Edu 05

Unit 3

Micro Teaching

Micro-teaching

• Dwight W. Allen
• Stanford University, USA in 1961
• Training procedure 🡪aimed at simplifying the complexities of the regular teaching process.
• Design for teacher training🡪feedback about their performance immediately after completion of a micro lesson.

Scaled down sample of teaching in which a teacher teaches a small unit to a small group of 5 to 10 pupils for a small period of 5 to 10 minutes.

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Objectives of Micro-teaching

1. To enable teacher-trainees to learn and assimilate new teaching skills under controlled conditions.

�2. To enable teacher-trainees to gain confidence in teaching, and to master a number of skills by dealing with a small group of pupils.

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Characteristics of Micro-teaching

Steps in Micro-teaching

Micro teaching phases

Knowledge acquisition phase

• The teacher trainee gain detailed information about teaching skills, and its supportive components.
• Observing the demonstration of the skill.
• Analysing the skills and discussing about the demonstration.

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Skill acquisition phase

Preparing the micro lesson involving the skill and practice it.

Immediate feedback also received at the end of each practicing session.

Due to repeated practice the teacher trainee mastered each skills.

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Transfer phase

Evaluating performance through feedback, replan, re-teach

The teacher trainee transfer the mastered skills to actual class teaching (macro sessions).

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Integration of skills

Linked practice

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Advantages of Micro-teaching

Perform better in their ordinary classroom.�It employs a training strategy specially meant for the purpose of developing skills.�It helps accomplish specific teacher competencies.�The teaching practice gains a higher degree of organisation because factors such as time, number of students, etc could be controlled.�It helps gain deeper knowledge due to feedback and re-plan, re-teach cycles� It ismore effective in modifying teacher behaviour.�It helps in developing important teaching skills.�It is an effective technique for transfer of teaching competencies to class room situations.�It provides many opportunities to trainees to build up desired patterns of behaviour in a non-threatening set-up.

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Limitations of Micro-teaching

Core Teaching Skills

SKILL OF INTRODUCING A LESSON�

When a teacher introduces a lesson, he gives a brief introduction about the lesson in order to prepare the mind of the learner.

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It has two main functions.

Refreshing the mind of the learner and ensuring the pre-requisites needed in that particular lesson.

Motivating the pupils to learn the new lesson.

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Components of the Skill

Desirable Behaviours

�Use of previous knowledge / pre-requisites

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Use of appropriate devices

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Undesirable Behaviours

Lack of continuity

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Uttering irrelevant statements and questions

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SKILL OF STIMULUS VARIATION

• It involves deliberate change in the stimuli presented by the teacher for the purpose of drawing stimulating and maintaining the attention of learners throughout the class.

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• The variation in the stimuli helps in avoiding monotony and in generating interest among students which in turn makes learning effective.

�1. Teacher movements�2. Teacher gestures�3. Change in speech pattern� Change in volume of sound tone or speed 🡪for attracting attention.�4. Change in interaction style� Teacher-class interaction� Teacher-pupil interaction� Pupil-Pupil interaction (Peer group interaction)�5. Focusing� Drawing attention to specific aspects to be stressed by verbal or gestural.�6. Pausing� Deliberate use of silence during class talk.�7. Oral-visual switching (Change in sensory focus)� change of sensory channel from verbal to visual and vice versa� Oral-> Visual� Visual Oral� Oral Oral Visual By doing so pupil's attention and interest can be sustained.

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Components of the Skill

SKILL OF EXPLAINING

• Explaining is the skill by which a teacher can clearly bring out the exact meaning of concept or an idea and also can arrive at relationships among various concepts, events and ideas.

�By explaining a teacher uses the terms like how?, why? etc.

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• Explanation is a set of interrelated statements elaborating a learning material being taught.

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Components of the skill-Desirable Behaviours

1.Use of Beginning Statements�Drawing and maintaining attention to make the students mentally ready for learning and for giving them some clues of explanation.�2. Use of Explaining links�These links are in the form of words or phrases which increase effectiveness of explanation. They provide continuity to statements.�eg. As a result of. Therefore. In order to. Because. On the other hand, Due to. That is why. Inspite of. Hence. But. This is how.�3. Use of mediators�examples, diagrams. anecdotes, etc.�4. Use of concluding statements

End of explanation for the purpose of summarising and concluding it. �5. Questions to test Pupils' Understanding�Get immediate feedback from the students

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Undesirable Behaviours

�1. Use of irrelevant statements, anecdotes, etc.

�2. Lack of continuity

�4. Using inappropriate vocabulary

�5. Use of vague words and phrases

�6. Deviating from the main points

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SKILL OF ILLUSTRATING WITH EXAMPLES�

• The skill for timely use of examples for the purpose of making an idea, concept or principle.
• A good illustrative example will also engage the pupil's attention.

Components of the skill

�1. Formulating simple examples.

 Most familiar examples should be chosen so students can easily assimilate.

