Teaching style

Last week, I taught the Japanese dance that my dance project group took on, and though the comments were generally good, Mrs Goh dropped the remark that the teaching was done 'a bit too casual'. What I did was to relate the story of the dance to them, and prompted the class for the actions they think might be involved in coal-mining; these were then employed as mental images for easy remembering of the dance gestural actions. Coincidentally that same day, Alvin of my class, who will be observing my badminton lesson for the microteaching sessions, also mentioned that I tend to be quite casual with the students while teaching, and advised me to be more firm with them, at least at the start of things.

After the last microteaching session (which I thorougly enjoyed), I can really tell the difference between my style and his, or others. I want to be really friendly and approachable, going around to everyone and giving them personal attention, adopting a cheerful tone of voice, and move them from activity after activity to keep the lesson dynamic. Alvin controlled his class and directed them precisely, interjecting periods of activity with instructions while I try as far as possible to minimise instructional time and let them play.

Which is better? I think whatever works best for yourself is the one you should use. Alvin did give me spot-on feedback on how my impatience with waiting can result in me starting activities without making sure everyone has ended the previous one. I tried to be firm during my first week in Bishan Park Sec the last attachment, and I regretted that very much - it is against my very nature to be strict to students anyway. But still, if anyone do think that there are ways in which I should improve in, do let me know, cos I don't want to use my habitual nature as an excuse to avoid the effort of changing for the better.