Microteaching part 1

Microteaching has been going on for weeks and I have not made any posts about it. So here is my first attempt at it.

I think it is extremely commendable that all who had already taught took it in their stride whenever there was trouble in class. And I must apologise for being the source of some of the trouble. However, I must say that the past few weeks of microteaching had been very fulfilling. For Mr Yee's part, I learnt alot from him with regards to how to teach particular topics to the class. I dare say, I am more confident now in thinking of ways to teach students. As for Kenneth's part, class management is the main focus. In a way, I am glad that class management issues are the main focus.

To me, my philosophy has always been 'teaching values and attitudes comes first, imparting curriculum knowledge comes second.' For one to be able to manage a class, one has to inculcate in students certain values and attitudes. I could recall back to my relief teaching days back at my alma mata when I persistently talked to one boy after class for weeks and months before he finally responded and even asked me to give him extra lessons. From then on, I realised that nothing else matters but the attitude one holds places the most important part in influencing whether one wants to learn and pay attention in class. In a way, I like Clara's microteaching lesson as she attempted to teach more than just the curriculum knowledge to students.

What struck me after attending some microlessons in Kenneth's part is that nobody had ever attempted to abandon their lesson plans even though the class was disruptive. I think it was a dilemma for most of those who had already taught on whether to carry on with the lesson or to stop lessons totally to make use of certain 'misbehaviours' in class as a learning point for the class? Perhaps if the context took place in an actual setting, those who had already taught may have done it differently?

Whatever it is, every microlesson is a learning session for me. It is very interesting to see how others react to my 'misbehaviours' and those moments were enlightening as I attempted to put myself into the shoes of my future (or past) students. Not to mention that this is a wonderful opportunity for me to learn from others on ways to handle 'difficult' students that I came across during my studying and teaching days.