I had the most fun day today, for the micro-teaching seminars. Also, it is so interesting to learn different methods of teaching, rethinking how to apply to my class, and receiving the feedbacks from peers.
In the beginning, we listened to a rhythm from a music instrument then we were asked to write down what we think and feel by using different colours of stickers to post on the wall. This could largely engage everyone to participate in and sharing the thoughts anonymously. I think it is a very good teaching practice to encourage students to active thinking about the items and feel free to write down their thoughts without any pressures because of the anonymous. The negative side for this teaching practice is I think it is more suitable for a small class student rather than a very big class. But using stickers is a good idea for applying case studies for a postgraduate or a smaller size class.
Then I engaged in watching a short film cut and describing my own feelings without any prior questions. We described how we felt when we watching the films then had a discussion. If I can find any short videos relating to my case study in the class, it is more attractive to the students to watch a video rather than reading a long paragraph and do a case study. To avoid asking question in advance could benefit for them to have more flexibilities talking about what they think, with an open-minded.
The communication was the most fun part, but I was so surprised even though we only drawing what we would like to say, the communication still could go on. Even though sometimes it was not I originally want to illustrate. Besides, I also feel it is a very good creative and imagination trainings to the students. The intuition for communication by drawing the pictures because some of the students have difficulties in communications. In this way, they could feel much easier and engage in the class. If, some students have difficulties in communicating, what I can do to support them, besides the ISAs supported from the University. It is a question for me to think about as it refers to equity in the class.
After the microteaching day, it left me a lot to rethink about and learn to improve my teaching skills. That was the best day in that week. I also realized if I were a student, I could truly learn something with happy, and fun. Happy teaching changes the world.