This microteaching exercise ran into several roadbloacks that I didn't see coming. There was a great deal of miscommunication between the group members and also between us and the students. We were meant to have a bunch of construction paper cut to represent 2x4s in order to demonstrate the construction project. However, due to some miscommuniation between us, the construction paper was provided as full sheets which led the students to believe that it was expected to be treated as a piece of plywood. Therefore, when I asked them to figure out which angle to cut the wood at in order to build the ramp, everyone was confused. Seeing the paper as representing a plywood sheet, they didn't see why any cutting was necessary at all and instead told me the angle it should be laid at.
It comes down to a failure of planning, I suppose. We should have had the correct materials on hand so that I could have performed a visual demonstration. I also should have communicated better with the students to recognize their misconception sooner. Minutes were wasted as we talked past each other because we interpreted the question differently. I finally did manage to relay my intended lesson, but it happened after much back-and-forth and confusion.
It's a lesson in the perils of team teaching, I suppose. I think we each had a different plan in mind for the lesson, and they didn't precisely line up. Vincent's section, Meghan's section, and my section didn't flow well into each other and the prolem with the supplies pushed it over the top. I think this exercise has convinced me that a lesson should have only a single teacher. If two are involved, either one plays a supporting role or the lesson is split into two mini lessons.
I'm still going to hold onto this lesson for my class, though. I like it and I think that if I had a second shot, it would work much better, especially now that I've seen some of the potential hurdles.
Good work, Paul, and I am very happy that you have posted this. It is too bad that your group ran into these kinds of problem -- miscommunications about materials and other aspects of the lesson, and difficulty getting your group teaching to 'flow'.
ReplyDeleteIt's not always like that. Sometimes a group of teachers can collaborate in very productive and coordinated ways! Teacher collaboration is being stressed more and more in schools these days (for example, interdisciplinary collaboration was a school goal at Ideal Mini a few years back), so I hope you keep an open mind to it. With any luck, you'll have a more satisfying experience when you give it another try.
As far as the materials go, it helps a lot to check everything over before you start your lesson. For example, you might have been able to have your "students" fold the piece of construction paper to get the right dimensions, and then simply say, "this represents a 2X4" -- would that have done the trick?
Good, thoughtful comments and an interesting lesson plan, even though you ran into a few snags. I hope you do try this one again with your own class. Overall mark: Very good.