Planning Produce a Lesson Plan States: Session

PLANNING Produce a lesson plan states: session aims learning outcomes; learners; teacher activities; resources learning checks ============ Microteach Delivery the Microteach 15 minutes long: 5 minutes introduction set 10 minutes feedback tutor peers.

Microteach: Evaluation

My fifteen minute 'microteaching' session involved the presentation of Arabic language material to a classroom of student learners. It was entitled: "The Arabic language: Greetings, alphabet and introduction to the language" and was designed to give a basic overview to what can seem to non-native speakers a very complex and impenetrable language (Greene 2005). My lesson plan involved the use of multiple types of presentation formats to ensure that the content was disseminated correctly yet students were also able to interact with the material in fun and engaging ways. Multiple methods of information transmission were also useful to ensure that the needs of different 'types' of learners were addressed by the session (Lane n.d.). The specified breakdown of five minutes for a lecture-based introduction and ten minutes for feedback from the tutor and peers were helpful in terms of creating a focused lesson plan. At the end of the short lesson, it was hoped that students could gain basic knowledge of the Arabic alphabet, introduce themselves in Arabic and ask others personal questions in Arabic and identify borrowed Arabic words in English.

My primary lecture-based visual aid was that of a PowerPoint. I selected PowerPoint because it allowed me to merge both the visual and the verbal in a seamless fashion. One of the challenges of teaching a language is that language is primarily a verbally-based medium, which can make it difficult for visual learners to assimilate. My use of the PowerPoint was intended to incorporate a visual element into my teaching. My tutor praised me by saying that I gave a clear and detailed introduction to the lesson. I am also proud to say that she said that the lesson was well-structured with a clear beginning, middle, and end and that I engaged learners with many questions. I did so because I know that reinforcement and 'over-learning' is a key component of assimilating a new language (Paul 2013). Students must be able to use the language themselves not simply remain passive recipients of knowledge.

The activity was designed to create a more 'active' transmission of knowledge. I split the group into two sections to review the material, to engage in pair-based teaching, and then present what they had learned to the class. Luckily, I had the unexpected 'luxury' of having two native Arab speakers which I placed in each group to act as teaching 'assistants' to the other students. Through this I was able to exhibit differentiation of learning and also spontaneity in my lesson planning. These native speakers acted as 'resources.'

After the groups had studied the alphabet and greetings I 'quizzed' them using formative assessment techniques to see what they had learned. To make the grading fun and more informal I used a 'traffic light' system, holding up red, green, or yellow (partially correct) as the students demonstrated their knowledge. To reinforce what had been learned and to minimize the chances of forgetting what they had acquired I made handouts for every student to take home with them and study at the end of class. This collective use of resources were designed to reinforce the lessons taught in the PowerPoint with kinesthetic (hands-on); interpersonal, verbal, and visual methods. Multiple resources can better address the needs of all learners, encompassing those with visual/auditory/kinesthetic learning styles as well as reflect the principle that virtually all learners can have recall enhanced by using multiple sensory stimuli.

I am very passionate about the beauty and usefulness of learning Arabic and I am also proud that my teacher complimented me on my teaching style, which she said was approachable and accessible. My manner encouraged people to feel comfortable asking questions even if they did not know much about the subject. Again, this is a critical component of teaching a foreign language. Students often feel uncomfortable articulating themselves in the new language for fear of sounding silly, so the teacher must create a non-confrontational environment so these inhibitions are lowered. With this in mind, I gave lots of praise and positive feedback to students, which my tutor noticed.

Although I was nervous, I tried to prepare very well for the lesson and my tutor noted my lecture made extensive use of good resources and supported students with different learning styles. I was also praised for my ability to engage students. This confirmed my belief in the need for variety in instruction to maintain student interest and motivation (Walker 2006). Even an auditory learner does not necessary like to be 'lectured at' for long periods of time. I was also sensitive to interpersonal and temperamental differences as well: by having students work in groups, I enabled shier students to have a chance to articulate themselves and ask questions while the bolder and more assertive students who enjoy having attention directed upon them were able to ask questions during the PowerPoint lecture and also act as tutors during the group sessions. By working in groups, students who were more confident in their ability to learn a language were also able to instruct less confident students and to use their example as a motivational device. Individual discussion and encouraging all learners to express their opinions and ask questions is essential.

Another source of my effectiveness was using diagnostic as well as formative assessment (Hall, Strangman, & Meyer 2009). To structure a lesson effectively, it is important to understand what students do as well as what they do not know, which I was able to discern through asking them brief questions about their familiarity with Arabic. Through this method I was able to find that some of the students were native speakers and able to use this in my lesson plan. I also walked around the room and intervened in the different groupings and pairings during the exercise to reinforce concepts for students with less experience learning languages or to challenge those with more experience (Chang 2005). I revisited the learning outcomes in which the learners were able to indicate if their learning outcomes had been met.