructions, of interest to myself, as a developing and learning
teacher. Kit placed a lot of emphasis and time explaining and laying the proper
guidelines for her lesson before she launched into the main activity itself.
But her continual return to the material that had been generated earlier
ensured a constant flow that made use of existing material while at the same
time ensuring students’ knowledge foundations were sturdy and concrete. (This
is in reference to the rather detailed mindmap that she came up with at the
start of her microteaching session).
This was true as well for Jiamin who taught—what
I thought was a rather hefty subject of metaphysics—a very difficult concept
but distilled into very manageable and learnable nuggets of wisdom. This goes
back to Mark’s lesson earlier today and the use of terms such as “dichotomies”
and “social stratification”. While I do agree that there is a place for the use
of such terms in the classroom, I think that it should be the other way around.
Just as Jiamin taught the concept of metaphysics by first relating it to more mundane
and prosaic examples before introducing the term of metaphysics itself, so too
do I think that we should first introduce the examples of how a more difficult
concept can be construed in more mundane events and ideas before the actual
technical term itself is introduced to students. This way, students will not be
daunted by grandiose, un-understandable words but will instead be firmly
acquainted with the use of the concept before they find out the word itself.
After all, I do believe that students do understand the meanings of dichotomies,
binaries and social stratification. It is just that they do not use technical terms
to understand those concepts.
So I think it is crucial here to provide the necessary
scaffolding (ugh I finally used that dirty word) to ensure a student’s understanding
of various concepts so that when the term is finally introduced to them, they
will not be intimidated by those terms.
3.
Role division amongst students (Shu
May)
Another useful tip which I attempted to
implement into my own microteaching session was Shu May’s use of role division
that she carried out in her own lesson. I thought the use of dividing students
into various roles was especially clever and innovative. I can see a lot of
applications for this sort of task and role division. It could even be possible
to make this a constant classroom activity where students must constantly
switch roles and fit in to different roles of speakers, presenters,
researchers, noise managers and time keepers. This will not only keep the lessons
fresh and engaging, it will also allow students to develop different skills
(public speaking, presentation skills, getting out of their comfort zones and
so on) while at the same time accomplishing the lesson goals and objectives.
This is such a great technique to tackle a
number of issues at once and inculcate a more holistic development in our
students as we engage and develop not only their academic subject content
mastery but soft skills such as leadership, self-discipline and public
speaking.
4.
Dramatization (Jodee, Pepper and
Liz)
Yes I’m well aware the stipulation for this
task was for 3 tips but I found the use of dramatization another technique that
warranted mention as well. While I still think students must first know the
text intimately, once they do, dramatization is very effective to get students
to be more critical and reflective about the way they understand the text.
As readers they may be just passive recipients
and consumers of the text but when students are forced to dramatize and perform
the play, they must make more critical choices about how to perform and
dramatize the various texts.
As Jodee, Pepper and Liz microteaching sessions
illustrated, by getting students to engage with the text and physically
dramatize it, they were able to make their respective texts more relevant and
immediate to us as learners. For example, it was only when Pepper got myself,
Jodee and Jason to act out the orange peeling scene from Fasting, Feasting that I realized the potential for satire and social
commentary that Desai had infused into her text. I think this goes back to the
earlier explanation of Andrea’s linkage between lesson content and physical
activity.
While you may understand a text theoretically,
it is only when you act it out physically that you adopt a more reflective,
critical mindset to dissect and understand a text more exhaustively.
This list
is of course by no means complete, there are a plethora of other activities and
lessons that I was privileged to witness and learn from but these several
techniques were those that stood out to me, and which I in turn attempted to implement
and apply to my own lesson. It has been a privilege to sup (as it were) at the
same table with you guys and Professor Loh so I’d like to take this opportunity
to thank all of you guys and to have an enjoyable vacation ahead as we start
gearing up for the start of the new semester ahead.
