Micro-Teaching @ Midd-West

As one of our last labs of the semester we got to embark on one of the scariest adventures - teaching actual students! We conducted three day micro-teaching units, where we had the same class of students for three consecutive days and had to develop a "mini-unit" of three lessons. For my micro-teaching, I was lucky enough to be paired up with Mr. David Bittner at Midd-West High School and I couldn't have gotten a better placement. Mr. Bittner matched me with his 1st period Veterinary Science Anatomy & Physiology class, where I taught a three day introduction to the muscular system transitioning from his wrap-up of the skeletal system.








Teaching this subject was a great match, as I will also be teaching a Veterinary Science course this spring during my student teaching, including a unit on anatomy and physiology. Over the course of the three days I covered voluntary versus involuntary muscles, the three muscle types (skeletal, cardiac, and smooth) and their functions, and the hardest part - the superficial muscle groups of the feline. Even with the use of videos, a "Go Get It" activity and the help of a special furry friend, figuring out how to teach this information at the right cognitive and enthusiasm level was hard and taught me quite a few things.

First, timing is everything. One of my biggest obstacles over the three days was giving enough time to all of the different parts of my lesson, while still having enough time to cover all the material and have a wrap-up at the end of each day's lesson. This was the hardest part as I always felt I was running out of time no matter how I adjusted my lessons; this taught me the second most important thing - as long as you have a plan it will all be fine. While I may have struggled with my timing, I always had my lesson fully planned out and so I always knew exactly where I was going with everything.









The third thing I learned was that enthusiasm is everything. Any struggles I felt when I was teaching the Midd-West students would have been a lot less if I had been more enthusiastic. Naturally, I am not a very enthusiastic person, and spending three days in front of real students, while on camera, in front of their teacher who I highly respect is a nerve wracking experience to say the least. While my nerves kept me from looking towards Mr. Bittner or my fellow cohort members for encouragement, I was lucky enough to previously know a couple of the students in class which made it a little easier when calling on students to answer questions or take part in an activity. I know that developing a good level of enthusiasm in the classroom is something I will continue to need to work on, but I think that as I develop a relationship with my students and become more comfortable in the classroom, this will become easier and help me move past some of the other obstacles including proper use of timing. And if nothing else I know that having a furry friend in the room can always make a classroom a little more enthusiastic.