Micro-Teaching, Major Improvements - A Reflection, Wk. 10: REVISED

My lesson objective was for students to understand  modals 'need to' and 'have to' in expressions of necessity.  Specifically, students were to understand the degree of necessity to which each modal is applied.  I taught this lesson to a class in my academy prior to the MT presentation.  My real students responded well to the lesson and the teaching goal was accomplished.  However, there were some unexpected answers to one question that I posed and as a result this question was changed for my MT.  

"I need to drink water."

Normally in this class, instruction begins with some form of lesson preview.  I may ask students to look at the picture or title and predict what the lesson will be about.  This usual follows a short discussion that relates the topic to their personal experiences.  What follows is a reading of a passage and assessment via textbook questions and/or task.  Although, I was allowed to teach the modal lesson I still had to give a test on this day.  So, following the test, students were told that they were going to participate in a special lesson.  Then I went straight into the presentation, just as I would during the MT.  I always use my STG lesson plans in my real classes.  In doing so I am able to involve my students in new and interesting activities while gaining insight to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of my planning.

"It's urgent! I have to drink water!"

In my opinion, my second Micro-Teaching was a great improvement from my first MT effort.  During my first teaching I was nervous and it showed.  I looked uncomfortable and often stood with my hands folded in front of my chest.  My body language reflected uncertainty and the class responded with a lack of interests in my lesson.  Also, I did not use enough gestures, I spoke too often and I over-explained every instruction.  "Let's think about Chuseok...Let's answer these questions...I will be listening as you and your partner speak...I will ask you what your partner saw."  Too many of my words were unnecessary.  

In my second MT I was confident in my teaching and exact in my instruction.  Though I used my body by pointing, gesturing and acting, I feel that I could have been more animated during parts of the lesson.   When I showed a picture of a man whose mouth was on fire, students responded with interest.  If I were to teach this lesson again, I would act out the man's feelings with much exaggeration for better understanding of the target language. 

                                 


A significant improvement in my second MT was that I did not over-explain.  I, Tracie "Talks-too-much" West, did not over-explain!  When I wanted the students to do something, I used short, clear, comprehensive statements.  I was also allowing students to respond more often, limiting my T-talk by asking questions that were more open-ended like, "What do you see?" as opposed to "Does anyone know what this picture is?"  Through short open-ended questions, the class was able to provide a variety of responses and student interaction increased.  Simple instructions also made for better transitioning between activities.

Finally, utilizing the computer made a great difference in my second MT.   The large colorful drawings of my slide presentation immediately captured student interests and they were eager to comment.  I did not have to waste time taping pictures or walking around class with pictures that were not visible from the board.  During my first MT my back was sometimes facing students as they responded to questions.  My preoccupation with taping caused me to appear uninterested in student responses.   The convenience of the slides gave me more freedom to use my body in emphasizing meaning and more time to show interest in student contributions.  Although a few technical difficulties caused some moments of silence, I feel that overall my second MT went quite well and I am pleased with the what I was able to accomplish.

Student Written Role-Play, from wk. 9 MT LP