Please post about: (1) 3 tips for teaching/ classroom management/ planning gleaned from microteaching. (2) Give specific examples from your own or other lesson observation.
(1) Assignment of Roles During Group Work
This was a strategy "pioneered" (at least in terms of our class) by Shu May, and also used by several other of my classmates. While it didn't seem like much to me at first, and I remember wondering why she was trying to do it, I felt later on that it did in fact have an effect in keeping students engaged and involved especially if students remind each other of their roles ("oi, you're supposed to keep noise down!"). This will be especially relevant when you have groups with stronger students, as will be the case in any class. In classes with less motivated students, they might just leave all the work to the strongest student (like how we make Wee Kiat do work) and then refuse to participate in the class. Having this system whereby everyone has a role to play will keep them all engaged when they otherwise might have drifted away.
However, if I could also add my 2¢-worth to the discussion, I feel that the "noise control guy" is perhaps a bit superfluous. While noise levels should be kept low enough not to distract others, it might leave the student assigned "noise control guy" a little bit adrift of the rest of the group, because he/she does not have other "responsibilities". In the activities amongst different teachers who used this method, I found myself more engaged if I was set a substantive task. Also, I feel that the presenter should not be pre-assigned, for this again gives rise to the temptation for the presenter to work doubly hard while the rest of the group slacks off. Having the students know that any one of them could be called to present should leave them more engaged.
(2) Get Them Moving
Andrea's lesson was the first amongst everyone of us, and till date still the most memorable for me. I have seen some teachers getting students to stand up and do stretching, and a Senior Teacher at my ESE School actually played a mini musical-chairs game when he found that the students were threatening to doze off in the afternoon heat. Having the students move around, even if just to shift seats, potentially perks a sleepy class up a little, but when a fun activity forcing students to move about is tied in together with the actual learning itself then the learning that takes place becomes something that is very powerful. I still remember exactly what about discrimination she was teaching that day, and it is these lessons that students will remember. Furthermore, it was succinct and did not take up too much time, unlike some fun activities that may take an entire lesson to complete.
I am hoping that I will be able to incorporate this into my teaching, even if at this point I cannot really figure out how it could have been used in my own lesson.
(3) Injection of Nonsensical Stuff/Distractions/Fillers Within Lessons
Much was said about Samuel's laid-back style, Mark's use of Ris Low and the badly-photoshopped tablet threatening castration upon inattentive students, and I will also include my own use of the Gangnam Style video in this list. Much as we would like our students to be fully attentive and ready to absorb new and profound knowledge from our wise selves, I think that might be hard to expect from most students – even the ones with the highest ability. Students get distracted, tired, sleepy or chatty – basically hard to manage – for a variety of reasons.
As such, I do personally feel that it is good for the lesson to be peppered with little distractions here and there – be it jokes, a funny picture or video. This will definitely help to recapture the students' attentions and get them onside for the remainder of the lesson. I personally made use of 9GAG Internet memes when teaching lower-sec students, littering them over some of my Powerpoint slides and getting them to respond/copy whenever they see one particular meme. In addition, it is a habit of mine to try and find a funny video or picture and try to relate to the lesson, as I have done (albeit not too connectedly, according to Dr. Loh's feedback) and as Mark had done too with the Ris Low part. I definitely am of the opinion that students remember the funny lessons best, and this will only aid their learning.
No comments:
Post a Comment