The three tips I picked up were the use of humour, use of physical artefacts in dramatisation and use of worksheets.
ReplyDelete1) Samuel's lesson demonstrated how humour is effective in capturing students' attention and it's something that interests me because I think my teaching style is a lot more serious and possibly drab. However, the use of humour can be a double-edged sword as well in the sense that it might actually distract students from what needs to be learnt. To be honest I'm not entirely sure if Samuel used humour in the best way to help students' learn because I don't quite remember the first half of his lesson very much, but I'm sure if we were his students, his humour would have endeared us to him.
2) I was impressed when Pepper actually brought an orange for her lesson for her "students" to use when dramatising the scene. I thought it was really useful to portray exactly what was happening especially for those who can't quite imagine or act.
3) A recurring comment throughout most lessons is the use of worksheet. It seems to me that worksheets would be most useful for students who are in the lower-end when it comes to concentration so that it keeps them on task. I didn't use any worksheets in my lesson beyond the excerpts from the novel and I think it's not so much the worksheet that's important but rather the skill of taking down notes that we need to teach. Melissa made a good point when she gave some of us a blank sheet while others a graphic organiser. If we are to teach students transferable skills, then we definitely can't allow them to depend on worksheets with grids and lines.
The three learning points that I have taken away from the microteaching sessions were clarity of learning objectives, intentionality in division of roles and the importance of having adequate scaffolding material (worksheets, excerpts etc.)
ReplyDelete1) An example of a lesson with clear learning objectives would be Ti Ying. Even though the basic idea was simple, but the way in which Ti Ying returned constantly and consistently to the idea of peer pressure helped to foreground it as an important thematic concern. The concept of peer pressure and its effects in the novel and in reality were brought across strongly as the lesson had very clear learning objectives and focus. This is true of many of the lessons that were presented during the microteaching session and it is definitely a skill that I need to work on.
2) The intentionality of roles is something that I learnt from many Shu May, Kit and Damian's microteaching. Shu May's lesson involved students very intentionally and purposefully through the deliberate allocation of roles and viewpoints. Kit's use of the negotiator and Damian's use of the "secret envelope" not only made the lessons fun, but it provoke students to work better collaboratively.This authoritative style of teaching helps ensure that no one is left out or left behind in class discussion. It also forces students to take and defend perspectives that they otherwise might not agree with (e.g. the debate in Shu May's lesson) which helps them to consider the validity of alternative viewpoints, developing criticality and depth of argument.
3)The importance of having adequate and appropriate scaffolding material is also demonstrated in many of my classmates' lessons. For example, Xin Hui's lesson demonstrates how a class of lower/ mixed ability can be guided to understand a complex idea such as the representation of historical trauma through the guiding questions in the worksheet. The worksheet was detailed and asked simple questions which lower-ability students are able to cope with, but it ultimately leads them to understand a complex concept, pushing them to read the text and thematic concerns with more depth. Apart from worksheets, many other methods (ICT and non-ICT) can be used to help students organize new ideas and concepts which we can continue to explore.
The series of microteaching sessions has really brought forth plenty of interesting ideas and teaching methods, but the three learning points that struck me the most are the use of personal anecdotes to effectively open a lesson, the assignment of roles to students for debates/general discussions, and dramatisation for snippets of text.
ReplyDelete1) The use of personal anecdotes to open a lesson engages students sufficiently and effectively by capturing their attention and focusing their minds on the topic of the day. I felt that Brennan’s lesson did that very well, when he introduced the concept of racism through a concrete example – by recounting what had happened to him and his girlfriend, he had effectively captured our attention for it grounded the concept of racism (which might be a mere idea/concept for some students) in the context of day-to-day reality. By sharing with our students a relevant anecdote from our lives, we engage them not only on an academic level but on a personal level as well.
