Self
Feedback on Video Mediated Micro Lesson: “Introducing the Notion/Idea of
Collocations to Engineering Students”
Topic : Introducing the Idea of Collocations
Level of Learners : Engineering
Class size
: 6
Duration of the Class :
13 minutes
The objective of my class was to
raise awareness among the students on the concept of collocations which was
totally new to them. I started my lesson by posing questions to them to test
their knowledge on collocations. Assuming that the students are unaware of the
term, I gave them a handout consisting of two conversations spoken by the
students of the same class which had collocational errors in it. I read out the
conversations and asked them to translate the collocational errors in English
into Telugu, their mother tongue. When the students provided the translations
in Telugu, I asked them if they were acceptable word combinations and
questioned them furthermore if the combinations appeared natural or unnatural.
Later, I referred to the English combinations and found out from them if the
word combinations were common or uncommon. Eventually, they responded to me
saying the English translations were unnatural. Finally, I tried to drive home
the point that a collocation is a natural combination of words.
My Strengths:
- I used the conversations among the students in the class as examples to introduce the idea of collocations. This helped the students to understand the concept easily.
- The usage of Telugu in the class to teach collocations helped the students to grasp the notion quickly and resulted in better retention.
- The students interacted with me well in t he class.
- Though the concept of collocations was new, the students did not feel any boredom in the class and so I was able to engage the class fully.
- I cited the examples on the board that helped the students register the chunks in their mind.
My Draw-Backs:
- I started my class by eliciting information on the concept of collocations. Instead of waiting for an answer from the students, I hastily posed another question that made the students rather confused.
- I ended up teaching two wrong collocations in English such as: ‘take a head bath’ and ‘pick the call’. Though the first collocation does not exist in English, I taught them with great confidence. I failed to correct the wrong collocation ‘pick the call’ mentioned by one of the students into ‘pick up the call’.
- I tried to emphasize the concept of collocation time and again which resulted in redundancy.
- I did not use the board effectively in the class as I did not check the quality of the marker pen. As a result, the information on the board was illegible and could not be read clearly by the students.
My Plan of Action:
- I shall wait patiently for the students to respond to my question.
- I shall avoid over explication of the concept.
- I shall research thoroughly on the collocations I would like to teach in the class by referring to a standard collocation dictionary there by avoid wrong teaching.
- I shall check the quality of the teaching aids before I use them in the class.
- Teaching more microlessons regularly and reflecting on them for further improving my pedagogic skills.
