Ideas for micro teaching

Micro teaching is a term used to describe a session of practice teaching that is videotaped for the teacher to watch following the session. Potential, new, and existing teachers use this method to review their teaching techniques and receive feedback from fellow teachers and administrators, and make corrections to their teaching style accordingly. Micro teaching sessions are often held before the school year starts so teachers are comfortable and confident with their material delivery strategies.

Using peer teachers in the place of students during a micro teaching session allows the fellow teachers to see the teacher through the eyes of the students. Encourage the peer teachers to ask, respond and react to the teacher's questions and lessons the way they feel a student of that age would respond. This technique enables the teachers who are sitting in for students to have the opportunity to experience the teacher in a live situation, which in turn provokes helpful feedback and criticism. During the videotape review process, the peer teachers can pause certain sections to give pointers on better response techniques or show examples of a satisfactory behaviour.

Selecting students that are close in age to the full time students the teacher instructs provides a real-life teaching scenario for the micro teaching activity. This technique enables critiquing teachers and administrators to gauge the teacher's material delivery methods and reactions more accurately than if the students were represented by fellow teachers. The disadvantage of using students is that they do not have the appropriate knowledge to provide a large amount of helpful feedback unless they are asked specific questions by administrators or teachers to which they can then respond with their thoughts.

Using various practice session times, no matter if teachers sit in as students or actual students are used, helps administrators gain a better understanding of a teacher's skill package. Start with one, five-minute micro teaching session where the teacher presents and lectures on a single concept, and conduct one, fifteen-minute practice session where the teacher delivers an entire lesson. The longer micro teaching approach displays class beginning and ending capabilities, speaking skills, topic transition abilities, organisation, and various learning style competence. This scenario is also beneficial for the teacher because she can fine-tune the various aspects of an entire lesson to provide optimal teaching practices and meet the needs of a large student demographic.