Week Five - MicroTeaching Delivery

 As I am not very good at public speaking, I decided to use the tips Clare showed us in the previous week. Before my session I spent a minute doing the confident pose as well faking my confidence, this I found helped but I was still nervous at the beginning. This was evident in one of the feedbacks I was given which said "Delivery could have been clearer - you didn't seem to have much confidence in the background..." This is something I realise I need to improve on, I didn't learn the script very well as I believed as I knew the background then I could wing it, I can not do this in the workshop.

 In terms of the structure of the day, I planned to have the introduction last for three minutes, however, when I began conducting the session I realised that I did not need these three minutes and rather it was only one. For this session it worked out well as it gave my peers more time to create the work. This is something that I need to consider in the workshop, if I was to have a presentation that ran out of time, then I would need to prepare for this eventuality. After the session Kate mentioned that it is better to have a few good activities and then back up activities if there is still time. This is something we should think about in the planning of the workshop.

 I wanted my peers to learn through themselves, seeing what they could create however would give some of my knowledge. When they asked questions, I would respond to them and told them about my website where you could other examples, one person mentioned in their feedback "can't wait to see your website... Got me motivated", which was pleasing to hear as I had clearly picked an interesting topic. However, there could have been improvement with one feedback mentioning "images of own work would have been good", in hindsight I should added these to the handouts that I created. Taking this onto the future for the workshop, if I am to present an activity then I should add examples of what I want them to create.

 In terms of improvement, it was mentioned that "Whilst you began to conclude, you did not create a definite ending. Reaffirming your learning outcome should come here", speaking to Anna and Kate, they spoke how you should say your learning outcome at the beginning and at the end in order for your peers or the children to understand what they were meant to have learnt. This is something that we should consider when conducting the workshop. Therefore we need to have a defined reasoning for the workshop. One person mentioned that the introduction could have been clearer and I do agree with this. I should have practiced this more, or one person mentioned an introduction to my own practice and with either of these suggestions would have been good to do. It is clear, that you need to have confidence in your speech and carefully word and conduct this.

 One thing I noticed when I created this session was the planning that went around it and the number of hours I spent either preparing the handouts or getting the materials. For me, it was only for a 10 minute presentation but some teachers will have a whole day to prepare for each day of the week, for the whole of the school week.

 In this graph above, it is apparent that all of the other elements of teaching add up to roughly the same time as teaching. It is becoming increasingly apparent that teaching is not a 9 to 5 job and will take more hours in your week, not just your working week. If you are to spend this amount of time on  your profession, then it is clear that you need to enjoy your work and be passionate about it.

http://www.oecd.org/edu/EAG2014-Indicator%20D4%20(eng).pdf