I.
INTRODUCTION
I look forward to Teaching practice the most because it allows me to apply what I learned in English
language systems and Teaching methodology. In this subject, I completed tasks like studying
materials, preparing and delivering mini demonstrations, observing peers, lesson planning, and group
micro-teaching. This essay outlines my learning from each task and provides a summary of key
insights and my future progress.
II.
MICROTEACHING EXPERIENCE
1. Materials studying.
Ms Ngan provided a lot of materials including book extracts, papers, and videos. While I didn’t read
everything, I found some key insights. First, there is no single “best” teaching method; instead, an
integrated approach is more effective. Teaching methodology is a continuum and many strategies can
be utilized at the same time. Knowing this, I no longer struggle with labeling activities in lesson plans.
Second, the “English for Asia” channel offers short videos on classroom games and activities, which
inspired ideas for my mini-demo teaching sessions and micro-teaching group work.
2. Mini demonstration
I had the chance to conduct the mini-demo twice. Teaching something in 5-7 minutes was challenging
for me. I often found myself stumbling over my words under the time pressure. However, practice
made me more confident and comfortable.
In my first demo on crime vocabulary, I learned the importance of contextual cues and CCQs for deep
understanding. Before, as we only practiced teaching simple vocabulary or grammar (level A1-A2), I
used to view CCQs and ICQs mechanically instead of their meaningful effects.
The second demo highlighted the teacher’s role in facilitating activities. We had learnt about the roles
of teachers in Teaching methodology and I had a chance to see how I can actively take the roles in
actual teaching. After having students categorize food vocabulary into unhealthy and healthy food, I
think I did spark a debate by asking the follow-up question “Why do you think dark chocolate is
unhealthy?”. There were members with opposing views and ready to have a longer discussion.
However, I was at a loss for follow-up questions/how to continue the debate so I jumped to the
scoring. The situation could have been handled more properly with careful preparation.
3. Peer observation
I really enjoyed my classmates’ mini-demo. Watching others made me less nervous, knowing we were
all improving together. When it came to feedback, I was still pretty inexperienced despite having
studied the lesson criteria. Sometimes the activity went by, I just knew something wasn't quite right
but couldn’t give any suggestions. Listening to other classmates and the instructor giving feedback
opened my eyes about the lesson strengths and areas for improvement. There are some takeaways I
picked up:
● Teacher input is crucial, sometimes it is the sole source of information. I came to realize that
constantly improving language skills is just as important as improving teaching skills as
students, especially young learners may acquire incorrect language use from the teachers.
● Engaging learners through various methods, like peer assessment, can enhance participation.
● Deductive approach shouldn’t be attached with such negative connotations. It can be effective
if employed appropriately.
● Controlled practice isn’t the easiest and lowest-effort task. It can be properly exploited to
deeply reinforce student understanding.
4. Lesson planning & micro teaching in group
Our group began by ideating activities for each stage and what “interesting things” we can teach. Then
we had a heated discussion on which ideas we should put into the lesson plan because we disagreed on
the objectives of each stage and how to transition between stages. We also had different ideas about
the knowledge of a student in an age range. Only after we agreed on those things could we put
together a complete lesson plan. I came to realize the importance of being on the same page about
basic information such as target students' description, skills we want to teach and roles of each stage in
a lesson.
After the micro-teaching, I also realized the challenge of providing students with enough input so they
can produce something authentic within one lesson. It is probably easier for groups who teach young
learners because their vocabulary and grammar can be integrated into a single lesson. Their target
language items are simpler and easier to teach. I think to address this, detailing target learners’
previous knowledge is essential because we can’t teach everything in a lesson. What we can do is
build a bridge to connect the old and new knowledge and guide students on a pathway to achieve the
lesson end goal.
III.
CONCLUSION
I am thankful for the teaching demonstration experience and valuable insights from the course. From
engaging in planning the lesson, teaching and observing classmates’ performance, I have gained a
deeper understanding of a teacher’s role and how to continually improve as a teacher. I will continue
studying the given materials and consistently practice to enhance my teaching skills every day.
(800 words)