2) The assignment of roles for students was seen in Kit, Shu May, Damien, and Wee Kiat’s lessons. I thought it was a very useful strategy as the designation of roles structured the group discussion in ways that a regular discussion (sans roles) could not be. The appointment of students as “spokespersons”, “scribes”, “negotiators”, “noise managers” etc, gave students a sense of agency and responsibility, as they embark upon the discussion with these roles that have been assigned to them. It helps keep the discussion on track and further deepens the level of discussion, especially with the role of the “negotiator”, which was a particularly clever idea, I thought. Having appointed spokespersons for the teams also enabled Shu May and Wee Kiat’s lessons to flow better as they employed the use of the debate format, the nature of which is to encourage discussion, and the appointment of several students as spokesperson allowed the gradual transition from the key speaker/debater to the floor (giving almost every student a chance to speak, which is especially important in a literature classroom).
3) Dramatisation is an engaging and fun way for students to learn more about texts. The use of drama for the teaching of prose was an interesting experience in both Jodee and Pepper’s lessons, for it allowed students to not only experience the emotions of the characters they were inhabiting in speech and/or action at that particular moment, but it also draws students deeper into the dynamics of the characters’ relationships, as they interact with one another, playing off each other’s lines and tone. I found the re-enactment of a key scene in Fasting, Feasting, in Pepper’s lesson, very interesting for it provides strong visual reinforcement of the dynamics between Uma, Papa, and Mama. Not to mention, the teaching of the drama texts, where Liz had Wee Kiat and Priya acting out the roles in Emily of Emerald Hill, reinforced dramatisation of texts as a very fun experience. Allowing students to engage in texts while at the same time having a enriching, fun learning experience is important to me, and I can see how the incorporation of drama is a good way to achieve that.
The three tips I picked up from the microteaching sessions were:
ReplyDelete1) Scaffolding: Xinhui demonstrated ways to interact and handle the class which I found very useful. By getting students to write whatever has been gone through in class and tell them specifically what they should write (instead of letting them write whatever they want), students would get a better idea of what is expected of them and what they should look out for. Also, getting students to fill in the worksheet would encourage the students to pay attention in class, and ensure that no one gets left behind/everyone is on the same page. This strategy would be very useful if I am working with a lower ability or lower secondary class.
2) Humour: Samuel’s lesson was very enjoyable because of the humour injected. Like Kit, I am not sure if I learnt much during the lesson, but it was memorable and enjoyable, and as a student I would very much like to have a teacher who makes lessons fun. Perhaps a balance could be struck between being humorous and getting students to learn. It will not be easy, but if one manages to do that, lessons would be fun and enjoyable while enabling students to learn.
3) Interesting pre-activity: I like Andrea’s activity on discrimination, where she got people who lived in random places in Singapore to sit on the floor, asking us to consider the fairness of this notion. Perhaps it could have been better scaffolded/framed, but I thought that the concept was fresh and effective as a platform for students to consider the notion of discrimination and fairness. This method would cater to students who prefer to be physically active as they get to be physically involved in the activity. Students’ interest in the lesson would be aroused as well, as it is an unconventional way of conducting a pre-activity.
First of all, I must say that I completely agree with the posts above, and a lot of what I say is going to be pretty similar. But here are my three points:
ReplyDelete1. Dramatization - I felt that the dramatization used during the microteaching sessions were really useful for students who cannot are less imaginative when they are reading. Initially, due to really horrible experiences of dramatization as an assessment method in Secondary School, I was quite adamant about not using dramatization in class (yes, I know, so horrible - but I was a shy kid and obviously my grade suffered for my lack of enthusiasm for that particular assignment). But after the entire microteaching experience, I'm starting to see a lot of value in using dramatization - especially when it is not used for assessment. For example, I really enjoyed Jodee's class when every group did a dramatic reading of the passage. It really does help hearing classmates animate the text and I feel that the value of this will be much greatly enhanced for students who are unable to imagine/visualize characters. Liz's dramatization was useful too, especially since she was trying to get students to understand and debate about gender performativity - in addition, Wee Kiat makes a very entertaining lady. (:
Of course, Pepper's use of dramatization was very interesting as well, especially when she took out an orange as a prop. I feel that the use of props have a lot of potential to engage the students since it really isn't everyday when teachers walk in with a seemingly unrelated object in hand!
