Teaching practice - Conducted lessons (1)
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| source: google images, own presentation |
The next three posts will be about the classes I conducted during my practice. The first post is devoted to the first lesson, while the second one covers lessons 2-4 and the last post talks about the last lesson I got to conduct. After a series of not-so-challenging microteachings, I started with a topic that I found a little bit difficult, especially when it comes to explaining it to young students fully in English.
What was the lesson about?
The topic of this lesson was connected to introducing new verbs. Lesson aims included:
The topic of this lesson was connected to introducing new verbs. Lesson aims included:
- categorizing words into verbs, nouns and adjectives
- identifying the verb in the sentence
- naming previously introduced verbs
- differentiating new verbs (build, make, grow, fall, watch, bring)
- making collocations with each of the new verbs
What I planned?
I planned a few stages of the lesson:
I planned a few stages of the lesson:
- warm-up - identifying objects, animals, people and places, reacting to instructions
- introducing the topic - naming verbs, identifying verbs (in given sentences), categorizing words
- introducing the verbs - presenting them on slides, giving the context (two-three examples of collocations), explaining their meaning - in the context
- checking the understanding - answering concept-checking questions:
- What can you do with … (a plant, a firework, a sandcastle)?
- Which of these can you … (build, make, bring)?
- Can a book fall?
- Can you build a plant?
- Do you know any other things that fall?
- practicing the verbs - completing an exercise from the book
During this lesson, I used:
Most of the things I planned worked out, though it took more time than I initially planned. While preparing this lesson, I tried to make those concepts as understandable as possible, so I decided to use collocations with the nouns students are familiar with. Though not all of them were clear and some students tried translating them into Polish, at least some of them understood the distinction between them. By having them categorize words by identifying different parts of speech, I wanted to both elicitate their previous knowledge and direct their attention, so the topic presented to them felt more organic. As it turned out, they didn’t remember everything, and the words verb, noun and adjective got confused quite a few times, but I believe this exercise helped introduce us to the topic. The activity from the book that was meant to check the effect of my teaching proved that some of it worked out.
What didn’t work and why?
For the things that didn’t work, I believe pupils didn’t understand the meaning of the words grow and bring. They may also have problems with differentiating build and make. Though it was confusing and there were students who were completely lost, they didn’t misbehave. What I remember from my kindergarten practice, with a difficult topic pupils were getting bored quite easily. As a result, they were talking and disturbing others. In this class, I feel like most students either start drawing or lie on their desks. I paid attention to those who were attentive and tried to utilize their interest by asking them questions and hoping the others may follow.
What could have been done better?
I usually struggle with two things: time management and classroom management. I don’t really know how long an activity will last and how much time I should plan for explaining a new concept. Thanks to my mentor teacher, I didn’t have to rush or feel the time pressure, so I could spend time making sure as many students as possible understood the topic. With classroom management, this time it was fine. Usually, there are two students who talk a lot and may disturb the others. This time I didn’t have to quiet them down. I also wanted to utilize their energy by getting them interested in the topic and asking questions. From what I noticed, there was a need for a movement activity in the middle of the lesson, and I believe I didn’t feel confident enough to improvise with something. For the next time, I hope it will go a little bit different and I’ll be more responsive to students’ needs.
- materials prepared by me - a presentation with pictures to present, a game to categorize the words
- classroom furnishing - the computer, interactive whiteboard
Most of the things I planned worked out, though it took more time than I initially planned. While preparing this lesson, I tried to make those concepts as understandable as possible, so I decided to use collocations with the nouns students are familiar with. Though not all of them were clear and some students tried translating them into Polish, at least some of them understood the distinction between them. By having them categorize words by identifying different parts of speech, I wanted to both elicitate their previous knowledge and direct their attention, so the topic presented to them felt more organic. As it turned out, they didn’t remember everything, and the words verb, noun and adjective got confused quite a few times, but I believe this exercise helped introduce us to the topic. The activity from the book that was meant to check the effect of my teaching proved that some of it worked out.
What didn’t work and why?
For the things that didn’t work, I believe pupils didn’t understand the meaning of the words grow and bring. They may also have problems with differentiating build and make. Though it was confusing and there were students who were completely lost, they didn’t misbehave. What I remember from my kindergarten practice, with a difficult topic pupils were getting bored quite easily. As a result, they were talking and disturbing others. In this class, I feel like most students either start drawing or lie on their desks. I paid attention to those who were attentive and tried to utilize their interest by asking them questions and hoping the others may follow.
What could have been done better?
I usually struggle with two things: time management and classroom management. I don’t really know how long an activity will last and how much time I should plan for explaining a new concept. Thanks to my mentor teacher, I didn’t have to rush or feel the time pressure, so I could spend time making sure as many students as possible understood the topic. With classroom management, this time it was fine. Usually, there are two students who talk a lot and may disturb the others. This time I didn’t have to quiet them down. I also wanted to utilize their energy by getting them interested in the topic and asking questions. From what I noticed, there was a need for a movement activity in the middle of the lesson, and I believe I didn’t feel confident enough to improvise with something. For the next time, I hope it will go a little bit different and I’ll be more responsive to students’ needs.
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