Micro-teaching presentation #2 (FS19)

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dennis Galicia on October 7, 2019 at 9:10am

The second micro-teaching activity allowed me to gain more expertise in the sequencing process. However, after a meticulous analysis of the sequencing of activities, I noticed incongruencies. Mainly, the teaching activity developed aimed to cover the needs of the HLL population inside the classroom. However, after reflecting on it, I noticed that there was a missing portion. Essentially, I did not display the sequencing of activities for the L2 student body.

However, the sequencing of activities would have been the following. For the pre-reading phase, I would have displayed a video about travels to activate the previous knowledge of the students. Afterwards, I would have introduced the text. Such text would be composed of the grammatical structure, cognates and vocabulary. Mainly, the decision to take an inductive approach to cover grammar came from the discussion presented by Krashen (1982) regarding explicit grammar. According to the theorist, explicit grammatical knowledge tends to be obsolete during an oral exchange. Subsequently, the students would be asked to complete 3 activities. Such activities would consist of comprehension checks as well as interactive minigames. Lastly, during the production, the students would have been instructed to write a composition narrating their experiences with travels. Subsequently, they would have to present it to their peers. However, such composition will be guided. Primarily, the sequencing of activities would be modelled after the four language skills. In other words, each activity would target each one of the language skills.

Another critical point is the culture. The lesson would have been merged with the culture. Essentially, the culture will be the base for each activity. Such decision was influenced by the discussion presented by Lee and Van Patten (2003) regarding culture. According to the authors, the activities should serve as a bridge to connect the students with a specific culture and its social norms.

Reflecting on the differentiation portion of the lesson, the activities aimed towards the HLL student body were strong. Especially because the shift moved from basic comprehension checks to a more argumentative setting; however, I would have provided more prompts for the students to maintain them on track. The decision to formulate complex activities came as result of the discussion presented by Tomlinson (2001) regarding differentiation by readiness. According to the author, it is vital to develop activities that are suitable for each student.

(387 words).

References:
Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. New York: Pergamon.

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd Edition). Reston, VA: ASCD.

Permalink Reply by Selena Jaquez on October 8, 2019 at 7:42am

The micro-teaching activity presented to the class allowed me to gain more exposure to different aspects of designing a lesson about reading comprehension. According to Lee and Vanpatten, language learners do not have the verbal virtuosity of native readers, instructors need strategies to facilitate the reading comprehension process. These instructional strategies are preparation (pre reading), guided interaction (during reading), and assimilation (post reading). As a result, I made an activity that focused on the topic of families in Dominican Republic. However, as it was mentioned in class, I included too much reading in the lesson that tend to be boring or confusing for students. 

To make the activity relative to the previous knowledge (pre reading) of the students, I decided to incorporate vocabulary learned in the past in order for them to connect better with the lesson. In other words, schemata was activated and appropriate to the passage being read. I also chose some activities to engage the students in the lesson by giving them different tasks about reading such as “La familia de Pablo Méndez Sánchez”. I found this activity interesting because it was a simple lesson in which students would have to recognize the family members and the possessive adjectives. It also was strong because I decided that my activity needed to be meaningful and authentic for the students. So, I gave the students the opportunity to interact and engage with each other by making small groups. Small groups is important because gives the student the chance to learn from each other. By working with just a few of their peers towards a common goal, they will further develop their cooperation skills, conversation skills, and discover how to share and be fair (Lee & Vanpatten, 2003).

Due to ​differentiating instruction, I would​ like to provide visual aids in order to help students achieve their highest potential. Visual aids are used in classrooms to encourage students' learning process and make it easier and interesting. Visual aids are the best tool for making teaching effective and the best dissemination of knowledge (Lee & Vanpatten, 2003). To incorporate more culture in this activity, I would have incorporated more information about families from Latin American countries, not only  from Dominican Republic. In most cases, they follow the same traditions and beliefs. (377 words)

Reference

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). ​Making communicative language teaching happen​. (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Permalink Reply by Maria Lorena Flores on October 9, 2019 at 7:32am

Hi Selena:

The teaching activity you provided was clear, precise and complete.  I enjoyed the readings provided, there were a lot of visuals presented as well as color which is important for a lesson.  The topic was concise and looks like you put a lot of work into it.  However, I do agree that in fact there was a lot of reading provided which was the same mistake I did.  The pre reading itself should have been more than enough for the activities with a small video at the beginning which I thought was not allowed since our main focus was reading. The third activity you provided, was very strong and helpful by providing students with them table in order for them to use it as a reference.   

Permalink Reply by Dennis Galicia on October 9, 2019 at 1:55pm

Hello Selena:

I agree with you. The schemata should always be activated during reading comprehension. Primarily because it allows the students to be prepared for the upcoming activities. Another strong point is the fact that you included culture within the text. Which aligns with the concepts presented by Lee and Van Patten (2003) regarding culture. According to the theorists, culture should be the base of instructional activities.