�2. Formulating relevant examples

Examples should be more close to the topic / content.

�3. Formulating interesting examples

�Interesting examples can erose students' curiosity.

�4. Uses appropriate media for examples

Verbal and non-verbal media should be chosen for presenting examples 

�5. Use of Inductive-deductive approach for presenting examples

�Generalization may be formulated from specific examples and formulate examples to reach generalizations.

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SKILL OF USING BLACK BOARD / WHITE BOARD

• Black board is the most widely used of all visual aids.
• It is one of the quickest and easiest means of illustrating an important point.
• Matter once written on the black board can be erased easily and new materials added as the lesson progresses.

Components of the skill

�1. Legibility of Handwriting� a. Distinct difference between letters�b. Adequate spacing between letters�e. Adequate spacing between words�d. Slant of the letter nearly vertical�e. All small letters of the same size�f. All capital letters of the same size�g. Sire of the letters large enough to be read� h. Uniformity in the thickness of the line�2. Neatness in Black Board Work�a Adequate spacing between lines�b. Lines parallel to the base of the board�c. No overwriting�d. Focussing the relevant matter

3. Organisation of Black board work�a. Systematic planning of space�b. Spacing to exhibit the sequence of the items being presented�e Adjustment of space for presenting related items in totality�4. Appropriateness of Black board work�a. Continuity in points�b. Brevity in the presentation of points�c.  Appropriate presentation of illustrations and diagrams�d. Proper use of colour chalk�e. Underlining only the important points to be stressed

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SKILL OF FLUENCY IN QUESTIONING

Successful teaching is highly dependent on for appropriate questioning.

�During a lesson the teacher will have to ask different types of questions, depending on the situation and purpose to be achieved.

�Questioning promotes involvement, initiates thinking, creates motivation and enhances learning among learners.

� The rate of meaningful questions put per unit time by the teacher is called fluency of questioning.

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Components of the skill

�1. Structure�a. Grammatical correctness and lucidity.�b. Conciseness� A question should be direct, straight forward and understandable but it should be made as concise as possible.�c. Relevance�Question should be relevant to the content and the context.�d. Specificity�Question should call for objective and specific responses.

2. Process

�a. Speed

Optimum speed should be maintained in asking questions.

�b. Voice

 Voice should be audible and clear enough so that every student understands the question properly.�

c. Pause�A brief pause after putting the question will help the students to understand and think about the question and to formulate the answer.�

d. Style�Questions should be uttered in a style that would change the question style pattern to make students interested.

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3. Product�Product is the answer expected of the question.

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SKILL OF PROBING QUESTIONS

• This skill encourage the students to go deeper into the various aspects of the material / topic / content being learnt.
• Questions calling for such original and deep level responses are qualified as 'probing.

Components of the skill�1. Prompting�When there is no response or incorrect response teacher gives hints or clues for leading the pupil to the desired correct response.�2. Seeking further information.� If the initial response of the pupil is partially correct or incomplete, or shallow, the teacher helps the pupil to clarify or elaborate or explain the response, by asking subsidiary questions�3. Refocussing�When pupils give correct response, the teacher relates the response with something already taught and thus register it in the cognitive structure.�4. Increasing critical awareness�Teacher asks 'why' and 'How of a correct response for increasing critical awareness in pupils�5. Redirection�The teacher asks the same question to other pupils for ensure the participation of all pupils.

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SKILL OF REINFORCEMENT

• Reinforcement is a major condition for effective learning. It is the teacher's reaction to the responses and actions of pupils.
• Reinforcement results in modifications of behavior through immediate rewarding of desirable or correct responses and actions.
• Reactions of the teacher that provide encouragement, approval and recognition of pupil-responses would strengthen the related correct responses and actions.
• At the same time, the reaction of the teacher that are discouraging would weaken pupil responses involved in the learning process. Hence the teacher should manage his reactions to pupil responses with skill.

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Components of the Skill�1. Positive verbal reinforcement

Students can be encouraged through verbal expressions like Good, Well done, Excellent, Carry on, Go ahead, etc. Right, Fine.�Using extra verbal cues like 'um', 'aha', etc. also will encourage pupils to progress�2. Positive non-verbal reinforcement

Teacher uses gestures or some other behaviour to reinforce pupil's responses.

Nodding of the head, smiling, Patting, friendly look, etc. are examples. Writing pupil's answer on the board for others to watch

3. Negative verbal reinforcement

Words like Not right, Not upto the mark, Try again, etc., can be considered as negative reinforcers.�4. Negative non-verbal reinforcement

Disapproval without using words has the effect of negative reinforcement.

Gestures such as frowning, staring, shaking the head, etc. also have the same effect�5. Denial of reinforcement�Certain teachers do not attempt reinforcement in situations that warrant it. This is likely to discourage pupils. Such teachers are really losing an opportunity to inspire pupils for active participation in the learning process,

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