2. Being firm, but still maintaining an approachable aura (My memory is quite terrible so I apologize for quoting examples that are fairly recent.) - Throughout the microteaching, I observed that successful lessons very often are conducted in an atmosphere where the teacher is firm but still maintain strong rapport with the students. For example, I felt that Mark, Brennan, Jiamin, Liz etc (there's too many) managed to keep the vibe really comfortable but at the same time ensure that nonsense isn't tolerated in class (I know because I would've tried to make very irrelevant comments, in every class. Again, I apologize.) - and I think that this is something that would encourage students to learn and contribute to learning. As mentioned by Jiamin already, Brennan's use of personal anecdote made me really want to pay attention to his lesson and at the same time, remind me that my teacher is also a human being who goes shopping in Orchard Road!
3. A last thing I learnt from all the microteaching is the use of relevant and engaging pre-activity. Ranging from Weekiat's funny video to Pepper's use of food-related situations to Andrea's physical "maneuvering" of students, I feel that the pre-activities that the class have each chosen helped to not just hype up the students but also plant something in the students' brains for them to think about. I also like how most of us explained the relevance of the pre-activity we used as I feel that it helps the students to contextualize the class even more.
Hi all, I really regret not being able to make it for the final day when the last microteaching sessions were held. I'm sure I missed a ton, which is a real shame but regardless, here are my microteaching reflections:
ReplyDelete1) Scaffolding: Watching Tiying's lesson was a real eye opener for me. Coming from "good schools" all my life, I never had to consider the importance and necessity of scaffolding in classes, especially for NA or NT students. I felt that Tiying's patience and manner is very stable and comforting for students who might be having trouble with the subject. She did not condescend the students but gave them plenty of time and assistance which is quite amazing. I wish I had a Maths teacher like her when I was in Sec school.
2) Manner: I might not be very old but as a mum of 2 kids and ex-preschool drama teacher, I find myself sometimes lapsing into a sort of "motherly" (ie "nagging") tone of voice when I speak to students. While this might be quite nice coming from a middle aged female teacher who could remind students of their own mums, it might come off strange and twisted coming from me. As such, I found that Brennan has a good way of throwing in some personality when interacting with students without bringing with it any "baggage" like sounding too much like a dad or a big brother, or worse, a classmate (yikes). He was still their teacher and the way he balanced that is something to emulate.
3) Grouping: As with the other comments before, I found Shu May's intentional grouping expertly executed and very useful for certain classrooms. I was so impressed that I used it for my own microteaching (thanks May!) Nonetheless, I found the way she did it a real learning point for me and definitely something I can keep in mind for future use.
4) Contextualizing: While in some ways, I found contextualizing materials to make them familiar to students immensely useful, the ways in which that was done could be quite confounding at times. I often wondered if localizing a concept is the best way to do it or if there was a way to steep the students in the environment of the material instead. If so, how should I do it? That's why Andrea and Damien's lessons were very useful in this sense. Andrea's pre-activity about discrimination literally localized segregation and made it extremely easy to understand. Damien's secret notes and UN panel discussion thing on the other hand, steeped the student in the environment of the book quite effectively. Both introduced discrimination in very different ways and worked very well.
Have a great holiday everyone! See y'all next year!
(PART ONE)
ReplyDelete1. Value of using relevant/ appropriate multimodal teaching material
I’ve always been somewhat wary of the way we are relentlessly urged to use some form of ICT in our lessons – I fear that this might lead to student teachers feeling compelled to use ICT for the sake of it, and not because a particular ICT tool can indeed enhance the students’ appreciation and understanding of a text (I’d labored this point a little in my Multimodality blog post as well). So it was a pleasant experience to be in a class where multimodal tools were used wisely and succeeded, in my opinion, in deepening the students’ understanding of the text.
