Micro-Teaching Activity

STEP PROGRAM MICRO-TEACHING ACTIVITIES Summer 2004

The purpose of these activities is to get you up in front of the class and have practice at giving presentations, as well as to give you some quick, easy feedback on your presentations. This is supposed to be fun and informative, but you also need to be serious about your preparation.

General requirements:

You will make two presentations: the first (June) is an overview of your current research/interests; the second (July) is to teach an interesting concept/topic in your discipline that you can introduce to a class of high school students. You will present as individuals, not teams.

Research. Don’t worry if you are not yet doing research. If you don’t even have a research topic, pick a favorite topic from a class you have taken and act like this is your specific area of research. The rationale for this presentation is that, in many cases, your team teacher will ask you to do this kind of presentaiton, and thus this will save you work later. Caution: keep in mind that you need to describe your research in 15 minutes at the high school level—this might not be as easy as you first think!

Class lesson. In terms of the class presentation, pick a topic related to what you will be focusing on during the first few weeks at your school. You may consult with your school coordinator, the teachers, and even former STEP fellows for ideas. Choose a topic that you will likely address, so that your preparation for this presentaiton will be helpful for a presentation you will actually give this Fall.

Your presentations need to be 15-20 minutes long: No shorter, no longer! This will allows us a few minutes of transition between presentations. This also means that you need to PRACTICE and TIME your presentation beforehand.

You must include the following aspects in each presentation:

 an introduction to yourself, as well as an attempt to learn something about your students (try to make these relate somehow to the topic at hand)

 a preliminary activity to get the students thinking about the topic at hand

 2-3 explicit opportunities to check the students' comprehension during the "class" (focus on asking good questions or getting the students to ask you good questions)

 a final activity to summarize the information presented Logistics for both presentations:

You will be observed in your teaching by the other STEP Fellows, as well as Donna, Marion, and David. All those observing will be your “class” for the presentation. Try to think of a manner of presentation that will keep students attentive and interested. Take into account different learning styles and instructional strategies. You may give a mini- lecture, lead a group discussion, do a demonstration—whatever you would like to try. Be creative, but remember: you only have a limited amount of time to do this!

You will be videotaped during your presentation so that you might review for yourself how you did. Afterwards we will provide you with CDs of your presentations.

Bring any materials you need with you for your presentation time. We will be utilizing 249 Skiles as our presentation classroom. The room is equipped with an overhead projector, a networked computer and projector, and a VCR. Try to avoid using items that will require extensive set-up which might take up your presentation time. Any computer files need to be saved to CD/ROM or Zip disk (no floppy drive!) or downloaded via the web. RESEARCH

17 June (2:00-5:00) 29 June (2:00-5:00)

1. Albert 1. Christina

2. Joshua 2. Robyn

3. Austin 3. Joy

4. Adrian 4. Katie

5. Kelly 5. Brad

6. 6. Jed

7. 7. Zuley

8. 8. CLASS LESSON

8 July (2:00-5:00) 22 July (2:00-5:00)

1. Christina 1. Josh

2. Jed 2. Katie

3. Austin 3. Brad

4. Albert 4. Zuley

5. Adrian 5. Joy

6. Robyn 6.

7. Kelly 7.

8. 8. PRESENTATION #1--RESEARCH

17 June (2:30-5:30) 12 June (10:00-12:00) 17 June (10:00-12:00)

1. 1. 1.

2. 2. 2.

3. 3. 3.

4. 4. 4.

5. 5. 5.

PRESENTATION #2—CLASS LESSON

23 July (2:30-5:30) 24 July (10:00-12:00) 29 July (10:00-12:00)

1. 1. 1.

2. 2. 2.

3. 3. 3.

4. 4. 4.

5. 5. 5.

7. 6. 7.