My SED-406 class completed Microteaching I on Tuesday, October 22nd. It was a great experience and very helpful to actually see myself as the teacher rather than the student. I'd love to hear feedback from others in my group! Thanks!
Spencer, There were several strong points to your lesson. The first thing I noticed was how fluent/knowledgeable you were in/about your subject. You got right up there and started to teach smoothly and at a great pace (not too fast or slow). Not only that, but you provided clear explanations of what you were talking about and examples. It was evident that you knew the material. You did not even stop or say words like ‘um’ often! I think your knowledge and the ease with which you conducted the lesson is effective because it lets learners know that you are a credible source of information, so keep up the great work! The second thing that I noticed is that you were great about walking around and giving feedback. At one point, my partner was having trouble with one of the problems and you supported her by giving her clues. Feedback is always a great thing to give students because it truly helps them learn better. Finally, I thought the volume of your voice was perfect. You were not obnoxiously loud, but you could clearly be heard across the room. I think that added to you lesson because it ensured I understood what you said and I think it will help your students in the future. One area I would recommend improving in sticking with the material at hand instead of talking about what we will be doing in the future. For example, at one point you spent some time talking about quadratic formulas which we did not learn about in your lesson. While I can see why you did that, I think it may be better to leave out even talking about them until you are actually ready to teach them. Here is why. As I student, the material that you are teaching me is new. As a result, I have to pay attention to every single step in solving the problem. This puts a strain on my mind because I am trying to remember the new skills I learned, remember how to apply them, and remember where and when to apply them. If you are talking about other information, this puts even more of a strain on my mind and I tend to get confused. I know others tend to be the same way. Another suggestion I have is you may want to consider showing students a way to check their work. I remember this particular lesson from high school and my teacher made us check our work and show it. This actually helped me because it reinforced what I was learning and helped me change some answers I may have otherwise gotten wrong. I think providing a way to check answers would help other students as well. Overall, you did a fantastic job. I think you employed many great teaching strategies. Thanks for your time! –Catherine
Hi Spencer! Thanks for your feedback on my teaching! I really appreciated your thoughts and suggestions. :) I think that you did a great job teaching! I can tell that you really love your discipline and that you really want your students to excel. I have to confess, math is NOT my strong suit. As you started teaching, I remembered factoring trinomials from my high school algebra 2 class, but I didn't remember how to do them at all. By the end of your class, however, I was doing it again, after 10 years of not touching the subject. Math is an insecure subject for me, but you made me feel like I could handle it. One suggestion that I have for you is that perhaps you can write a bit larger and clearer on the board. I was having a hard time seeing what you had written. But that's really it! You did a wonderful job, and now I feel like maybe I don't suck at math as much as I thought. ;)
I think you did a great job with your lesson. You kept everything very basic and you were very knowledgeable in your lesson. It was easy to follow along and take notes as you explained the process because you talked at an average pace and like Hailey said you had a great volume. I do think that there were a few parts that could have been explained clearer, but that is something you will get better at with practice and feedback. Once you teach the same lesson a number of times, you will be able to adjust the language. Of course, I get confused with math easily anyway but you did a good job! The handout you gave us to work on for home work looks like a regular math sheet and I liked that you gave Hailey and I hints when we were confused on the problems. We quickly passed a few of them off as "not factorable", but you hinted that there were other factors that we missed. This is exactly the way that you should approach your students, because you still didn't give the answer. You made us go back and check our work with the suggestion that something isn't right. I think you will be a great Math teacher!! Great Job :)
I just want to start off by saying that, like Hailey, it has been about 10 years since I have taken a math class. When you first got started and introduced what you were going to be talking about, I though, "uh oh." As I've mentioned in class, I don't have a "math brain," so I wondered if my rusty brain I would be able to pick it up right away. But the fact that I was able to work through the practice problems both with my partner and alone really speaks to how well you taught your lesson! Like the others have said, you seemed easy in your manner of explaining, and you were thorough and even keeled. One thing that I noticed was that, as you were writing your examples on the board, you were standing in front of it. Obviously, the more practice you have, the easier it will become -- but maybe try standing to the side as you write, or step out of the way more often? That way your students can copy down what you're doing as you are doing it. You did a great job of walking around to check for understanding, and give clues or reminders about signs to help me figure out how to get the answers. I also liked how your transition into explaining that integers were coming next. I, too, think you're going to be a great math teacher! Great job!
