Reflection 2

To teach the class something was quite an experience. I know I didn't do as well as I wanted to, but it is what I want to reflect on this week. First, I want to reflect on preparing for teaching. When I was assigned the task of teaching something (anything within appropriate bounds) in five minutes, the first thing that came to my mind was one of my new favorite games: StarCraft II. I spent many hours thinking about how to do this because StarCraft is such a complex game. Eventually, I went to some StarCraft II websites I frequented and asked the members there for help. My original plan was to use the map editor, which came with the game, to edit a normal map (referred to as 'melee' maps), and add a five minute timer to it (That would prove to be a bad idea due to the feedback I received after teaching). However, it was suggested to me that I teach a few things by one member with a list that proved highly useful in my preparation, even though I did not use all his suggestions.

The most useful suggestion was to make a video and to compare the game to chess. Knowing that I had five minutes to teach, I set out to make a video that was, at the longest, three minutes. I decided to teach five things: Building buildings and units; Scouting; Defending a base; Attacking a base; and Counters. I turned a 10-15 minute game against a computer AI into a 2 minute and 12 second video. My plans were to pause and explain what was happening at certain points of the video.

As with all plans of mice and men, they did not go as planned. I fooled around with the sound too long, and ended up having to rush through my video, talking quickly with my back to the class. Not a great teaching experience, nor did I implement my philosophy of teaching.

Looking back on it, I believe I did some things correct. First, I announced what I was going to be teaching about; second, I clearly stated the things that I wanted my fellow students to learn. I don't think they clearly learned those things, but I did state out my objectives with clarity (which is something the Wong book strongly recommends for effective teaching). If I could go back and do it again, I would because I feel like I could do it better after reading and also knowing not to mess with the sound system, or preparing my computer to work with the sound system first before trying to teach. When I first posted my summary, I was very depressed because I felt like I had failed. However, after reflecting on it, I don't think I failed, I only learned; I learned what I needed to change in order to become a better teacher overall. This wasn't much reflection, but I felt like this is what I needed to write about.

So, what did I learn? I learned that you need to prepare for just about anything when you teach. For if you don't, you can easily disrupt the learning process of your students, peers, etc. Whoever you happen to be teaching will not get the full message and then you will have to start over.