Practice Teach Three

Your final practice teach will give you a chance to teach to your “edge” by designing and delivering an experience of yoga and mindfulness that both challenges your skills and comfort as a teacher, and serves the communities that you anticipate teaching. You will have 35 minutes to teach to a small group of your colleagues. as if they were the population you intend to teach.

For this practice teach, please include yoga, breath, and mindfulness experiences, but you can structure your lesson in any way you choose, and imagine that you’ve been working with this group for as little or as long as you choose. This is your chance to build a lesson that both creates an experience of value for your students and elevates your teaching. See if you can focus on the practices that you’ve always wanted to share with a group. As you prepare for your teach, consider the following aspects of the lesson plan:

• What kind of set up and introduction will give them and you a sense of safety & comfort?

• What kind of context will generate interest and relevance for this group?

• How will you balance practices that are familiar and grounding with practices that are new and challenging?

• What kinds of modifications and considerations would benefit this group, both in terms of specific exercises and overall class structure?

• How will you balance informational/ discussion-based elements with experiential components so that the session meets participants’ physical. mental, and relational needs?

• What kind of closing or transition might be best for this group and where does your sessions fit in the arc of their day?
  
  Utilize notes in any way that feels appropriate to your audience and make the preparation needed in order to be who you need to be for this group. Pay special attention to what is happening in your group, and see where and when you can offer instructions, modifications, and variations that relate directly to what you observe and experience. Be ready to adjust and adapt your lesson plan based on what’s really going on in the moment.
  
  PREPARATORY REFLECTION
  
  Prior to your practice teach, please imagine and describe the group you’ll be teaching to as vividly as you can: Whether they are students, teachers, of administrators, what practices or tools would you most like to share with them? What experiences or expectations might challenge them with these practices? How can you make these experiences accessible and engaging for this group? Be specific. When do you imagine working with this group? Where? Where? What are they likely to have just experienced before arriving, and what will they be transitioning into after the lesson? Your preparation should account for all of these things and any other factors that will help you in creating the best possible experience.
  
  Please write out your lesson plan, including not only what elements you’ve chosen but why you chose those particular elements and arranged them as you did. Please give this reflection to your facilitators no later than the night before your practice teach. (Sunday May 23 or Monday May 24)
  
  PEER REFLECTION
  
  After you practice teach, your group will have 15 minutes for this facilitated reflection process.
  
  1. For the teacher: Staying with your present experience as much as you can, what are you feeling right now?
  2. For the teacher: Focusing on the positive aspects of this experience, what do you want to celebrate? What went well?
  3. For the students: What did you enjoy about this experience? What did the teacher say or do that was personally impactful or helpful for you?
  4. For the teacher: What challenges did you feel during your practice teach?
  5. For the teacher: Would you like to hear from participants about areas where you might improve their experience? If yes, each participant shares one aspect in the delivery that they struggled with, using the framework above. The teacher does not need to answer or explain anything, but can feel free to ask for follow up or clarification.
  6. For the teacher: What are one or two growing edges that you want to focus on in your teaching going forward?

  7. During this Peer Reflection, lead facilitators will drop in on your group to offer some notes on what we observed during your teach.
  
  SOLO REFLECTION
  
  Set aside time to write and reflect on your experience of teaching in relation to the lesson plan you set. What worked well? Are there any particular things you did that helped your teaching unfold as you intended? Where did you adjust timing, content, instruction and why? What, if anything, would you change before delivering this lesson to the actual group you imagined? What, if anything, do you feel you’d want more practice or understanding in? If you have any specific questions about teaching techniques or challenges you encountered that you would like to discuss with your facilitators, include them in here as well. Please email this reflection to your facilitator no more than 3 days after your practice teach.
  
  Timetable
  Monday May 24, 2021
  3:00 - 3:15 Gathering and moving into groups. It is imperative that you are on time for this session.
  3:15 - 3:50 (Teach #1), 3:50 - 4:05 Reflection, 4:05-4:15 Transition
  4:15 - 4:50 (Teach #2), 4:50 - 5:05 Reflection, 5:05 - 5:20 Breakouts
  
  Tuesday May 25, 2021

  3:00 - 3:15 Gathering and moving into groups. It is imperative that you are on time for this session.

  3:15 - 3:50 (Teach #3), 3:50 - 4:05 Reflection, 4:05-4:15 Transition
  4:15 - 4:50 (Teach #4), 4:50 - 5:05 Reflection, 5:05 - 5:20 Breakouts