Spencer,
ReplyDeleteThere were several strong points to your lesson. The first thing I noticed was how fluent/knowledgeable you were in/about your subject. You got right up there and started to teach smoothly and at a great pace (not too fast or slow). Not only that, but you provided clear explanations of what you were talking about and examples. It was evident that you knew the material. You did not even stop or say words like ‘um’ often! I think your knowledge and the ease with which you conducted the lesson is effective because it lets learners know that you are a credible source of information, so keep up the great work! The second thing that I noticed is that you were great about walking around and giving feedback. At one point, my partner was having trouble with one of the problems and you supported her by giving her clues. Feedback is always a great thing to give students because it truly helps them learn better. Finally, I thought the volume of your voice was perfect. You were not obnoxiously loud, but you could clearly be heard across the room. I think that added to you lesson because it ensured I understood what you said and I think it will help your students in the future.
One area I would recommend improving in sticking with the material at hand instead of talking about what we will be doing in the future. For example, at one point you spent some time talking about quadratic formulas which we did not learn about in your lesson. While I can see why you did that, I think it may be better to leave out even talking about them until you are actually ready to teach them. Here is why. As I student, the material that you are teaching me is new. As a result, I have to pay attention to every single step in solving the problem. This puts a strain on my mind because I am trying to remember the new skills I learned, remember how to apply them, and remember where and when to apply them. If you are talking about other information, this puts even more of a strain on my mind and I tend to get confused. I know others tend to be the same way. Another suggestion I have is you may want to consider showing students a way to check their work. I remember this particular lesson from high school and my teacher made us check our work and show it. This actually helped me because it reinforced what I was learning and helped me change some answers I may have otherwise gotten wrong. I think providing a way to check answers would help other students as well.
Overall, you did a fantastic job. I think you employed many great teaching strategies. Thanks for your time! –Catherine
Hi Spencer!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback on my teaching! I really appreciated your thoughts and suggestions. :) I think that you did a great job teaching! I can tell that you really love your discipline and that you really want your students to excel. I have to confess, math is NOT my strong suit. As you started teaching, I remembered factoring trinomials from my high school algebra 2 class, but I didn't remember how to do them at all. By the end of your class, however, I was doing it again, after 10 years of not touching the subject. Math is an insecure subject for me, but you made me feel like I could handle it. One suggestion that I have for you is that perhaps you can write a bit larger and clearer on the board. I was having a hard time seeing what you had written. But that's really it! You did a wonderful job, and now I feel like maybe I don't suck at math as much as I thought. ;)
Spencer!
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job with your lesson. You kept everything very basic and you were very knowledgeable in your lesson. It was easy to follow along and take notes as you explained the process because you talked at an average pace and like Hailey said you had a great volume. I do think that there were a few parts that could have been explained clearer, but that is something you will get better at with practice and feedback. Once you teach the same lesson a number of times, you will be able to adjust the language. Of course, I get confused with math easily anyway but you did a good job! The handout you gave us to work on for home work looks like a regular math sheet and I liked that you gave Hailey and I hints when we were confused on the problems. We quickly passed a few of them off as "not factorable", but you hinted that there were other factors that we missed. This is exactly the way that you should approach your students, because you still didn't give the answer. You made us go back and check our work with the suggestion that something isn't right. I think you will be a great Math teacher!! Great Job :)
Spencer,
ReplyDeleteI just want to start off by saying that, like Hailey, it has been about 10 years since I have taken a math class. When you first got started and introduced what you were going to be talking about, I though, "uh oh." As I've mentioned in class, I don't have a "math brain," so I wondered if my rusty brain I would be able to pick it up right away. But the fact that I was able to work through the practice problems both with my partner and alone really speaks to how well you taught your lesson! Like the others have said, you seemed easy in your manner of explaining, and you were thorough and even keeled. One thing that I noticed was that, as you were writing your examples on the board, you were standing in front of it. Obviously, the more practice you have, the easier it will become -- but maybe try standing to the side as you write, or step out of the way more often? That way your students can copy down what you're doing as you are doing it. You did a great job of walking around to check for understanding, and give clues or reminders about signs to help me figure out how to get the answers. I also liked how your transition into explaining that integers were coming next. I, too, think you're going to be a great math teacher! Great job!