I refer to Xin Hui’s lesson on The Boy in The Striped Byjamas. Xin Hui’s lesson got the students to think about how the author had represented the gas chamber episode in the ending of the novel, and what emotions such a representation would achieve. She offered students alternative representations – by screening the YouTube videos Auschwitz: The Nazi and the Final Solution -- Episode 4: Corruption and World War II in Color - Inside Treblink.
Xin Hui provided adequate scaffolding as well when getting students to compare and contrast the videos’ representation with the novel’s representation. She provided a worksheet which had questions like whether the novel or videos focused on individual characters, whether there was any mentioned of victims being clothed when in the gas chamber, whether there were any bodies shown/ mentioned. I thought these were good scaffolding questions that guided me in my evaluation of how the gas chamber scenes were portrayed, and the emotional impact that such portrayal evoked. Xin Hui constantly referred back to details in the videos during the lesson, and her using of the videos was certainly not contrived. This was, I felt, a good example of how using film can be used to discuss how and why an author represents events the way he does.
(PART TWO)
ReplyDelete2. Establishing rapport with the students
I tend to think that some teachers are simply just better at establishing rapport with students than other teachers are. I don’t really know where I fall in this spectrum of zero-rapport (ihatethisteacheriwillnotparticipate) and great-rapport (ilovethisteacherilovehislessons), but I certainly witnessed examples of how a teacher’s mannerisms and attitude towards students can help establish rapport with the students.
Brennan’s lesson on Merchant of Venice comes to mind. He started off the lesson by relating a personal experience (an example of discrimination by a CD shop salesperson). It was engaging because it was personal – students are inevitably curious about what goes on with their teacher outside of class – and at the same time, Brennan used the example to illustrate what discrimination entailed. It was a real-life scenario that students could relate to, and made the concept of discrimination much easier for the students to comprehend.
Also, Brennan’s task for the students was designed in such a way that students were made to feel, I think, rather important. They were not simply carrying out a debate in class – they were Attorneys and Prosecutors. This was a Normal Academic N(A) class, and there is a tendency for teachers of N(A) classes to talk down to students instead of challenging them. By getting his students to step into the roles of Attorneys and Prosecutors, and giving them a client (albeit a Shakespearean one) to defend, it can be said that Brennan’s task actually raises the students’ self-esteem by making them feel that they are tasked with something important. He didn’t avoid using the terms “attorney” and “prosecutor”, but instead, explained the terms clearly. He challenged his students appropriately, he respected them, and I think this does contribute to establishing this ineffable rapport with a class!
3. Role-assigned groupwork
This may come as a surprise, but this technique of getting students to assign themselves roles during groupwork is something new to me. Several lessons – Shu May’s and Mark’s lessons for instance –made use of this technique and students were instructed to appoint scribes, presenters etc within their groups. I thought this technique worked well and group discussions were made productive because students were aware that they would be making things difficult for the presenter/ group leader/ scribes if their discussions yielded nothing productive. Having scribes within the group also forces the group to formulate their thoughts in clear and (hopefully) precise words. I would indeed like to test this technique in my lessons in future!
3 tips for teaching that I have gleaned from my learned classmates:
ReplyDelete1. "A video is not always necessary"--or "How to introduce a lesson well"
I think in particular of Andrea's lesson, which ranks as one of the best in my mind, which introduced the idea of discrimination (with its injustice and arbitrary categorisation) through a simple MRT activity which was effective and quick to conduct. I have been under the (false) impression (through no fault of others' but mine and mine alone) that a video is Important, nay, Necessary, to "hook" (why not "bait"?) our students (because "bait" has Unsavoury Connotations Especially in Current Climate). In my use of videos for introductory activities, however, I have found it difficult to justify its strength of relation to my main activities, and there were also one or two occasions where the video ended up being a distraction. I guess in the effort and yearning to open a lesson well, one sometimes gets sidetracked.
