A Reflection on My Microteaching

One of the objectives of my lesson plan was to familiarize my students with five lexical items related to sickness and I believe I managed to realize this objective more or less.

 My approach was mainly indirect since I did not present the target language content but rather gave them the chance to induce it by themselves (Borich 2007). I could have extended the items by asking for more examples and even non examples about other kinds of sicknesses which students were familiar with thus extending their prior knowledge further.

I made sure students pronounced the lexical items properly that they saw a written account of them. Here I should have kept the cue cards with the students or simply used the white board to provide a written account.

 The staging of my lesson is logical. . My reminder of the previous lesson could have been more creative. My lead in was well managed and I was able to generate interest in the theme of sickness. I could have extended my act of being sick by adding more authentic accessories (tissues, a hat, louder coughs) 

I purposefully had a horseshoe seating arrangement since it allows better back and front monitoring as well as better group chances .My interaction patterns were varied (individual, group work).

My timing was not bad assuming that I was teaching pre-intermediate students. Still, even if these were my colleagues in class I could have thought of ways to extend the timing to reach 20 minutes. However, I made sure that my students took their time throughout each task.

 

My anticipated question about the possible confusion between a cold and the flu was right there as it was planned for and luckily my proposed solution made me ready with an answer. I could have broadened the range of my anticipated questions and proposed solutions a bit more though.

The first slide of my power point presentation intended to displace two of the answers to encourage students (in groups) to call attention to the appropriateness of their answers.

I believe my classroom lesson presentation was good since I made sure I maintained eye contact, included everybody, provided smooth transitions, and kept the class enthusiastic (though communicative tasks accompanied with music).

 

 

Microteaching lesson plan (1)

Microteaching 1




Name: Ghady Samir                                                                                            Time: 60 minutes

Level: pre-intermediate                                                                                   Date:  26-11-2012

Main Aim(s)

By the end of this lesson: a.       Students will extend their knowledge of five lexical items related to illnesses. b.       Students will develop their listening comprehension through the context of doctor/patient conversation. c.       Students will develop their speaking skills and use the vocabulary they learned through a doctor- patient role play.

Subsidiary Aim (s)

Students will familiarize with some phrases used by the patient and the doctor and use them in their role play.

Materials

Headway 2 Oxford 2010 (second Edition ) p. 65 section: Everyday English (At the doctor’s) / CD/ Flashcards

Assumptions:

SS are familiar with the terms (doctor-prescription-clinic-patient-medicine) given on a previous reading of the same unit.

Anticipated Problems:

Possible Problems	Proposed Solutions
Students might confuse the vocabulary word ‘flu’ with ‘a cold	Make sure the difference between the two words is highlighted.

Stages	Time	Int. Mode	Procedures	Aims
SS Reminder Lead in (sneeze/cough dictation) Present Target Language (vocabulary) Practice (hot seat)	1 5 3 3 8	OC GW OC GW	Remind SS of previous lesson (keep healthy) and introduce today’s lesson (sickness) Tell SS that I am sick and I have to give them a small dictation. SS have to put a blank if I sneezed or coughed during the dictation Give SS word/picture cards to help them fill in the missing blank. Feedback: PP presentation Divide SS into two teams One SS from each team faces his/her team-back to the board T writes vocab word at the board Sitting team member helps standing team member guess the word without saying it.	Connect previous lesson with the present lesson Generate students’ interest in the lesson’s theme   about sickness. Present target language (vocab) SS compare answers Revise /check SS comprehension of the target vocabulary
Listening	5 5 5   5	OC S OC PW	Introduce the pic of Manual with the doctor and ask SS to predict what his sickness is. SS listen for a first time to check predictions Introduce comprehension questions and SS listen another time to answer the Qs. SS are given a doctor-patient dialogue with missing phrases from the listening. SS fill in the blanks with the common phrases.	Generate interest in listening and predict the content. SS check predictions and listen for a general idea. SS listen for details
Role Play Follow on	5 10 3 2	PW OC	Divide SS into pairs One SS takes the part of a doctor and the other of a patient SS rehearse together what they have to say SS present their dialogues open class/final content and language feedback Student assignment: write a paragraph describing a day you were sick and what happened.	SS use their vocabulary and phrases to have a doctor-patient conversation. Provide a close up for the lesson and highlight general errors

  Appendix

Sneezing Dictation

I had a bad weekend. On Saturday I had a ………. So I couldn’t swallow and a temperature because of the ………. I also fell down and had a ………. So I couldn’t walk. On Sunday, I ate bad fish and had ………. Today I am sneezing I think I have a ……….

*sore throat  flu  twisted ankle   food poisoning   cold

Comprehension Questions

a.       What are Manual’s symptoms?

b.      What is the doctor’s diagnosis?

c.       What advice does she give him?

d.      What does she prescribe?

Doctor-Patient Dialogue

have a look feel terrible get some rest and take it easy fill in the prescription

 

P:   I …………………………… I have a bit of a temperature.

D:   Let me ………………………………. Do you have a sore throat?

P:   No but my body aches all over.

D:   It must be the flu. Take this medicine twice a day and make sure you ……………………….

P:   Where do I …………………………………..

