SITI LIYANA BINTI OMAR

TESL SEM 4 PISMP AMBILAN JUN 2014

Critical Reflection

Linking Theory to Practice subject requires the teacher trainee to come out with a critical
reflection drawing on the micro-teaching experience, the feedback received and also relevant
literature related to the whole process. Reflection is one of the most important parts of any
forms of learning, and is a great tool to be used to allow for greater learning. According to John
Dewey (1938), "truly educative" experiences generate interest, are intrinsically worthwhile,
present problems that awaken new curiosity and create a demand for new information, and take
sufficient time to foster development. Reflection is an essential process for transforming
experiences– gained from the service activities and the course materials–into genuine learning.

First of all, before carrying out the lesson plan itself, a lesson planning should be done first.
Before planning a lesson, there are several factors needed to be bear in mind. According to the
authors of ELT Methodology: Principles and Practice (2005), the factors that needed to be
account for are:
1. The general and specific objectives it sets out to achieve
2. Student characteristics
3. Previous knowledge of the pupils
4. Tasks
5. Materials
6. Language requirements of task/activity
7. Time
8. Amount and type of pupil-teacher participation
9. Balance in allocation of time
10. Sequence and grading of activities
ELT Methodology: Principles and Practice (2005)

Before planning a lesson, a teacher should know the target of the pupils that she want to
teach and be aware of their of proficiency. It is to ensure that the lesson is applicable to pupils
and suitable for their level of thinking. After taking into account all of the factors above, the
teacher should also reconsider the materials and resources that would be use in the lesson. If
information and materials are beyond pupils’ current skill level it will frustrate them and they may
engage in behaviours that avoid engagement in the lesson (Wehby, Symons, Canale, & Go,
1995 in Regina & Daniel 2007). Thus, my partner and I had chosen the story from the textbook
 SITI LIYANA BINTI OMAR
TESL SEM 4 PISMP AMBILAN JUN 2014

to teach reading skills. The level of the words and sentence structures used in the story are very
suitable for a Year 3 primary pupils. The story, which is about a red rose, contained moral values
and vocabulary that pupils would be able to use in their daily lives. Not only that, the story also
scaffolding their prior knowledge about flowers and the good of appreciating people around
them. Therefore, that is why the story that we had chosen was very suitable to be used in a Year
3 primary classroom.

Next, There are few new things that I have learnt from the micro-teaching conducted in the
class. For instance, when the pupils ask questions that are out of my expectation, I have to be
versatile and immediately recover and answer them quickly without showing any sign of
weaknesses or hesitation. As stated by Fox, Brantley-Dias, & Brendan (2007), teachers must
know the necessary routines for each school day; but also be able to improvise and adapt their
teaching practices, moment to moment, day to day. Madelyn Hunter (1986) also found that, in
her research in the early 80’s found the most effective teachers to be excellent decision-makers,
both on-the-spot and in their abilities to reflect on their students and their actions. Other than
that, I also learnt that, I need to practice my pronunciation very well first, before conducting the
lesson. It is because, I might be pronouncing certain words wrongly during the lesson and end
up teaching the wrong things to pupils. Teachers have a big impact towards the language
development of young learners.

Other than that, based on the feedback form that I received from my friend, regarding the
assessment of my micro-teaching, there are several strengths and suggestions that could be
implement in my micro-teaching. I had identify that, my delivery of the lesson was very well
because I manage to deliver it confidently with my loud and clear voice. Harmer, J. (2007)
recommends three issues we should think about when considering the use of the voice in the
management of teaching: audibility, variety and conservation. The teacher should able to
audibly; pupils at the of the class can hear her, has variety in the quality of their voices and
volumes; change according to type of activities and need to be able has a good breathing
habits. Furthermore, the activity selected was also suitable because it was interesting and
interacting way of shared reading; whereby it keeps the pupils focus on the story. The activity
also encourage pupil’s involvement because every pupil was given a role, so that everyone has
a chance to read aloud the story. Thus, understand the story better.
 SITI LIYANA BINTI OMAR
TESL SEM 4 PISMP AMBILAN JUN 2014

Moreover, the uses of resources were also suitable for the lesson and its pupils because
the pictures used were very interesting and able to attract their attention. But, unfortunately, the
stick for the stick puppet was too short and the pictures were not big enough. The pupils might
get confused between the characters because of the colours were almost identical. Therefore,
in the future, I have to make the stick puppet bigger. Meanwhile, as for the instructional
language, I managed to give out clear instructions and good choices of words that pupils
understand easily. But, I admit I also did stuttered a bit or two in delivering the instructions but I
recover it by repeating the instructions again for clearer delivery of instructions. Lastly, I am very
glad that I also managed to show a good English proficiency with minimal grammar mistakes. It
may due to the fact that I practiced a bit before delivering the lesson to make sure that I know
what I want to deliver to the pupils.