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Unit 6 (NB. I had a gap between watching Video 1 (Bad) and Video 2 (Good). The Video 1 I watched was a different one to what there is now... but I think the principles are roughly the same.)
Things I learnt:
1. The teacher is key to effective learning.
This point really came home to me with having to watch the two contrasting videos. It was so frustrating watching the first video; I felt so bad for the learners. They came to class so eager to learn but the teacher was a deterrent to learning rather than a facilitator.
2. Structured lesson
I also learnt how important it is to have a structure to each lesson. The lesson plan we learnt in Unit 5 is so useful as it makes you envision the lesson and prepares you to reach the lesson objective. Of course things may not turn out exactly as you planned but the objective is clear before you throughout the lesson.
With your lesson objectives clear in your mind, you will less likely get distracted by unimportant things like the score for your game (it's not really important which team wins) but rather whether your game will help your students grasp the target language / lesson point.
3. Little things matter
The videos also showed how little things make a big difference, like smiling, politely indicating who is to respond, and being encouraging even when a response is wrong, e.g., "playing volleyball in a restaurant", and preparing well for a game.
4. 'Negative vibes' by a teacher are magnified
This point relates to the previous point. What I noticed in Video 1 is that something small said / done (positive or otherwise) by the teacher has a magnified effect. E.g., checking his phone probably took a few seconds, but the fact that he did that sent a very big message that he wasn't interested in his students.
I am thankful for Unit 6 - because I never ever want to be remembered as that teacher in Video 1!!!