Reflection-Indirect Instruction

The teacher does not begin her class with an advance organizer of the whole lesson, but through her lead in (I’m planning for a classroom party. How can I figure out the classroom’s favorite jelly bean?), she provides the students with an idea on what is going on in the lesson, and later she provides the student with a chart to use as a visual. The teacher uses induction by selecting the event of a classroom party and students’ favorite jell beans to later establish the abstract concepts of charting, subtraction, and addition. However, it is noticeable that she does not provide the class with examples or non- examples in any stage of her lesson, but she asks a lot of questions to guide the students’ discovery process (How can I figure out the classes’ favorite jelly bean? Do you have any other ideas?) Through her questions, she probes students to come up with the concept of a chart (How can we organize the information we have so we can look at it as a group?) and later with the concept of subtraction (How many more people likes green than red?) and also addition (How many people participated in voting?). The teacher gives the students the full responsibility of their learning. She probes students, pauses to allow students to think, and then nominates them for answers. In order to foster deeper understanding of the concepts, she asks students to come with their own problems individually. She does not give direct feedback. Instead, she makes them evaluate their own answer in case they want to change it i.e. the teacher asks a student a subtraction question. The student adds instead. The teacher delays feedback and probes the student into changing her mind to realize, herself, that she needs to subtract instead of add. She checks for her understanding of the process by asking her how she came to that answer.  As well as this, the teacher builds on students’ answer for information i.e. she asks a student and waits for an answer; she asks another student to build on his/her friend’s answer and so on (Can you add to that Josh?). Finally, the teacher summarizes to the class what had been done.

Even though she does not apply all the strategies of indirect instruction, I think that the ones she uses are sufficient to reach the lesson’s objective by relating to the students experimentation with jelly beans and boosting their critical thinking concerning classification, charting, adding and subtraction. She shows creativity in using realia and visuals. The teacher is helpful throughout the lesson. she encourages group as well as individual work. I think she could use peer and group answer check before open class check in order to increase students' self confidence in their answers and to give a chance for everybody to participate. All in all it was a job well done.

Lesson Plan

          Teacher: Ghady Samir                                                                                   Date October 29^th, 2012

          Level: MA students                                                                                         Length: 60 min

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to :

a. Identify the two aspects of instructional objectives and their respective elements in a reading text.
b. Construct an objective to an already made lesson plan while applying these two aspects.

Evidence

If by the end of this lesson, students are able to apply the two aspects of instructional objectives successfully in their construction of lesson plan objectives.

Personal Aims

I will work on my instruction skills: give instructions clearly and make sure students have understood each task

 

Materials

Reading text: Type of Teacher Planning/ Burden, P. and Byrd, D. (1999) pages 66-74

cue cards

lesson plan designed by me

 Assumptions and Anticipated Problems

            Assumptions:

Students are already familiar with lesson plan construction or have at least seen sample lesson plans.

             Anticipated Problems:

Possible Problems	Proposed Solutions
Language Issues: The reading task is only to be skimmed but SS might end up reading it word by word and consuming more than the allotted time for the task.	Remind students that they only have certain time limits to finish the reading task and the best way is through skimming through the text.

Stages	Time	Int. Mode	Procedures	Aims
Lead in	5 min	OC	·         What is the most important part of a lesson plan? ·         SS discussion	To generate students’ interest and prior knowledge
Set reading task Activity 1 skimming Activity 2 vocab	10 min 15 min 15 min	OC S PW  OC GW OC	·         Introduce the term objective and go over definition p.66 ·         Introduce the two aspects of Instructional objectives : Stating the objective and the objective’s learning domains (Blooms Taxonomy) ·         Students skim the text and summarize basic definitions and components of each aspect ·         In pairs SS discuss information in the text ·         Feedback: group discussion ·         Divide SS into three groups ·         Give each group cue cards (appendix A) with illustrative verbs and encourage them to categorize them according to cognitive, affective, or psychomotor domains. ·         Open class feedback	Familiarize SS with basic terminology in the text Develop SS skimming skills Students share information Encourage SS to pay close attention to illustrative verbs in the text.
Follow on (Assessment)	15 min	S OC	·         Handouts: lesson plans with the objective section missing (appendix B) ·         Students construct an objective for the lesson ·         Open class feedback	SS apply the two aspects in creating instructional objectives

                                                     Appendix A: Cue Cards

           Cognitive Domain                       Affective Domain              Psychomotor Domain

Defines	Gives	Blinks
Changes	Holds	Walks
Breaks down	Completes	Coordinates
Categorizes	Arranges	Moves
Summarizes	Acts	Draws

                                                       Appendix B: Lesson Plan

               Objective:   ??

Stages	Time	Int. Mode	Procedures	Aims
Lead in	5 min	OC	-Introduce Inspector Gadget’s picture and ask Ss about him -Introduce video then refer to Sherlock Holmes	-Activate Ss schemata -Generate interest in the topic of inspectors
Gist Reading	2 1 2	C OC	-Students skim the text silently -Feedback: what is the main idea?	-Students develop their skimming skills when reading a text
Detailed Reading Follow on: Writing	3 2 9 15 5	PW S OS	-Ss are divided into 3 pairs & each pair reads a part of the story (3 parts) -each pair retells its part -Students all sit in a big circle and each pair retells their part to the whole group  -students write a paragraph (8-10 sentences) in which they predict the suspect and justify their choice Stick students paragraphs on the board, have Ss walk over and check each one paragraph -Discuss the provided answers	-check students comprehension of the story -boost Ss confidence -Wrap up writing Task - check students’ abilities to write a topic sentence and supporting details in a form of a paragraph