However, just as a recommendation, family topics should be carefully planned because some of our potential students might not have a standard family setting. Lastly, the differentiation process was not clear to me, primarily because providing visual cues is already part of communicative language teaching. Perhaps, you could have differentiated by readiness or interests as proposed by (Tomlinson 2001). Nonetheless, amazing work.

(127 words).

References: 

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd Edition). Reston, VA: ASCD.

Permalink Reply by Maria Lorena Flores on October 9, 2019 at 7:06am

The micro-activity presented was based on reading.  It allowed me to have a clearer perspective of how a lesson based on reading should be done effectively and for students to gain more knowledge and benefit from it. The lesson consisted of a lot of visuals and real pictures in order to create a connection with the students.  For the pre-reading a small reading of eight sentences was provided about supermarkets followed by a multiple choice activity.  The while-reading was a more complex reading about mercados indígenas preceding a True / False activity separated in two parts for better understanding. One of the things I would change about my micro-teaching activity is the amount of reading presented.  It was brought to my attention that I had two lessons in one since I had a reading for pre-reading and another one for while reading.  I would have changed the dynamic and presented a short video instead of the first reading. The grammar activity was too traditional rather than contextualized.   According to Cook (2008) one of the main issues with traditional grammar is the connection between conscious understanding of a rule and the ability to use it.  Nevertheless, using a table towards the end of presenting a contextualized grammar activity might be useful to students as a visual.  Pertaining to the differentiation instruction of the lesson, the activities were created with a lot of content and visuals for students to create a bigger picture of the reading. Culture in the lesson was designed with illustrations and a personal picture with my family at that exact location which creates a stronger bond with the students by using real material. Cook (2008) states the importance of on focusing on students’ attention and providing them with activities according to their age to avoid boredom and create a friendly learning environment. (308)

References:

Cook, V. (2008). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching (4th Edition). Oxford University Press.

Permalink Reply by Dennis Galicia on October 9, 2019 at 2:17pm

Hello Maria:

The micro-teaching delivered by you provided some insight into the sequencing of activities. I agree with you, in the inclusion of visual cues is essential within the communicative language teaching framework proposed by Lee and Van Patten (2003). Similarly, the idea of the video at the beginning during the pre-reading phase is spot on. Also, I would recommend that you take an inductive approach to cover the grammatical structures. Such approach comes as a result of concepts presented by Krashen (1982) regarding explicit grammar. Lastly, the fusion between activities and culture was amazing.

On the other hand, one of the aspects that were not clear to me was the differentiation. Primarily because providing visual cues is part of the communicative language teaching framework proposed by Lee and Van Patten (2003). Perhaps, you could have provided a more explicit differentiation as proposed by Tomlinson (2001). Nonetheless, your teaching demo was spot good.

(149 words).

References: 

Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. New York: Pergamon.

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd Edition). Reston, VA: ASCD.

Permalink Reply by Selena Jaquez on October 11, 2019 at 2:22pm

Hi Maria, 

The micro teaching activity you presented to the class was very successful, giving the students the opportunity to learn through visual images have been considered a useful tool for teachers. Visuals can support the input that the student receives, for this reason, the input provided needs to be as rich as possible. According to Lee & Vanpatten, teachers need to provide authentic materials in order to support the learning process at all levels of instruction. “The use of authentic materials also supports a more creative approach to teaching; that is, its use allows teachers to develop their full potential, designing activities and tasks that better match their teaching styles and the learning styles of their students” (pg 13). I also like the idea, as you mentioned before, of providing contextualized grammar. It tries to give real communicative value to the language that learners meet. The context can help learners remember the language and recall it at a later date. (158 words)

Reference 

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). ​Making communicative language teaching happen​. (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill

Permalink Reply by Evelyn Salazar on October 10, 2019 at 9:56pm

In my second teaching slide, I had learned about the different class of students we may have in the classroom. The focus of this presentation was reading comprehension and think about students with IEP. I would like to say that one of the challenges for this lesson it was to decide and think about the different ways to teach kids with IEP. For this reason, I included big letters to my presentation slides, images and pictures for a visual learners and students with dyslexia. As Lee and Vanpatten points out “sometimes, headings mark the different ideas included in a text, and informative illustrations and photographs describe some of its contents.”

One of things that I think went well was the fact I was really focus on reading comprehension and the activities were according to the level of the students and the topic was motivated and interesting. The presentation and the practice part of the lesson was done correctly, however the production part was little confused. Due to the part that was reading comprehension, I thought that I had to include a reading part in the production phase, but not necessary I learned that we don’t need to include more reading in the production part, but make it meaningful to the students with a fun and motivate activity where they can add what they have learned in the presentation and practice phase.

