My second micro-teaching lesson was mainly a mixture of receptive
skills (reading/listening) followed by a productive skill (speaking). The
lesson includes a number of elements relevant to indirect instruction.
The lesson started out with an attempt to relate to students
prior knowledge by asking them about “Arial the Mermaid” as well as to introduce
them to text relevant vocabulary. I made sure the theme I chose was culturally
acceptable and familiar to the students. The story I selected had a moral at
the end. My attempt was basically to make students induce the meaning from the
story and later on, reflect on this moral based on life experience. Also, a
good way would have been to approach the lesson from an experiential approach. That would be by introducing the moral at first and then making students
relate to their own experiences based on this moral. Their reflection on
previous experience would be a good set up introducing the reading task so that
they relate more to it (Knutson, 2003). To assess students’ knowledge of basic
vocabulary present in the reading text, I asked students for examples of
animals that live in the sea and I got some examples such as fish, octopus, and
sharks. It would have been better to ask for non-examples at this stage to
confirm that students were familiar with sea animals as opposed to other kinds
(Borich, 2007).
In my prediction stage I followed a constructive approach. The
prediction task materials (the cards with the drawings) were basically my
‘manipulative materials’ that I used to urge students to construct their own version of
the story even if it was not the exact one. Students worked in groups and
throughout the task, I monitored them and attempted to focus on their interests rather
than impose anything on them. This task was a ‘compensatory’ effort on my side
to boost my students’ ability to create a purpose before listening to or reading
a text (Borich, 2007). A lot of students begin reading a text without any
purpose and this makes the reading task dull, boring, or discrete. By
pre-creating the story they were about to read and listen to, students were
eager to know how close they were to the real story. Having worked in groups,
the students integrated efforts in creating their stories. Cognitive
psychologists believe that collaborative learning helps learners to process
information by asking for assistance from each other (McCaffery, Jacobs &
DaSilva, 2006). I assumed that was the case of my students during this task
since they were deeply engaged in the creation of the story without even asking
for my help. May and Rola kept re-strategizing for a better sequence of the
story, which is why I wanted to give them more time. A lot of second language speaking went on even
though some used their native language. I tried to remind them of the importance
of speaking in English, yet I did not stress them to do so. I believe at this
stage time management could have been better. Students could have taken more
time to rehearse their story over and over before telling it to me. Because I
rushed them into it, they sounded skeptic when they were telling their stories.
Rather than relying on paper to introduce the story, I
decided to introduce the reading on screen. The incentive behind my choice is
that learners nowadays are fascinated by the idea of reading on screen and this
relates more them. However, I made sure I provided copies of the story later on
for the comprehension question. Another reason why I introduced the story on
screen was to read the story myself for the students. The integration of
reading and listening at the same time is beneficial for learners. According to
Froehlich (1988), the audio sound serves as a ‘verification’ of the utterance
that the learners read. Another element of indirect instruction also existed in the post
reading reflection. The task was oral. Students were required to discuss the
moral of the story and relate it to their own experience. I made sure I
followed the think, pair, share sequence since students took time to
think about experiences, shared them with their partners and shared them with
the class later on (Borich, 2007).
All in all, I believe the lesson went well. I was calm and collected throughout the lesson. I tried to create an ambiance of the underwater world by using sound effects. I also made use of music in my class since its relaxes students and creates a friendly non-threatening atmosphere.
All in all, I believe the lesson went well. I was calm and collected throughout the lesson. I tried to create an ambiance of the underwater world by using sound effects. I also made use of music in my class since its relaxes students and creates a friendly non-threatening atmosphere.
