Student Practice Reflection - Microteaching

     The time has finally come for me to start getting involved in the teaching process through microteaching. I was able to finish this portion after a couple of sessions. Instead of doing small tasks here and there, I was able to conduct or supervise four full lessons that were prepared either by my mentor or by my fellow practitioner. Thanks to the observations I felt like I was ready to take this challenge on and I am quite pleased with the results.

    The first microteaching I did was an English language introduction lesson to climate change vocabulary. This class was prepared by my fellow practitioner and even though it was my first time teaching, I thought it went very well. I utilized a presentation to explain new vocabulary, show example sentences and visuals that helped the learners understand the concepts. The class began with an introduction and a video on what climate change is to get everyone familiar with the theme. There were also practice exercises intertwined, such as looking at a picture of a house and finding things that are responsible for CO2 emissions. The lesson went very well, I felt like I was explaining the concepts well. The only issue was - I ran out of time. I was luckily able to discuss everything and the only thing I missed was a 'heads up' game to revise. I definitely needed to pick up the pace, but a lot of time was devoted to questions from kids. It was hard for me to say 'no' or move on without answering everyone, but it made me realize that this is a sacrifice that needs to happen. I will definitely be more mindful of time management from now on.

    The second microteaching was another English lesson about figures of speech - alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia. It was a lesson prepared by my mentor, which I previously saw him conduct. It felt good to have an example to go off having seen this lesson in action before. Once again, I felt like I did a good job explaining the concepts, interacting with the students, engaging them, but where I lacked was time management. This lesson occurred right after the vocabulary one, so I was not able to immediately adapt to the changes I wanted to implement. I was still too chatty with the students, answering every single question, letting everyone be involved in every single question. It pains me, because when I see students being active, I feel a responsibility to use that enthusiasm, but unfortunately, there is material to be taught. Even though I went overtime, I was still able to go over all the concepts, which matters the most. I was glad all the other aspects of the lesson went well, but once again, I knew that I needed to work on my time management. 

    The third microteaching lesson I conducted was me supervising a math project about CO2 emissions. This was a lesson that my colleague taught that ended with the beginning of the project, which I was able to take over during the next lesson. There was nothing for me to teach, but I was able to put a different skill to the test - supervising kids working in groups on a project. I actually quite enjoy math at the 4th grade level, so I found it fun advising the kids whenever they had issues. The project took the entire lesson, so there isn't much to write about, but I felt like I did a good job of assisting the groups without stepping on their toes. They were able to do the project themselves, but I was still there in case of any problems with understanding the assignments, calculations, or issues in group work. 

    The final, fourth microteaching was a very fun Friday lesson of social studies, which explained the concept of logos and slogans. Once again, the main resource used was a presentation. We started by doing a quiz on different brands and their logos and slogans. The kids had a lot of fun and seemed very engaged in the topic. Later we explained the two concepts, looked at examples, and the lesson finished with a fun project. The kids paired up and worked on a logo and slogan for an eco-friendly, green conference. Everything tied back to the global warming theme, which is the module they're working on right now, which was a great way to turn something that could seem trivial or just for fun into something that is very important. This was probably the most fun I had as a teacher, especially seeing how much fun the kids had with the topic. It was a very well thought out lesson and I hope to be able to emulate such excellence in my own lessons.

    In conclusion, my microteaching experience was a very positive one. I definitely had issues with time management, but I'm very proud how I handled everything else. I felt like the students understood me well, felt engaged, and related to me. I know what I need to work on for next time, but for now I'm celebrating a successful completion of yet another part of my student practice.