Exit Slip Nov 16. Microteaching Reflection

I feel that our microteaching lesson on graphing a linear equation did not go very smoothly. We tried to cover too much material from too many different categories. To start the process, I suggested we do graphing a line with the equation y=mx+b and using desmos for a visual understanding. However, when we each went off individually to make the lesson plan and the slides, the topic ballooned to include functions, introducing new notation, and including other ideas like absolute values and algebra. I tried to stress to my groupmates the need to keep things simple, but met resistance over what a grade 10 student has already learned. With so many concepts, our lesson did not have any time left for the fun part, playing with desmos. Overall, my takeaway from this microteaching lesson is the difficulty of working with other teachers to try to teach a math lesson as a group. I think this is because everyone has their own unique way of understanding math, deciding what aspects of math are important, what to expect from students, and how to go about teaching math.

Next time, I will try to focus more on simplicity and staying focused on teaching one thing at a time. It is already difficult enough to grasp one mathematical concept at a time, so trying to grasp more than one at a time is almost impossible. Also, I will focus more and give more lesson time to the interactive, fun aspects of the lesson (such as desmos) as opposed to more time standing and delivering. This is because math is not learned by simply listening. It is learned kinesthetically, by doing it, which is what should be done by students in math class, not just listening.