Less is more was a success! What about less talking and more adapting, though?

(taken from: http://languageteachingtips.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/whats-your-attitude-towards-teaching-practices-a-k-a-tps/)

Preparation for TP2 started the minute that TP1 was over. I think that this was very helpful because I could apply most of the things that my Tutor, fellow-trainees, and myself had pointed out.

The things I focused on were:

• Less things to teach,
• Activities that serve the aims of the lesson, and
• Constant repetition of new language learnt.

Planning Stage

When preparing the lesson plan, I did the following:

1. Took a note of the basic components of my lesson.

2. Added activities under each component and checked their appropriateness.

3. Checked appropriateness by asking: If someone does this activity, will s/he achieve a part of the lesson's aim? When my answer turned to a 'yes' one for every activity included in the plan, I started imagining the entire lesson in my mind so that I could be as accurate as possible.

While preparing for my first Teaching Practice, I thought that planning would be a pain in the ...neck (!) but having received feedback, planning my second TP was rather enjoyable. Why was that? because I was very clear as to what I wanted the students (and me) to achieve.

Teaching Stage

And... Yes! Good planning leads to teaching the lesson without being stressed. However, it is this confidence that might lead the teacher to talk more than needed. Personally, I wanted to make sure that I was paying attention to the students' needs all time, which made me echo their comments a lot and ask many unnecessary questions. 

Final 10' of the lesson were not like planned, exactly: students struggled with a vocabulary exercise and I did not have time to proceed to the production stage. So, for a moment, I thought that the lesson was turning into a disaster, only it didn't because I decided to forget that I am being observed and I pushed myself to deliberately decide which of the two was more needed: the vocabulary exercise or the production activity. Students had used much of the new language taught so I opted for the vocabulary exercise and it worked! Obviously, this shows that my planning needs some work but, still, the lesson was successful.

Post-Teaching Stage

I think that this is the most difficult part. The feedback is very constructive but this makes the next TP seem even more intimidating. I need to remember - and use - all the things that helped me for my TP2 and the feedback received after TP2, as well.

Well, we'll see! Time for a drink. :)

Oh, and let me not forget: Week 1 is OVER!