Micro-Teaching
It's a laboratory for teachers. Shrinking the classroom to master one skill at a time.
🔬 1. What is Micro-Teaching?
Micro-teaching is a teacher training technique. It is NOT used on real students in a real classroom. It is used on student-teachers (like B.Ed students) to practice specific teaching skills before they face a room of 40 screaming kids.
How it is "Micro" (Scaled Down):
Time
Reduced to 5-10 minutes instead of 45 minutes.
Class Size
Reduced to 5-10 "pupils" (usually peers/other teachers).
Skill
Focus on only ONE skill at a time (e.g., Questioning skill).
🔄 2. The 36-Minute Cycle
MEMORIZE THE ORDER
Indian standard time for a complete micro-teaching cycle is 36 minutes. You must know the exact sequence of the 6 steps.
Plan
Prepare a short lesson focusing on one skill.
Teach
Teach the peers while a supervisor records/observes.
Feedback
Supervisor and peers critique the performance immediately.
Re-Plan
Rewrite the lesson based on the harsh feedback.
Re-Teach
Teach the *new* lesson to a *different* small group of peers.
Re-Feedback
Final critique to see if the skill was mastered.
*(Planning time is excluded from the total)*
🛠️ 3. Examples of Skills Practiced
Skill of Introduction
Learning how to hook the students' attention in the first 2 minutes.
Skill of Probing Questions
When a student gives a wrong answer, how to ask follow-up questions to guide them.
Skill of Reinforcement
Learning how to use verbal praise ("Good job") and non-verbal cues (smiling, nodding).
Skill of Blackboard Writing
Yes, there is a skill to writing legibly and organizing space on a board without turning your back completely.
The Pedagogy "Teacher Rule"
View teaching not as an innate talent, but as a collection of separate, learnable skills. Be open to brutal, constructive criticism from peers in order to improve those individual skills.
Try to master multiple skills at once during a micro-teaching session. It violates the core principle of the technique. One cycle = One skill.