Another factor that I need to improve is to make sure I connect all the activities that I present to the students. In other words that presentation, practice and production activities need to have a relation to each other.

Culture is a key for students to understand a new language, my presentation had very little culture, I need to add more cognates and social context to my lesson for a better understanding of the language.  (words 307)

References:

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Permalink Reply by Selena Jaquez on October 11, 2019 at 2:58pm

Hi Evelyn, 

Based on the information you provided, I think you did a really good job. I strongly agree with you when you state that one of the challenges a teacher might face is trying to differentiate a lesson based on the students needs. I personally think that differentiated instruction is fundamental in a classroom. In a differentiated classroom, the teacher assumes that different learners have differing needs and proactively plans lessons that provide a variety of ways to express learning. It also helps students to learn in a way that makes information retention easiest. In a differentiated classroom, teaching is evolutionary. Students and teachers are learners together.  (108 words)

Permalink Reply by Geomyra Granados on October 10, 2019 at 10:16pm

My micro teaching activity consisted of creating a lesson about reading comprehension. Throughout this lesson I was able to learn what a reading comprehension lesson should be consisted of. I also learned how i could make it more effective for the students to students the target language throughout the activities presented in the lesson. I first started my pre reading by presenting the students with a video regarding what the topic was going to be about. Following the video I also provided the students with pictures which are consider great visual for the students. VanPatten (2003). After, showing them the video and the pictures related to el cinco de mayo, I followed the lesson by providing them with true and false questions in order to test what they have learned. My while reading activity consisted of proving the student with a paragraph about el cinco de Mayo which reinforced the video that was showed in the beginning of the class. After the students read the paragraph I followed the lesson by asking the questions based on what they just had read. The second while reading I provided the students with a word bank and they had to complete the sentences. Students will be able to provided the correct answer by reading the text and search for the correct word that will match with the sentences provided after reading it. Thought the reading Culture was a big part of my lesson since it presented topic about how el cinco de Mayo is celebrated in Mexico and how it is celebrated in the United States. It is important to provide the students the differences between cultures throughout the lesson. VanPatten (2003). For my post activity I provided the students with a photograph that included pictures about el cinco de mayo and they had to write about what they have learned and use their own imagination by using the pictures presented. After reviewing my lesson and having heard the feedback. I believe my reading lesson was precise but overwhelming for the students. Too much reading was asked from the students which can make them feel uncomfortable and overwhelmed throughout the lesson. It is our job as instructors to provide our students with topics that are complex and short for them to understand. (vanPatten (2003). 

Permalink Reply by Evelyn Salazar on October 13, 2019 at 8:36pm

Hello Geomyra,

                The teaching slides that you presented to the class were very motivational and culturally informative. The topic of “Cinco de Mayo” is a national celebration in Mexico, that all the students give tribute to that Battle of Puebla. Now even people in the United States are celebrating this day, so I think its important that students understand what history revolves around this celebration. I think your activities were engaging and related to the topic. However, the production activity at the end was very long for the level the students were currently at. If you could just make it shorter I think it would be a great task for the students. (Words:118)

Permalink Reply by Karolina Custodio on October 10, 2019 at 10:24pm

The activities I presented in class focused on reading comprehension. My topic was about Peru and its famous attractions. This teaching activity has helped me to gain more knowledge and more practice when preparing a lesson. I considered the three stages of reading comprehension that we have learned (pre-reading, while-reading and post reading). According to Lee and VanPatten (2003) the structure that one needs to follow while teaching reading, consists of three phases: preparation (pre-reading), guided interaction (during reading), and assimilation (post-reading). Although, I tried to follow the right structure for my reading comprehension activities, there were some mistakes. During my pre- reading activity I included a video in order to help students to learn the new vocabulary presented throughout the lesson. Also, this helped them to identify and discuss the topic. After that, students had a matching activity related to the video. For the while-reading, I had three small readings with different activities. The first activity I asked students to answer seven questions, for the second one I included grammar (the verb ir + infinitive) and the last one was a true or false activity. After presenting my activities, I understood that the amount of readings I had could be overwhelming for the students. Consequently, they could get bored and frustrated. For the post-reading activity, I designed a bingo activity with the vocabulary students have gained throughout the lesson. However, this activity required a short student participation and they were not producing the target language (TL). I would change this activity and prepare a more productive activity. For example, create a dialogue giving advices to other students about different places in Peru. On the other hand, I incorporated real pictures of my different visits to Peru in order to help them to understand better this topic. According to Lee and VanPatten (2003) this is important during instruction so students can better comprehend the TL through real materials. Additionally, this helps as a differentiated instruction for students that are visual learners. (331 words)

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

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