Padawan Training TC to Jedi's: Lab B Overview

Cross-posted (and slightly edited from EricE's blog EDU 255 Lab B Overview)

Today I observed five teacher-candidates (TC) teaching their lab B to the class, I was very impressed with a lot of things and I also have some suggestions.


First were the hooks, every body I observed today had a hook and they were very clever. Hooks are used to get students interested (and motivated) and to think about why the teacher is saying this and excited to learn. One hook was about all of the students being warriors, and that would be very motivating to younger students in a normal classroom setting. Also the energy that everyone brought was awesome, everyone was clearly excited to be there and happy to be able to teach the lesson they were waiting to teach.

I thought everyone was excellent but here is some feedback to get your teaching to the next level. First thing I recognized was where’s the music? During all of the practice days I expressed my love for music and the energy that it brings in a lesson. Nobody used music except for one person for a very minimal time. Music fills that dead silence while you are teaching and has a energy that can’t be replaced regardless of what you say. Also,  every time TC's heard they have one minute left they began to panic. Relax you have a whole minute to finish up your lesson and break it down. I taped the videos and I found that on average it took students twenty-five to thirty-five seconds to close out a lesson which means you still have some time for activity. And lastly just go with it! You are the only person who knows how your lesson is supposed to go, so if ya mess up… who cares. Figure out where you should be and get back on target never stop and draw attention. Overall everyone was great but everybody should aim to build on what they did. Good luck to everybody and keep working hard!