Another example would be Brennan's opening his lesson with a story of a visit by him and his girlfriend to a music shop -- another example of discrimination, when he contrasted how they were treated against the treatment of two blonde girls. It was an engaging opening, and relevant to the issue to be discussed for "Merchant of Venice".
2. Managing a class--or "How not to be mangered by one"
I saw different styles of managing a class, many of which I would like to adopt. I can only recall one incident of yelling, and directed at one student. The rest managed with more sophistication. I remember Kit's rhythmic and hypnotic hand gestures, matched with the incantation "class, me; class, me" (or equivalent), drawing our attention most effectively. I remember Xinhui's hyper-alertness to individual attentiveness and progress in class -- it will be difficult to slack off in her class. Then there was Brennan's high-energy engagement of the class, including kinetic activities, and routine hollering, "OI CLASS" -- different from yelling, may I add, because he used it not out of rage and exasperation but as a refrain to structure the cacophony of the class into the sweet music of obedience.
3. Managing a discussion--or discussion without digression
I think here especially of Mark's lesson, and of his timely eluding of what could have become a tricky, thorny, tangential tirade on gender/feminist issues. Not to say that said issues are unimportant or to be glossed over, but that his lesson's focus would have been violently wrestled out of his hands. Wee Kiat did likewise, by censoring (MY) contributions for the idea of "Marriage" (it's ok WK, I forgive you) that were not in alignment with the focus he was driving the class towards. Again, had he not managed the discussion well, precious minutes would have dripped by. I think of these examples because I have a tendency to digress in my teaching or to make, as one classmate kindly put it, "asides to [my]self". Mea culpa. I will try to be better.
Thank you, my dear classmates and Dr. Loh, for a wonderful semester in this module.
3 General Tips (mainly from the last session of micro-teaching, because I have a terrible memory):
ReplyDelete1. Be Yourself (unless you're a really nasty person, in which case Meranti will solve all your problems).
I thought that the most effective teachers were the ones who were comfortable in their own skins, and let their personalities come through. Previous posters have mentioned, for instance, Sam's use of humour, and Brennan's personableness, but these work because they didn't come across as trying too hard. While all of us (seem to) admire their easy rapport with the class, I don't think that those of us to whom these interaction styles come less easily need to despair, because students can come to appreciate varying styles of teaching. Also, students can sense inauthenticity like sharks smell blood in the water, and depending on how restless they are, are equally likely to move in for the kill. Being genuine and earnest should suffice. Let the Fates handle the rest.
2. Be Prepared (à la the Guides and Scouts).
Murphy's Law dictates that your slides/videos/audio clips/web links will fail to load correctly on the day you are being observed. I think most of us managed to sidestep this particular tragedy by loading the aforementioned items or even downloading them (within questionable legal limits) beforehand. A little Worst Case Scenario planning never hurt anyone.
3. Be Flexible (while keeping the Big Picture in mind).
A comment which came up several times, especially in the earlier sessions, was that it would have been better to let one group present, address that presentation thoroughly, and then push the other presentations to the next lesson if the teacher were running out of time following group discussions, instead of attempting to rush through all the presentations within the last five minutes. This means that we will probably have to schedule in some sort of buffer into our unit or even lesson plans, to allow for such spillover, since it is much better to devote time to addressing questions which crop up, as immediately as possible, instead of insisting on sticking to a pre-determined lesson plan which may not, in fact, be addressing current needs. One caveat is that if we happen to have CTs who insist on our following the submitted lesson plans to the letter, we will have to do so, at least during our practicum.
