...reflections on the first assessed microteach
So the first, assessed, challenge is over. One 20 minute micro-teach delivered.
There is quite a lot to process and reflect upon. But before I go inwards, let me go outwards and mention some of the lessons delivered by my fellow PGCE students.
Seeing them in action as teachers was wonderful. Some stood out, for me, in particular. I guess we all have our favourite teaching styles and also our favoured learning styles. For me, it needs to be high energy, active and fun. So many of my fellow students delivered, on all fronts. Well done, to every one of them.
We had one, who delivered a swash-buckling "How to be more Pirate" lesson.
Essentially, it was a drama lesson with a teacher training payload. How much fun did we have, waving our cutlasses and shouting out our Pirate names? Absolutely brilliant. The aim of helping us to improve our presence in the classroom, by embracing our inner pirates, was certainly achieved for me. Since then, I have walked and talked a little bit differently; with a swagger in my gait and a glint in my eye.
Another favourite of mine, was the hair-styling colour wheel. We got down and dirty with colourants and paint brushes, and learned all about how colours fit together and mix to make the perfect shade. Providing us with gloves and aprons made the whole thing twang, science-style. What a treat!
Then, how could I forget the "Suck, squeeze, bang, blow" lesson from our resident car mechanic teacher? Hands on with the engine parts, we learned all about the combustion cycle. Now I know exactly what a con rod is!
To calm us all down, we had a relaxing meditation, just at the right time of the day. Surrounded by the sounds of waterfalls and exotic birds, I found this magical and it very much appealed to my inner mindful self.
So that segues nicely back to me.
My main teaching focus is GCSE Maths. I teach to learners in the Lifeskills faculty at Activate Learning, Banbury College. Our learners have, mostly, negative experiences of school. Often they have come to us because they are electively home educated, or have had difficulties with school life that have meant they left without GCSE grade 4 in either English or Maths. Many of my learners have particular difficulty with Maths. They have almost an emotional block.
Therefore, my approach to teaching these learners is to try to make the lesson not really about the Maths, but about something else. I hope this approach helps those who are negative about Maths, believe they are just bad at Maths, or even Maths phobic.
I can totally relate to the latter, as I feel this way about visiting the Dentist.
So, to my Microteach. I had twenty minutes to bring a little bit of new knowledge in GCSE Maths to my group, and I wanted to do it without it feeling like a Maths lesson.
I used one of my favourite storylines; Glastonbury. Having surveyed my peers two weeks before the lesson, I knew that only one of them was able to arrive at the correct answer to a particular problem - sharing a number in a ratio - so this was my topic.
My lesson included props, music, edtech and videos; there were seven students in my lesson.
I passed the Microteach and was extremely relieved.
My fellow students gave me lovely, positive, feedback. Having spent so much time preparing and planning the lesson, this was wonderful to read.
Themes of positive feedback were;
"Fun/engaging/enjoyable" (6 said this), "I learned, was informed/achieved" (4), "Visuals" (3), "Use of structure" (3) and "Not like a maths lesson" (2). This last item is my personal favourite, as it was an objective of mine to try to make the lesson feel different - specifically for those who are Maths-phobic.
Did the Theories work?
My constructivist approach worked well; everyone joined in with the swing of the lesson. This is something I am already doing with my Banbury learners, though I am including an extra step of "gut instinct" after connecting with previous learning, but before teaching anything brand new, to start those brain cells reaching out for what they already instinctively know.
Using a Growth Mindset approach also worked well, reducing the pressure for getting answers right and rewarding effort. One student said, "Even though I am naturally suspisious and a little scared by maths, I felt safe and comfortable. I thought the explainations were clear" (sic).
Using The Activate Learning learning cycle gave structure and made it easy to inform students what to expect and what stage we were at.
Finally the Sticky mnemonic (thank you, Lemov), was very much appreciated by one learner who said. "Thank you ADDISH". Add. Divide. Share. Our method learned.
Even Better If...
But what could I do better or differently next time?
Wacky Visuals
Although many liked my visuals, one student put them in both positive and negative columns. This seemed curious, at first, but on reflection, I can see that some learners may be overwhelmed by the intensity of some of my slides. This was repeated in the feedback I received from Angie, the assessing tutor. Having asked, 2 weeks before the lesson, if any had any issues or support requirements, only one did - they had asked for a little more time to process.
I took this as a carte blanche to be creative with my visuals. However, of course, many of my learners are, in reality, autistic and some may indeed feel overwhelmed by lots of colourful images or videos, so I am keeping this in mind for my future planning.
Phone Problems
Two of my students in the Microteach were unable to use smartphones during the lesson. I am mindful that things can and do go wrong - for students and for teachers. Having a paper backup for the final quiz would have been better. Again, I will certainly bear this in mind in future.
Individual Assessment
Finally, Angie also pointed out that the final quiz was not done by all (two did
it as a team and those without phones could not do it at all).
Also, that, although there were other assessments during the lesson, I could have used - say - a mini whiteboard each to check individual understanding
I totally agree, and have started to do this immediately in my Maths lessons in Banbury. I had been using them on and off, but now they are out every time.
But Did they learn Anything?
I posed the question I asked in the pre-lesson quiz again at the end of the lesson. Although two didn't answer it at all because of phone problems, in the pre-lesson quiz, only 16% of learners in my class got it right. After the lesson? 80% got it right. If we combine this quantitative data with the qualitative feedback - specifically those who said they had learned something new - then I believe the lesson was a success. My learners - on the whole - now know how to share a quantity in a given ratio.
That makes me very happy.
Comments