Asia Pacific SINE 2014

Teaching Skills Elective

Sriraj G.S.

27 September 2014

Robogals Asia Pacific

Why are we here?

Robogals’ main activity is school workshops

volunteers interacting with students

Volunteers need to know:

What makes effective & engaging teaching?

How to deal with common classroom issues?

What are we doing today?

Small Team Brainstorm

Large Group Presentation

Classroom Simulation Activity

Large Group Reflection

Questions & Feedback

Engagement

Classroom Skills

Small Team Brainstorm

Fire Pokémon Groups

Think of the most interesting

class or workshop you’ve

ever been in!

What made it engaging?

Water Pokémon Groups

Think of the most boring

class or workshop you’ve

ever been in!

What made it boring?

Make a list of “Do”s & “Don’t”s!!!

Large Group Presentation

Each group share 1 point from their list and rotate to

next group as quickly as possible!

RAPID FIRE!

“Do”s & “Don’t”s

“Do”s & “Don’t”s

“Do”s & “Don’t”s

“Do”s & “Don’t”s

“Do”s & “Don’t”s

Classroom

Simulation Nominate 1 teacher from each

group.

Other group members choose

a student role.

5 minutes to prepare how

you’re going to do this!

10 minutes of classroom time!

Large Group

Reflection Time!

Talking to Students

Get the class to sit down and put away toys while speaking

Speak slowly, clearly at a reasonable volume with eye-contact

Stay away from technical jargon

Don’t pick on students to give answers if they are intimidated

If the class doesn’t respond to a question, break it into smaller & more relatable

questions

Distracted / Talking Students

Try not to speak over a bunch of talking students – this becomes a shouting war

You could stop and look at them…they might suddenly notice

You could call them out and maybe even ask them to share their conversation

If a whole class is distracted, the topic/level of discussion might not be appropriate

Try changing topics to find out what engages them

Ask questions about what they would like to do/hear and tailor your activities around it

If it’s a single student, talk to them individually to show you care and can help

Hyperactive / Interruptive Kids

If there is a group of students particularly disruptive, get them to work in different

groups

Get students to put away robots & things in their hand when you are talking

Talk to a disruptive kid individually and ask if they have any issues. See if you can

get them something different or more to do

Offer incentives to the co-operative groups in challenges.

Helping Students Understand

Try explaining concepts in different ways or from different people

Talk about concepts, not implementations. Tell them what a block

or button does in general, not what they need to be programming.

Ask guiding questions in place of providing instructions/answers.

“What do you think went wrong?” “What would happen if we did this?”

Wrap-Up

Thank you for your engagement!

Any more questions?

Can I haz feedback pleez?