The Pedagogy of MicroTeaching
Concept
Dr. Gary Small, a psychiatrist at UCLA, argues that daily exposure to digital technologies such as the Internet and smartphones can, and have, altered how the brain works. Small concludes that students today have more information input - 3200 text messages per month, for example, than people born before 1985 had growing up. The result: kids’ brains today are different than ours.
To that end, Texting, Twitter and Facebook, train users to think and write in very short bursts. Yet, the popularity of Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure and National Public Radio’s 12 Word Writing Contest point to short-writing’s transition from practicality to literature. MicroTeaching can build upon skills once only used in a social context to further students’ academic growth and challenge them in a non-traditional way.
Practice
MicroTeaching is a pedagogy of instruction and assessment that uses very short tasks to direct student learning. This process can aid teachers in several aspects of classroom instruction. Teachers may use the model as a method of direct instruction, formative assessment, and/or summative assessment.
Short and focused is a tenet of MicroTeaching. The instruction is concise, the time on task is brief, and the evaluation is succinct. When approaching a writing task, for example, the teacher needs to first identify the purpose of the writing. A teacher should be as specific as possible when assigning a MicroWriting© (the application of MicroTeaching to writing) task. “The purpose of this activity is to apply comma rule for coordinating conjunctions in compound sentences.” Being specific tells the students exactly what they are supposed to practice. In this case, placing a comma before a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence. Then, when it is time to assess, the teacher has only to evaluate a single element in the writing. Assessing the singular focus of the writing task minimizes the amount of time required to evaluate the writing. Additionally, because the evaluation is reflective of a singular task, feedback is specific and instantaneous. In my class, I use a smiley face scale to evaluate. Essentially it is a three-point scale indicating that a smile (3) is proficient, an indifferent face (2) is basic and a sad face (1) is below basic. Students that get 1’s and 2’s often revise without my prompting, although you could make that a requirement.
Script
For clarification, listed below are the procedures (list may be incomplete - please ask if I overlooked something)
“In your spiral notebooks.” My students are expected to keep notes and practice activities in a spiral notebook. The notebooks are kept in my class and we use them daily.”
“Directions are in black.” When I am using Smartnotebook, I write in black to show the students what I want them to do. They are not responsible for copying the directions.
“Copy what is in blue.” When I am using Smartnotebook, I write in blue to show the students what they will be responsible for learning. They are responsible for copying whatever is in blue into their spiral notebooks.
“Green are examples.” When I am using Smartnotebook, I write in green to show the students what the completed task will look like. They are responsible for copying whatever is in green into their spiral notebooks so that they will have a model to follow.
“Red is SUPER important.” When I am using Smartnotebook, I write in red to place extra emphasis on specific concepts or ideas. They are responsible for copying whatever is in into their spiral notebooks.
Application
MicroTeaching can be used in all curriculum areas. Below are some suggested methods for incorporating this teaching method.
Math:
“Factor these three numbers.”
“Solve the following Linear Equations.”
“Complete the Order of Operations in the following...”
Science:
“Classify the following organisms as bacteria or virus.”
“Define the following these five terms.”
“Illustrate an animal cell and identify the cell membrane, the cytoplasm and the nucleus.”
Social Studies:
“Identify the who, when and where of the Battle of Gettysburg.”
“Share three things that you learned today.”
“In __ words or less summarize the following excerpt of ….”
Art:
“Demonstrate how to...”
“Contrast 4 differences between these two Impressionist paintings.”
“Name 5 Twentieth Century Abstract Artists.”
Family Living:
“Rewrite this recipe in the correct order.”
“Identify the first three steps in making pancakes.”
“Explain the 5 basics of knife safety.”
Tech Ed:
“Order the directions for operating the sander.”
“Describe the first three steps in designing your car.”
“Diagram the following to make a _____.”
Health:
“Match these 5 terms to their definitions.”
“Sequence the order of washing your hands.”
“List four ways to prevent....”
Music:
“Evaluate the effect of the harmony...”
“Compare the similarities of the melody in these two pieces.”
“Identify the differences in the ____ in these two pieces.”
Language Arts/Reading:
“Add periods to this run-on sentence to make three single sentences.”
“Rule - Use the five “W’s and the H” – Who, What, Where, When, Why and How when writing a lede. Write a lede for the following news item:”
“After reading the following passage, respond to the question below in several complete and thoughtful sentences. Your goal should is to give 3 pieces of evidence/examples/explanations in your response.”
MicroTeaching Task: Complete the following 3 sentences:
1. Today, I learned ____________________________________________________________ .
2. I can use this in my classroom when ____________________________________________.
3. The lunch was ______________________________________________________________.