Reflection on the group teaching demo

Our team was to teach the surface areas of rectangular, circular, and triangular prisms. The feedback indicates that other groups liked the un-foldable paper models of prisms, which made the purpose of instruction clear. People also mentioned that our instructions were well organized and they liked our hands on activities when they were asked to build a structure using the wooden blocks.

One of the major problems in this teaching demo is that people felt that we emphasized too much on the formulas and it would be much better if we used the real numbers in our activities, which would make our activities more “real”. Few people felt that it was a little confusing that we introduced three shapes together rather than doing it one by one. Some also felt that our instructions could have been more clearer.

I have learned that when you teach a lesson, it might not go to the exact direction where you have planed. It gives me a little taste of classroom management when students kept asking the concepts that I thought they already knew. This could lead to a much bigger problem later on if the questions are not dealt with immediately. Also it is very important to provide instructions clearly, consistently and systematically, especially when giving the instructions for an activity, so that the students would understand what exactly you want them to do.