Practicum Day 4

My last day of the practicum was quite successful because I got to attempt a lesson plan I created using techniques learned in our workshop. Class was divided up into two sections, the first half delegated to a listening test and the second half was mine to review grammar structures. Earlier that day I did the microteaching plan using the same activity and it went poorly. I was unable to explain the objective of the activity clearly, thus leaving the students lost and unable to follow along. I reflected during the day about what I could have done better, asking myself what went wrong during the practice, and feeling worried that I will make the same mistakes again during the practicum class. I figured that what needed to happen the most was better communication between me and my students, by exemplifying the notion that I actually understand the objective of the activity well enough for them to follow confidently. Therefore, during class when it was my turn to lead the class I began with a clear approach to the activity. By simply letting the students know that we are going to be reviewing something they have already learned, and by allowing them to get into the mindset of the learning before starting the activity helped everyone get on the same page. I began with some simple grammar explanation and had the students make up some of their own sentences. Next, I commanded everyone should stand up and start making a (concentric) circle, however, this time I used humor and modeling to demonstrate exactly what I wanted them to do. Once both circles were made we began the activity by having the students say three sentences using the “must have” modal structure before switching to the next partner – this is one of the only parts I feel I could have tweaked. My original idea was to have the students go around once using one modal and then the next time around use a different modal, such as ‘should have’ and ‘could have.’ However, the circle went much slower than anticipated since some students finished early, while others were still getting the bearings of the activity. In hindsight I should have had them say one sentence for each modal before moving on to the next partner, since we only got around the circle one time. That would have gave the students more generalized practice in the same amount of time. Afterwards I had everyone sit down with a partner and do a post activity making sentences from the pictures I provided. This went on for a few minutes before Kim took back over and finished out the class with some pronunciation review. Overall it was a enjoyable last day, I learned that sometimes executing an activity is much easier when your students are not also your peers and colleagues.