Today I gave my demo lesson - EEK!
But first Kelsey gave her's.
While I have some complaints about the lesson itself, I think she delivered it very well. She calmly yet enthusiastically led the class through an introductory lesson that she had clearly thought a lot about. She had plans for an entire weeks lesson branching off from this broad, yet very contained preview. What I didn't like about her lesson, was how it felt like the dramatic elements were separate from the rest of the lesson, and didn't quite fit. To me it seemed that she had a great lesson, but she thrust in activities to fit the drama requirement. The activities don't need dropped completely, only adjusted and more thoughtfully considered to make them fit better. Had the drama activities supported each other better, they might have supported the lesson better.
Next came my lesson. Biggest problem? I have no sense of time. Add to that the fact that I talk faster when nervous. Within 5 minutes I realized what was going on. My lesson was was careening forward, and there was nothing I could do to slow it down.
Actually, there were probably things I could do. I tried one: Talk a lot. I talked a lot more than I intended to, and I got called out on it.
Hindsight is 20/20 though, and if I do this lesson again, I'll be prepared with more activities, talking points, and a basic understanding of seconds and minutes.
Shortness aside (let's just pretend it was an early out day), I think I gave a great lesson. I was glad to hear that I actually succeeded in teaching a complex scientific and philosophical topic. I've always felt like I've thought about these topics way too much that the only way I can describe a phenomenon only make sense to my extremely introspective brain. Even more exciting was that I can use a tool I love, improv games, to accomplish that goal.
My success in this lesson has sparked an interest in me, and I'm considering taking another two years of classes to get a teaching certificate.
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