Microteaching- the plan
Object based learning
I decided to approach the micro teaching session as it is in reality – teaching teachers for 20 minutes. It felt really strange to me to imagine I was teaching my students when in fact I’m not… teaching for me is all about the interactions, the humans in the room, the space. So I honestly couldn’t really approach it any other way. I also wondered how useful it would be to receive feedback on the teaching from teachers – oh yikes did I just open a can of worms on lesson observations and feedback and if they should happen at all (mic drop) and if they should surely the feedback should always be from the people who are supposed to benefit from the teaching in the first place! (the students) Just my 10 cents but anyway I digress – back to the mirco teaching.
So I’d figured out I wanted to design the session for the people in the space, fellow PGCERTers. Colleagues. Now to figure out what we’re going to do, what am I going to teach? what are they going to learn?
Also can we talk about the fact it’s approximately 10,000 more nerve racking teaching teachers, or delivering in front of your peers?! is it just me? it can’t just be me!
So we’re in the space reflecting on our teaching right? so why not design a session that also does that, that allows us to question our teaching and our positionally, personality, experience and what we bring into a teaching space as a person in that moment, not by teaching something unrelated and reflecting on it later. Cool sounds like something I want to do a lot more than re-creating something I’d deliver to my students.
So I’m going to use one of my favourite objects, this set of oracle cards from the deck of character:
Okay okay maybe I’ve lost you completely already because you feel like your teaching is rooted in knowledge and facts and history and this all feels a bit woo woo but hang in there! Think of it merely as a tool, a tool for reflection lets say.
Here’s a little context from the deck of character website:
Share your truth. Grow your life.
The DOC is a new kind of card game. There technically are no rules, no winner. It is simply about connecting with yourself and those around you. Because contemplation and shared dialogue heals
I feel like I don’t need to add too much that to be honest, and actually isn’t teaching all about contemplation and shared dialogue? be that with a tutor, a mentor, a colleague, a student, a material, a process, an experiment, a canvas, a chopsaw, a potters wheel and on and on and on….
Sometimes it’s really hard to remove yourself from a situation, sometimes all you need is one tiny step backwards to see whats happening and what needs addressing, in your teaching or elsewhere. And I use the DOC for exactly this. Term is wild and busy and we’re often running around feeling like we’re supposed to have all of the answers. This gives me space to step back and get a little perspective on things. It’s like a combination of stepping out and observing yourself and asking the universe for a little magnifying glass or periscope to help you out.
The plan:
On the morning of the session I’m going to pull three cards, one from each of the categories. Characters, tools, places
I’m going to provide everybody with a descriptor of each card and it’s meaning and ask them to use these cards as a way of reflecting on the student experience.
Learning outcomes:
Can I caviat this by saying I actually find learning outcomes a bit problematic – sorry! especially when we’re thinking in terms of mindset and mentality over fact based learning. I personally think in many cases learning outcomes are either too vague so as to catch all or too specific and therefore don’t reflect the individual learning styles or journeys for people in the room. Okay I get it, if I’m teaching you how to register with HMRC I want you to leave knowing how to register with HMRC but it’s not always that simple and can feel a bit reductive. It also doesn’t consider what students are wanting to learn when they enter a learning environment and to me thats much more important that what I want them to leave with. Often the biggest learning has nothing to do with anything you put on the learning objectives.
So reluctantly:
- How to use the deck of character as a tool for reflection on teaching
- Why its important
- What we might bring to every student experience without realising
- How our prior experiences shape our support
- How to be more open and meet students exactly where they’re at
Let’s see how it goes!
(You can read them here for characters, tools and places)