Microteaching

A lot of my colleagues had the opportunity to teach lessons before their microteaching experience. I had not had this opportunity so while my colleagues, councillor and camera watching, I taught my first lesson; Features of Informational Texts; Magazine Articles. After some initial fiddling with the overhead projector (Note to self: practice working the overhead BEFORE your lesson), the lesson progressed with a few points worthy of mention. I used the term "you guys". Too familiar to instill much respect from my students. I made the mistake of asking "Would anyone like to answer this question?" followed by no volunteers. (lesson learned the hard way.) Finally, I would get into the habit of repeating my student's responses. It is now clear to me why this practice is not a good idea. 1) It takes up time. 2) It discourages students from paying attention to their peers. (why listen to them when the teacher will repeat what was said?) and 3) It does not encourage students to project their voices and speak up. I have made a good effort to eliminate this practice in my other lessons.
I honestly went into this lesson expecting to make lots of mistakes and learn a lot of "what not to dos" and believe me, there were a lot of them. I did not in the least feel disappointed with all my mistakes. I know how difficult it is to be a good teacher and so I am realistic how long it will take to become one but when I watched the tape of this lesson back at home, I felt really good. I saw a teacher that had good mannerisms, involved the students in the lesson and had good rapport with his class. I felt like a teacher for the first time. It was a good feeling!