Rivers Micro-Teaching Reflections

I had fun today. :)

I really enjoyed your session, Ron and Alvin, well done really!! It was an example on how 'Teach Less Learn More' can potentially be done. The pictures you showed at the beginning were a good way to stimulate my thinking about rivers, of water, and humans' interaction / relationship with it. Considering that this was 'Plan B', with the little hiccup of the video, it was really fantastic! :)

Classroom management wise, both of you have the presence (both physically and of mind) to command the respect of the class. Voice was loud, eye contact with class was good, moving around to check on the students during group activity was a good move. What more can I say? :)

A few suggestions on the pedagogy and lesson:

1) There was no doubt that the pictures were meant to stimulate our thinking about the inter-relationships between humans and rivers. However (and this perhaps because I was not concentrating?), I found myself jumping into the powerpoint slideshow of the pictures without exactly knowing what I’m supposed to look out for. Perhaps you can write on the whiteboard 1 or 2 really clear, but yet stimulating, questions for us to be pondering as we sit back and enjoy the slides with the jazz in the background? Think that would help sharpening the focus of the exercise a little and get the students thinking.

2) The post-activity after the slides can be refined too to achieve even better results. I found myself unable to draw a concept map with my group, for I found it a strange exercise to follow the 5-4-3-2-1. We already had 5 clearly segmented headings in the 5-4-3-2-1, and to do a concept map immediately after, I found the whole of my brain, both left and right sides of it, prompting me to draw a concept map with the same exact 5 headings. Which is a little redundant isn't it? I knew that wasn’t what teachers Tan and Tan wanted. :) And when I wrecked my head trying to be a little creative with the task, I found it hard to integrate all that we wrote down in the 5-4-3-2-1, for as pointed out in class, they were not immediately classifiable and in tune with your main theme of human relationship with water. Perhaps a guided post-activity, with groups allocated the tasks of drawing concept maps of a more specific theme (e.g. Water use in arid Africa, Human modifications of rivers, Floods – good or bad?, Why is water vital? etc) may be more helpful. Or otherwise, you can get groups to draw out concept maps based on these themes BEFORE the video/picture slideshows, then show them the stimuli, AND THEN, get them to now refine and add on to the concept maps with what they just saw. Just my two cents worth..

3) Your lesson was great in getting a larger wider feel and sense of the issue of water use, rivers and humans. However, in term of specifics that may need to be taught, e.g. dams, why are floodplains fertile, developed vs. developing countries use of water etc.. there is little time to address. The 'Parking Lot' idea from Dr Chang sounds great. :)

Disclaimer: This reflection (as most of my blog entries are) was typed on my laptop on the bus. Pardon if its a little bit rambling and incoherent at times. Auntie was looking over my shoulder.. :) Its all my genuine truest thoughts though. :)