Example Microteaching Self Reflection

Alexandra Goforth ECI 430/445 Microteaching Self Reflection

Microteaching Self Reflection

My microteaching experience showed me a lot about working in front of a classroom. It was very interesting to see how my lesson plan changed as I began to teach. I really enjoyed this project. This project taught me how lessons do not always go as planned, how to adapt my approach, and the importance of reflecting on my teaching experience. I feel that the majority of my lesson went really well. After my nerves settled, I became extremely confident in front of the class. This confidence was reflected in the feedback I received from my peers. I am very proud that I facilitated a friendly environment in the classroom. This is something I strive for every time I teach. I feel that students learn better when they feel comfortable in the classroom environment. I believe that the students were able to grasp the concept because of the inquiry based article activity, the detailed examples I provided, and the strong discussion. The article allowed for the students to see titles in context. I believe that it is important for students to see real world examples in order to fully grasp a concept. I believe the examples I provided helped solidify my lesson. I tried to use examples the students would recognize. Using examples that students recognize helps them understand the new concept better. This method allows them to build on what they already know. I feel that the discussion portion of my mini lesson went very well. The students were engaged and receiving the point. I feel that I did a good job generating discussion by prompting the students with guided questions. The students were able to follow along confidently. I believe that the strong discussion was a result of the friendly environment I created. I also think that the handout I gave at the end of the lesson was a really good idea. It is important for students to have something to look back to as a reference. My hope is that students will keep this handout with them and use it while writing future assignments.

This experience was a great opportunity for me to learn about myself as a teacher. I have never videotaped myself while teaching before. Watching myself teach was a very enlightening experience. There were many idiosyncrasies that my peers did not pick up on but I did while watching the video. The first thing I noticed is that I stuttered several times throughout my lesson. I believe that this was a result of my nerves. This is something that will improve over time. I also noticed that I had a large pause after the introduction to the writing activity. This pause was a result of me becoming aware that I had skipped a portion of my lesson. I had intended to go back to the article after the prezi and highlight how the author uses the rules we just learned. Skipping this part shocked me and it took be a few beats to regain my balance. During the student work time I had to think of a way to adapt my lesson to accommodate for this lost time. This is the point where I decided to have students share their work on the board. I believe that this portion worked well even though it was not planned.

If I did this lesson again, I would change several things. I would add a better hook at the beginning of my lesson. I think that I need a better way to draw my students into the topic. A video, image, or song about titles would be a great way to

Alexandra Goforth ECI 430/445 Microteaching Self Reflection engage students initially. Another part I would change to this lesson is to add more wait time. I could have spent more time on each slide, given the students more time to read/write, and allowed for more student response. I feel that students need much more time to process a lesson than I provided. Another change I would make is to not skip returning back to the article. I feel that this would have been a good way to highlight the rules I had just taught. I feel that returning to the article would have given the lesson more real world context. The last part I would change is to add my adaptation to the lesson plan. I feel this worked really well and I should have planned on this from the beginning. This allowed students to show their work, discuss their answers, and receive feedback.

Overall, I believe that my lesson went really well. I am proud of this experience. I believe that no matter how long a teacher has been teaching they will make mistakes. That is why it is so important for a teacher to reflect on what they did. A teacher who reflects will see what is and is not working and change accordingly. I believe that the reflection method provides the best learning experience for the students.