I taught my first lesson today. Granted it was only in front of two of my classmates and lasted a grand total of 20 minutes, but it was still a start; in hindsight, I was way to stressed out about it. I planned what I wanted to teach carefully, but every time I sat down to work on it my stomach tied itself in knots. That is probably one of the biggest things I would change for the future, because, as it turns out, there was not much to be worried about!
Although far from perfect, the lesson went smoothly. I decided to 'teach' ELL level 2 students how to write a formal outline. I started by having my classmates write a paragraph about their ideal vacation spot. After that I introduced the format of an outline via Prezi, and walked them through step by step with examples. Next we went over some vocabulary quickly, and I ended with an activity where they arranged strips of paper with a point per strip of a pre-made outline. First off, the classmates who helped me were great. Overall, we kind of had fun with it, and that helped with the nerves a lot. The best part of the lesson was probably going through the Prezi. I would ask them lots of questions as we went and they would ask me lots of questions too. The worst part was the activity at the end. I think the idea was good, but it was way to hard. I hope to change that part so that it is simpler for next time.
Another great part of this experience was that my technology ran smoothly, and I think that I used an appropriate amount. I purposely didn't use a lot of technology, just because the demographic of students that I was aiming to teach would have probably been overwhelmed by a new writing concept as well as foreign technology at the same time. I liked using the strips of paper at the end, and I think it even got the classmates who were watching/ being students for me were more involved.
Overall, I really appreciated having to do this. It was stressful and scary, and the whole time leading up to my presentation I was dreading it. However, I did see the value in it from the start, and once I did get started I found it to be very enjoyable!
I completely understand everything you have been feeling about this lesson but I like your insight beforehand about the technology. We always want to use technology but sometimes what we are doing can actually be harmed by technology rather than aided. In your situation, being introduced to a new language as well as a new technology might be the bane of our educational existence. To put it bluntly.
ReplyDelete