Also, students tend to know when teachers are looking for a specific answer (as I am required to give examples, I'm afraid I will have to cite Jiamin's metaphysical painting example here), and may face some level of distress or unease if they are unable to hit upon that answer, being faced with the visible disappointment of the teacher. Playing the "guess what the teacher is thinking of" game can be less fun for the students than the teacher, especially if the teacher does it all the time (but Jiamin only did it once, and later kept the discussion very open-ended, so I am really only referring to the tuning-in activity).
3 tips from our collective micro-teaching experience:
ReplyDelete1) Use ICT sparingly: I think it has become a habit for us/beginning teachers to incorporate ICT as much as possible into our lesson plans, but we all know how reliable that is when it's time to actually use it effectively. Most of the time, it's a miss rather than a hit, but I think Xin Hui's micro-teaching was a good lesson on how videos can be used effectively in class. The fact that her main activity relies on the videos and a worksheet that the students have to fill in was a good way of engaging the students. I noticed that the 'students' were all paying attention and writing down the answers diligently. I feel that the overall lesson would be quite effective in the real classroom, because it was interesting (the video certainly helped) and well-paced.
2) Dramatisation: I think it was Jodee/Pepper/Liz who used this? I think this is a really good way to make the lesson interesting for students, especially for the lower sec kids who would be more willing to participate in some form of acting. I'd like to think of exposing them to drama using the excerpts from the text as a kind of visual word splash; sometimes students can't really imagine what the characters in the text are feeling unless they actually see it being carried out.
3) Defining key words for students: Jia Min had the uphill task of enlightening her students about metaphysical hunger, and Rachel or Jodee (I can't remember, sorry!) also had the students to define a couple of words that were part of the objective of the lesson. I think this is a useful pre-activity for lessons, because it helps to engage the students' prior knowledge. During one of the micro-teaching sessions, my group actually couldn't come to a proper consensus on the definition of some words. Then I realised that it could actually be another way of generating ideas for group discussion as well. At the very least, I think we should make sure that the students understand the concepts that we want to go through during the lesson so that they don't get all confused after that.
1. Mapping out lesson objectives and tasks for the students at the start of a lesson is a good strategy to help them organise their learning.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I could observe, the microteaching sessions which laid out the objectives of the lesson explicitly at the start were easier to follow in that there were clear objectives to be met. As such, I could more easily link what was being taught to the broader lesson objectives. It gave the lesson direction. Wee Kiat’s lesson, for example, clearly showed that he was examining motives behind marriage. Andrea’s object lesson definitely helped us get on track with the discussion on discrimination. On the other hand, if a teacher dove into the material without showing students where he or she was going with it, or changed the objectives halfway through the lesson, as I did in my microteaching, it was detrimental to student understanding.
2. Worksheets are powerful when properly planned and executed.
During the course of microteachings, I saw a few very well made worksheets, such as Jason’s and Xinhui’s. Some of these worksheets really carry the lesson as they help students organise their learning and thinking. It acts as a communication multiplier by enhancing the teacher’s spoken material with further written instructions and structure. Some questions are best written down as they are complex and take time to think through, and students would be lost if these questions were only verbally communicated or flashed briefly on a powerpoint screen. At the same time, effective and clear instruction as to what teachers expect students to do with their worksheets is highly important. Some of the effectiveness of Jason’s well-crafted worksheet was lost on us highly comatose students, who didn’t receive the instructions as well as we should have. This led us to take more time to comprehend what was needed of us. As much as it is our fault as students, sometimes a teacher will need to slow down based on the energy level of the class, and bend over backwards by giving clear and simple instructions repeatedly for students to make the most of a teaching tool such as a worksheet.
3. Kinesthetic activities help students engage a lesson and learn.
Students are by far the most engaged when challenged with an appealing task. Some of these included the debates organised by Brennan and Shu May, while others incorporated drama such as Liz. By giving students a central role in their own learning and a chance to get out of their chair, motivation increased ten-fold. Some students are also very entertaining to watch as a break from a lesson, such as Wee Kiat getting into a female character. It makes learning enjoyable and transfers a sense of ownership to the students.