Reflection on My Microteaching

Under Alice’s guidance, we, the future English teachers, have learned a lot through a series of activities, the last of which is microteaching.  Reflecting on this 15-to-20-minute demonstration and the feedback from my peer classmates, I did find some merits and flaws of my instruction, and I am confidently convinced that this awareness will surely help me improve my future teaching.

I still remember that day, in the beginning of May.  We were asked to choose our target lesson and to pinpoint the section on which we’d like to focus.  I was standing there in the middle of the classroom, watching a dozen of my classmates pressing and jostling each other among the given textbooks, and all of a sudden I felt totally exhausted.  Therefore I told Shirley, who was among the crowd, that I’d like to share a lesson with her and that she could choose whatever topic that pleased her.  Not that I was being cocky or indifferent, but I just believed that in the future we have to teach whatever in the textbook, in different ways, perhaps.  That was how I got this topic—gesture and sign languages.

Preparing for the reading section of this lesson was not a light task, though.  The reading itself was pretty easy, so was its grammatical structure, so I decided to extend the topic and take body language, which is of close relationship with gestures, into the whole teaching material.  However, the category of silent language is one of great depth, so deciding what I should cover in the time given became a difficult case.  The first thing I did then was digging out some books concerning body language and gesture from the library, skimming them ever, and absorbing as much as I could.  My pleasure reading on Person-centered Psychology as well as Gestalt Psychology also helped shaping my teaching.  Actually I spent most of the preparation time pondering on what I should say and do in the demonstration.  During the process, the most inspiring realization was that I have to re-code my information into the language of the target students.

After some struggling and consideration, I decided to saturate the students with the preliminary ideas of body language and gesture before going through the text.  Afterwards, I plan to proceed with some practical activities concerning our theme, including describing gestures in English, reading people’s mind through their body language, and so forth.  Nevertheless, my quota of time only allowed the first two sections, so that was what I did, and personally I think the students and I had a good time.

Looking back on my teaching, I observe myself in my memory and I see my own merits and defects.  Moreover, with the assistance of the feedback from my peer classmates, I learn more from them.  Most compliment on my accent as well as confidence (yeah, right), my demonstration of body language, and my consideration to pronunciation, reading, and vocabulary.  However, many point out that my warm-up occupied too much time of my teaching and that I need a better control of time.  Others also suggest that I prepare more teaching activities and aids for the class.  One tricky point lies in my interaction with my students.  Some of my peer classmates like my interaction with the students in the warm-up session, while some others indicate my illustration of the reading text seems more teacher-centered.  I accept all the feedback with great gratitude because I believe that through this experience, both my classmates and I all learn something that we should keep in mind for our future teaching career.

An Interview with Mrs. Qiu Xiu-Rong

               “Come on in and make yourself comfortable.”  With a warm smile, Mrs. Qiu welcomed Billy and me on this sunny and breezy April afternoon.  Patience and kindness was our first impression of this experienced English teacher, but during the follow-up one-hour interview, we came to discover more and more elements concerning her job, her life, and her mind.

                At her fourth year as an English major in Shih-Chien University, Qiu decided to enroll in the newly-launched program of Teacher Education and spent another two years on it.  During the same period, the occupational training along with practical experience of her job as a part-time English teacher also provided her with strong knowledge of teaching as well as class management.  Her understanding of education developed, so did her passion for dealing with students.

                After graduating from college, Qiu finished her internship as a substitute English teacher in a senior high school in Shih-lin.  Afterwards, she taught in An-Kang Junior High School in Xin-dian until her marriage.  Her husband lived in Dan-shui, so she quitted her job and competed for vacancy again.  Finally, Xian-Xiao Campus of Zheng-De Junior High School became her new stage.

                When asked of her philosophy of education, she smile again.  “I believe every student has his or her own journey ahead,” Qiu said, “so I wouldn’t force them to learn.”  Correct it might be, especially under the condition that students in this campus—less than seventy in number—come mostly from families of low social-economic status.  During our visits, most students looked joyful.  “I let my students know that learning offers a way out,” Qiu added, “that with their efforts they could lead a better life.”  She is convinced that the most crucial task in education, especially in junior high school, is to touch the heart of students.  On the one hand, there is nothing more important than teaching a student to become a good person.  On the other hand, all efforts are in vain if the door to the heart is closed.

                Nine years have passed since Mrs. Qiu started teaching for the first time.  She reveals great fondness for teaching and little interest in administration.  “I’d rather dealing with people,” she chuckled.  However, teaching is definitely not a problem-free job.  Sometimes parents question the policies of the school, and sometimes misbehaving students challenged/provoke the authority of teacher.  None of these, however, become an over-pressing task.  Her key to this: impartial.

                “I’d like to go on as a teacher until my retirement,” Qiu half-chanted, “after which I will probably come back once in a while as a volunteer worker.”  Looking at Billy and me with the same smile, she took another sip of the nice-brewed tea and accepted our gratitude for this interview.  Through the dazy sunshine in April afternoon, I seemingly saw a figure of confidence, contentment, and peace.

First Post: My Teaching Philosophy and Believes

    My teaching philosophy?  Intereting question.  Through some three years of teaching in college, I’ve tried to help my students learn how to learn and how to have fun during the process.  I wish each of them  could somehow find something that they really enjoy and wanna keep exploring through the rest of their life.  Call me a nerd, but I believe that is a blessing, which I find in both literature and bodybuilding.  My slogan of teaching then might be “Happy Learning.”  My actual experiences with college students, either in classrooms or gyms,  are  nevertheless sort of depressing.  More often than not, I find them sloppy and stupid, with only a few exception.  Again and again, however, I manage to encourage myself as well as those who really wanna learn something. Bet you what? It works.

    Is teaching a craft or science?  The two go hand in hand, I’d say.  A teacher definitely needs some skills to successfully deliver knowledgeto those young eager minds.  This part is called actual application, which is of vital importance since we are dealing with flesh-and-bone human students rather than robots.  On the other hand, teachers also need some scientific and theoretical studies of teaching so as to develop a more complete and updated understanding of teaching.  This part, then, is called scientific bank, working like a in-built database of various theoretical knowledge.  My call on this?  One needs both applicable skills and scientific training, since they complement each other.