REFLECTION

There are many things I learned from my micro-teaching session. I felt

that trying to work with real materials would be challenging and motivating
for students. Before designing teaching and learning materials, I asked
myself some questions such as How to design materials? How to select the
suitable materials, and Which materials to use in any situation? Keeping
these questions in mind, I began to search for notes and ideas. After referring
to some notes, I received answers to all mentioned questions.
First of all, I found that designing teaching materials should be in line
with the learning outcomes in the syllabus. Moreover students prior
knowledge, age, level and interest should be also taken into account. I also
learned on how to engage students actively in learning and how to present
concepts and ideas in an active and effective way. Here, I learned that the
materials should provide knowledge but also scaffold learning.
During designing the teaching materials, I put all this factors into
consideration. Since my students are in year 3 and mixed ability group, I
realize that the teaching recourses should meet their interest as well as their
ability. For example, stories and books that are written for the interest of
native English speaker teenagers would probably be too difficult for second
language speaker teenagers. However stories that are at their ability level
are likely to be too babyish for them to be interested. When considering the
suitable level of materials I need to think about the new vocabulary and the
grammar structures .
Content of the materials is also need to be concerned in the process of
selecting and designing. I found that it should be knowledgeable and
culturally. For this purpose, I adapted some of the vocabulary to make
relevant and interpretable for students.

Apart from that, I also applied the clarity factors in designing materials.
The material needs to be clear to see (visual) or hear (audio). Also the
practicality factor is concerned so that it is usable in a classroom situation.
Finally, I learned the versatility factors of the materials to be used for
presenting and manipulating language and for involving students in the
activities of all kind.
By the knowledge I gained, I started to design a set of teaching and
materials, After some deep thought and careful consideration of the facts, I
decided to teach a grammar item which is common Nouns. Then again, I was
struggling on how to present this grammar point and which material to be
selected. Finally, I came up with using a story and picture cards to present
this story.
I chose flash cards, and word cards for some reasons. First of all,
according to Howard Gardner, it is important to appeal to visual learning. I
realize that flash cards can be bright and colourful and make a real impact
on visual learners. In addition, I found that flash cards are a really handy
resource to have and can be useful at every stage of the class. They are a
great wat to present, practice and recycle vocabulary. I do understand that
for children at reading age, flash cards can be used in conjunction with word
cards. Thus, I used this word card right after the picture cards to carry out
the drilling activity. I found that it was a great way to introduce the targeted
vocab in more meaningful way. As for these reasons, I selected flash card
and words cards as my teaching materials.
Apart from that, I also made some adaptation to the selected
materials. For example; the story titled The frog prince was adapted in few
ways such as simplifying, deleting, omitting, modifying and adding. These
strategies were applied due to students proficiency level and ability
consideration. There were a few difficult vocabs deleted and sentences
structures were also simplified according to the students level. In this

process, I learned on how to make adaptation and why it is made. Thus,

when presentation session, I realized the teaching and learning process was
smooth and cohesive due to the adaptation made.
In addition, during the presentation session, I gained a good comment
from Mr. latif ( very good). Thus I realized, I have selected an appropriate set
of teaching materials and have used them effectively in my lesson. From the
lecturer and peers feedback, I thought that the materials were appropriately
used and would have possibly been an empowering experience for students.
The materials were very useful for the activities like drilling, memory games
and TPR games. Besides, I found that theyre cheap and can use them
anywhere. They dont break down, and they never go out of date. I also
recognized them as a fun and effective way to learn, reinforce, test, and
retain information. It provide functions of repetitive drilling and the ability to
vary order. Apart from that, it helps me to provide an opportunity for
professional development and improvement for future lessons.
After all these strengths, however there was a few weaknesses I
addressed in my teaching materials. The picture cards are quite small. I
should have enlarged the pictures so that everyone can be see the pictures
clearly. For example when I showed picture cards to my class, I found that my
peers from the back could not see the small objects in the picture. By
keeping this to mind, I realized that I must apply the principle of selecting
materials when designing materials. I will definitely use big pictures in my
class.
Apart from that, I also encountered another problem during my
presentation session. Before telling the story, I introduced some vocabulary. I
did mistakes by not preparing a picture of ball and frog. Instead, I used to
point the small size of ball and frog in the picture cards. In future, I must
prepare well and avoid this kind of mistakes. Teachers preparation is very
important in teaching and learning process.

Overall, I understand we as teachers must take advantage of the great

variety of materials and resources available nowadays for teaching English. I
realized that, the way we use them depend on the creativity and purposes I
have for my lessons and students.
In conclusion, I believe that the resources should be drawn on to help
students learn and broaden their learning experiences. All resources need to
be adapted to meet the different needs and abilities of students. Thus, it is a
helpful tips and information to develop the teaching and learning materials
for this purpose.
Finally I realized, the proper use of resources can make teaching and
learning more effective, dynamic and interesting.